December 21, 200421 yr http://www3.niu.edu/athletics/football/aga...ichAnnounce.htm DeKALB, IL --- On the eve of its first bowl appearance in 21 years, Northern Illinois University Intercollegiate Athletics announced that the Huskies would open the 2005 football season in one of the country?s most storied major-college venues with a Saturday, September 3, non-conference date at the University of Michigan. The joint announcement was made by Northern Illinois director of athletics Jim Phillips and Michigan AD Bill Martin Monday (December 20). The agreement between the schools also included a men?s basketball game in Ann Arbor during either the 2006-07 or 2007-08 seasons. ?This certainly is a wonderful opportunity for our program to play one of the nation?s most prestigious academic and athletic institutions, not to mention the winningest college football program in the history of the game,? said Phillips. ?On behalf of our program, I would like to offer a special thanks to Bill Martin for working diligently together on this agreement. ?For our student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni, and fans, (NIU) playing at Michigan is one of those once in a lifetime experiences---like a bowl game. Our players will remember the Michigan game the rest of their lives.? The Wolverines---currently the No. 1 all-time National Collegiate Athletic Association football program with an 842-274-36 won-lost-tie record and a .74782 winning percentage---represent the eighth of the eleven Big Ten Conference schools to appear on a Northern Illinois football schedule. Since scheduling the University of Wisconsin in 1971, the Huskies have played the University of Illinois, Indiana University, the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, and Penn State University. During this decade, NIU is tentatively scheduled to play at Iowa (2007) and at Purdue University (2009). The game means that Northern Illinois will start the 2005 campaign against back-to-back Big Ten opponents---at Michigan on September 3 and at Northwestern on September 10. The last time the Huskies played two Big Ten teams in the same season was 1992 versus Illinois (September 5) and Wisconsin (September 26). ?That?s quite a challenge,? said ninth-year Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak. ?It?s an opportunity to play one of the perennial powers in college football. I?ve said this before that we should play the local Big Ten teams. Michigan is one of the best college venues in the country. Our kids will really be excited about such an opportunity. We?ve played national people such as Alabama, Auburn, Penn State, so I think we understand the challenge. You play on national television, in a bowl game, or a national power and it?s great for the program and recruiting.? Ironically, a couple years before the Huskies played at Alabama in 2003, former Northern Illinois star linebacker and team captain Nick Duffy asked Novak when and if the team could play in a national venue like ?...the (UM?s) ?Big House.?? Michigan Stadium---built in 1927---seats 107,501 spectators. The largest crowd ever to see the Huskies play football was 95,589 at Penn State?s Beaver Stadium in 1996. Coach Lloyd Carr?s Wolverines---the 2004 Big Ten co-champions---finished the regular season at 9-2 and meet 10-1 University of Texas in the Rose Bowl on January 1. Michigan currently ranks No. 12 in the ESPN / USA Today poll, No. 13 in the Associated Press poll, and No. 13 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. Novak?s Northern Illinois squad makes its first postseason gridiron appearance since the 1983 California Bowl and will meet Troy University of the Sun Belt Conference at the fifth annual Silicon Valley Football Classic on December 30 in San Jose, CA. The Huskies, currently No. 32 in the ESPN / USA Today and No. 35 in the AP polls, captured their third Mid-American Conference West Division crown in the last four years and wound up 8-3 overall this season. The complete 2005 Northern Illinois football schedule will be released this spring. O yea baby, bring on Michigan, cant wait to see my Huskies playing in the sold out bighouse next year!!!!!!!!!!!! GO HUSKIES!
December 21, 200421 yr NIU keeps it close in the first half, then Michigan explodes in the second behind Mr. Hart.
December 21, 200421 yr Author I doubt NIU gets blown out, no matter how big of the mismatch coach Novak always has the Huskies ready to play.
December 21, 200421 yr Why are we talking about a game so far off? Anyways, Michigan will win by two touchdowns.
December 21, 200421 yr The Big Ten next year is gonna be awesome to watch between Michigan, Iowa and OSU for the BT Championship. Michigan @ Iowa OSU @ Michigan Iowa @ OSU
December 21, 200421 yr Author Why are we talking about a game so far off? Anyways, Michigan will win by two touchdowns. 639876[/snapback] Because I was excited that we get to play Michigan next year, and it was just announced.
December 21, 200421 yr Author easy opener 639875[/snapback] Tell that to Maryland twice, Iowa State twice, Alabama, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Wake Forest.
December 21, 200421 yr easy opener 639875[/snapback] Tell that to Maryland twice, Iowa State twice, Alabama, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Wake Forest. 639924[/snapback] Pwn.
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