Seven days into the new year, the fresh decade is already losing its charm. Those week-old resolutions are starting to face reality, 2010 feels suspiciously like 2009 and the Wildcats are still losing bowl games. As hangovers subside and classes begin, the cold, dull blandness of Winter Quarter looms intimidatingly. How shall we be entertained?

To borrow the words of every sports anchor who has broadcasted a Wildcats basketball game in Evanston, “temperatures are freezing out on Northwestern’s lakefront campus, but here in Welsh-Ryan arena, things are heating up!” This rise of NU’s basketball program from laughable to adequate has been overshadowed by the simultaneous ascendency of the football program from lousy to great, but after its first NIT tournament appearance in 10 years and first Associated Press Top 25 Poll ranking in four decades, the men’s basketball team may finally become the highlight of Winter Quarter.

This year’s squad must be getting tired of having their success qualified by the loss of their most talented player, senior Kevin Coble, to injury before the season began. Coble led the team in points and rebounds all three of his previous years on the team, but never led them to a 10-3 season-opening record. In his absence, sophomore John Shurna has claimed the role as the team’s leading scorer, already capturing two Big Ten Player of the Week awards. Guard Michael “Juice” Thompson averages 38 minutes a game and has matured along with senior Jeremy Nash to lead a still young squad without its star. The result is a likeable and exciting team of underdogs that wins games by moving the ball and working hard on defense.

While it remains as far from campus as Ryan Field, Welsh-Ryan Arena is the superior sports stadium of the two. Unlike its football counterpart, with seating capacity for roughly 8,000, Welsh-Ryan routinely attracts sell-out crowds. True to NU-style, many of these are from opposing schools, but the seating at the venue crams these misguided fans high into the darkened rafters to be heard, but not seen. The lights are reserved for courtside, where a ring of purple-clad fans is increasingly filling the seats.

Basketball student sections are secretly the most fun of college athletics. Instead of drunk students bundled tightly and screaming jeers at an opponent 100 yards away on an early, frigid autumn morning, Welsh-Ryan invites these fans into a warm arena where purple “MAKE SHOTS” T-shirts are as comfortable as they are fashionable and athletes are within earshot. Last weekend, Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan smiled at the free-throw line after listening to my frank appraisal of his talents from the stands. Students complain about how NU doesn’t provide sports fans with authentic college atmospheres, but the electricity of a sold-out NU basketball game is finally giving NU students more value for their tuition, making a trip to Welsh-Ryan the hottest thing to do this Winter Quarter.