Chris Collins returns home this college basketball season to take over a program with literally no NCAA Tournament history. He comes from a program that’s been as rich as any in the nation the past 30 years or so. The Duke Blue Devils are college basketball blue blood; both literally and figuratively. Northwestern is not. Collins takes over a program that is projected to finish anywhere from 9th to 11th in the Big Ten; depending on which hoops expert or pundit you’re talking to. No one really thinks the Wildcats will make a run at the big dance this year, so we’ll likely be spared the “will they or won’t they go dancing?” storyline that was exhausted by local and national media 2009-2012. Since half the local and national sports media are Northwestern graduates, the storyline got way overblown. Everyone loves the Chris Collins hire; they just don’t think there’s enough talent in Evanston right now to make a run. And everyone loves the Chris Collins pedigree. The experience he has coaching champions. Sure, the coaching tree of Coach K. hasn’t exactly produced much of note. None of his former assistants that went on to lead other programs have accomplished any deep, sustained NCAA tourney success, but maybe Chris Collins will be different? 
The idea is that Chris Collins brings veteran poise from coaching in so many big games. He has experience under the bright lights. An example is the Champions Classic; which comes to Chicago this year. It’s by far the biggest preconference college basketball game(s) of this season for the Chicago area. Even though it has no local teams, the fact that it’s at the United Center creates tremendous local interest. “Two years ago Coach K beat Michigan State to break Bobby Knight’s record for all time wins in the Champions Classic. Last year in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome, completely filled,” Chris Collins said at Big Ten Media Day. “I think it’s been great to have that Final Four type atmosphere in the first week of the season.” Yes, this is like the BCS version of college hoops, right at the beginning of the season. If you took the preseason polls, and all the seeds held, this is your Final Four. Right here in Chicago; right from the very start of the year. Friday night the season begins and we’ll see if Chris Collins is ready for prime time. He’s certainly spent a lot of nights as an assistant in prime time. “When you’re a coach of a program at this level you’re almost like the coach of a company,” he said. “Less than half of what you do is get on the floor and coach basketball, and that’s what been the most eye opening to me, even though I knew it. You have to learn how to manage your time and prioritize.” Season preview here: #75 Northwestern Listen to me every Tuesday at 10:30 AM Central talking Illini and Northwestern on KOZN 1620 The Zone Omaha Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the world; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS