CHICAGO _ Michael Wilbon closed out Monday's "Pardon the Interruption" with a salute to his alma mater. When Tony Kornheiser mentioned that Duke had ascended to No. 1 in the AP poll, Wilbon shot back: "That's OK, but not the women. They got a beatdown at Northwestern."
Then he mentioned the top scorer from the Wildcats' 84-58 victory, a family friend from Maryland: "Shoutout to Lindsey Pulliam."
Asked by phone whether people give him flak for all the Northwestern mentions, Wilbon replied: "Sure, yeah, but I don't give a (crap). As Scott Van Pelt put it: 'Everyone's from somewhere.' People want me to mention Notre Dame? Sorry. Michigan? Not going to happen. Northwestern, that's where I'm from."
And it's where he'll be Friday afternoon. "PTI" will be filmed at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston at about 3:15 p.m. Doors open to the public at 2:45, and admission is free. The show will air at 4:30.
The visit is tied to the 6 p.m. game between Northwestern and Binghamton, Kornheiser's alma mater. Wilbon and Kornheiser will call it for ESPN, joining play-by-play man Dave Flemming. Poor guy.
"I told him, 'Dude, you have no idea what you're in for,' " Wilbon said. "We have no idea what we're doing."
Northwestern rates 50th on KenPom.com and Binghamton checks in at 292, so there's probably not much chance of an upset. But if the game's in doubt ...
"I will run out onto the court and tackle somebody," joked Wilbon, a Northwestern trustee.
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