Welcome to the West Lot Pirates Season Premier where we begin to get ready for the 2026 College Football season! As always, we begin our previews by taking a quick look at all of the Big Ten teams NOT on Northwestern's schedule this year. Tonight, we look at Michigan, Maryland, Purdue and Nebraska.

We have so much to cover in tonight's episode. For starters, NU Lacrosse just won their 9th Championship under Kelly Amonte Hiller with a thrilling 14-11 victory over North Carolina in front of 8,500 fans mostly clad in purple. As if that wasn't enough, Mr. Cat himself, Dave Eanet joins us as we approach the 20 year anniversary of the tragic passing of Randy Walker. We reminisce about the incredible 2000 squad that really changed the landscape of College Football.

With an OT win over a swarming Colorado squad, NU Lacrosse advances to yet another Final 4. This time however, we're playing on our own field. Also, NU has a new President with the announcement that Mung Chiang will be taking the reins July 1st.

Northwestern Lacrosse has the unique opportunity to potentially play every game of the NCAA tournament at Martin Stadium on the lakefront. With their huge win over James Madison, the Cats look to avenge their early season loss to Colorado in the Quarterfinals with the chance to go back to the Final 4 on the line Thursday afternoon.

Lacrosse has now won 4 consecutive Big Ten Conference Tournament Championships to go along with their 4 consecutive Regular Season Championships with a tremendous OT win over Maryland. Now we wait to see what their path will look like as they attempt to make yet another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

We are mere days away from the NFL Draft and there are several Cats who should hear their names called throughout the weekend. To get ready, we welcome in Kevin Fishbain from The Athletic to get us up to speed and talk about his phenomenal podcast Breaking In with Kevin Fishbain.

With March Madness in our rearview mirror, the offseason of College Basketball is upon us. As the Transfer Portal opened on Tuesday, the Wildcats find themselves in a situation we have not experienced before. Eight players have entered their names into the portal and Chris Collins now finds himself in a situation where he will need to completely rebuild the roster. How is this going to work?

In our latest episode, we recap Lacrosse's fantastic road trip to North Carolina and their subsequent home win against Johns Hopkins. We also continue to be baffled by the ridiculous travel-related premature ending of the softball game against Oregon.