The classical Schur polynomials form a natural basis for the ring of symmetric polynomials in n variables, and have geometric significance through their connection with the Schubert classes on Grassmannians. In the last decade an exact analogue of this picture has emerged in the symplectic and orthogonal Lie types, where the Schur polynomials are replaced by the theta and eta polynomials of Buch, Kresch, and the speaker. I will connect this story to the theory of Schubert polynomials, and explain how the theta polynomials can be viewed as Weyl group invariants, thus completing the analogy.