Despite nearly giving up a game to lowly Purdue last week, Northwestern jumped up 4 spots from #24 all the way up to #20 in the AP Poll.

NU joins Big Ten foes Ohio State (2), Iowa (6), Michigan State (9), Michigan (14), and Wisconsin (21) in the top 25.

Northwestern’s continuing rise in the polls this season has, or it least should have, stopped the rhetoric that Northwestern performs poorly when ranked among college football’s elite.

Next week’s matchup of two top 25 foes when Northwestern heads North to Madison should be a good one.