Northwestern can win.

Yes, the Wildcats can beat No. 7 Illinois on Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, and I’ll tell you how.

Sure, some might say they can do it by shutting down senior guard Dee Brown. Other may suggest they can do it by forcing senior center James Augustine out of the post. But if the Cats really want to end their three-game losing streak, there’s only one definitive key to this game – the only one we can really be sure about in this crazy conference.

And it’s directed squarely at Carmody Central.

Whatever you do folks, don’t throw food this time.

I’m sure we all still remember that time as vividly as last night’s episode of “The O.C.” (Kaitlin came back!). Bill O’Reilly was fighting with a talk show host. Gas prices were ungodly. Everyone was talking about Brad and Jennifer.

Yes, things were different then.

But something even more shocking stole the mid-January 2005 headlines – on that fateful Jan. 15, sold-out home game, somebody in NU’s student section threw pizza at then-No. 1 Illinois’ manager. The undefeated Illini went on to knock off the Cats, 78-66, with many claiming they were fueled by that flying mixture of dough, tomato sauce and cheese.

Well, some thought it was pizza. Guard Luther Head had another idea.

“Somebody threw a doughnut or something in the warm-up,” said Head, who now spends his days with the Houston Rockets, probably asking coach Jeff Van Gundy to explain the perfect execution of the pick-and-roll, or what the difference between pizza and a doughnut is.

That difference didn’t matter to Brown, who offered this gem: “Things were said, and things were thrown – They threw food, it doesn’t matter what it was. You could throw a shoe. I feel we deserve a little more respect than that.”

So, disrespected, the Illini flew toward the sun – and eventually the NCAA championship game – on a slice of pizza. Or a doughnut. Whatever.

After the game, coach Bruce Weber downplayed the food-throwing and also the taunting of the aforementioned manager.

And at last October’s Big Ten media day, when asked about 2005’s most famous pizza delivery, the likable Illini coach laughed.

“(Northwestern’s) fans are great,” Weber said. “Their students are great. They’re hilarious, I think, very creative – It was a lot of fun.”

Meanwhile, Augustine shared his coach’s reaction.

“It was funny,” he said “I can’t think of any food I’d want thrown at me at the game or before the game – but at the same time everybody still laughs about that to this day in the locker room.”

Clearly Augustine’s lying. Clearly the Illini want NU students to throw food again.

After all, it’s a trap game for Illinois. NU is home, coming off back-to-back road blowouts, while two losses in a three-game stretch have exposed the Illini as considerably weaker than their 15-0 start suggested. So they need a boost. Or at least some pepperoni.

Luckily for the Cats, Red Baron no longer does its “pizza delivery of the game.” This gives the WildSide considerably less free ammunition, and the notion of throwing paid-for pizza would be as ridiculous as, you know, getting only three hours off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Still, the temptation is there. But before you act upon it, ask yourself this: What Would Willie Do? (I mean, before he mysteriously disappeared.)

Willie would eat that pizza, not anger his school’s Chief (Get it? Chief!) rival.

Because NU really can win on its own. They just need a slice of good luck.

Assistant Sports Editor Patrick Dorsey is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].