Black Friday might be over but Northwestern remains the best bargain on the market – the bowl market, that is.

At 6-6, the Wildcats are bowl eligible but not necessarily bowl bound. Their fate remains in the hands of bowl game officials, first those from the Big Ten bowls, who will decide whether Northwestern is Dallas-bound or Detroit-bound.

If the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and TicketCity Bowl decide otherwise, then Northwestern will get thrown into the abyss, as any bowl with an open slot can pick what I believe to be the most attractive team on the open market.

Think about it. The Wildcats are arguably one of the hotter teams in the country right now, with wins in four of their last five games. When Northwestern does lose, it’s usually in exciting – if slightly painstaking – fashion. The Cats’ six losses came by an average of 11.5 points. They actually had big leads against Illinois and Michigan, and mounted a spirited comeback against Iowa. This team is all about drama. Drama makes for good television, which should make any bowl happy.

As senior quarterback Dan Persa said, “The games that we lost were because of little funadamental things. It wasn’t us getting blown out of the barn or anything.”

The Wildcats have certainly made bowl organizers happy in the past. One of the best theater schools in the country, Northwestern has successfully brought the Greek tragedy to the football field. Who can forget Missouri’s 37-yard game-tying field goal with 2:49 to go in the fourth quarter in 2008? Or Zeke Markshausen’s failed dash to the end zone on a fake field goal in overtime against Auburn? Or Kain Colter’s dazzling performance in a failed comeback bid against Texas Tech? The Wildcats might not have filled many seats at the Cotton Bowl, but they certainly entertained the masses.

So what bowl organizers have in front of them is a 6-6 team from the Big Ten that plays lots of close games. The New York Mets used to have a song that advertised, “We don’t have one great Carlos, we have two.” Well, that didn’t turn out so well for the Slackers from Shea, but the Wildcats are fortunate to have two dynamic quarterbacks. Most bowls would be thankful to have anyone as marketable as Dan Persa or Kain Colter. Northwestern has itself a bona fide duo to show off for the cameras.

And there’s no doubt the Wildcats and their fan base will be fired up for this game. They haven’t won a postseason game since the 1949 Rose Bowl, so even if it’s the Little Cessars Pizza Bowl, you can bet Northwestern will be hungry.

But don’t take my word for it. Take coach Pat Fitzgerald’s:

“I expect to win, and I expect to win everything we do. To not do that six times this year is disappointing. We have a chance for a winning season and a chance to win a bowl game. We’ll do everything we can to send these seniors off the right way.”

So start shopping bowls, because if you pick the purple and white, you’re guaranteed to end up with plenty of green. And perhaps an ESPN Classic.

Sports editor Jonah Rosenblum is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected]