Why don't we do this with NIU?
by erikbushey on Jul 30, 2009 10:25 AM CDT
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Play every year, home and home, with NIU's home games at Solider Field. And make it a true home game for NIU, so that they can keep the gate (which should sell out) and ESPN can pick it up, since they have the rights to MAC home games (shopping neutral site games can get tricky.) Hell, play the thing on a Thursday (MAC loves it, and has the Big 10 ever done it?) so Zook can keep raising the scheduling bar (I love FSU and Cinncy after Big 10 play ends, genius). AND, we play one more I-A game (all of our games should be I-A) so no one can mock us during the offseason for scheduling a bunch of cupcakes. The only drawbacks as I see it are: 1)NIU might not want to give up a home game very other year and 2) we might be afraid that we'll lose. Anyone else think of a reason not to do this?
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NIU's Coach? Last name = Kill.
Put him and Zook on the same field, and you can’t imagine the intensity that would arise from it.
Anyway, in all seriousness . . . . They oughta do this.
"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields
The Big Ten has done some Thursday night stuff before
But Indiana is the only one I can think of that has done it is Indiana. They opened on a Thursday at NC State in 2001 and will open at home this year on a Thursday. Northwestern might have done it with a road game at TCU a few years ago too.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
Sounds like a good idea to me
We’ll see what happens after our 2010 matchup. Personally, I’m fine with any Soldier Field games mostly because they are going to sell out and we make out like gangbusters in terms of a payout and media exposure.
In 2011, we play Wisconsin @ SF. Our fans don’t see Soldier Field as a “true” home game. Our ‘inaugural’ game at SF back in 2007, the stadium was mostly filled with Iowa fans. And when we play Wisconsin, its likely that mostly Badger fans will be there.
This is causing somewhat of a rift in our fanbase, but some problems were resolved with a recent announcement of Kansas coming to Dekalb in 2012 for an actual home game against a BCS team. There’s also rumors of another game against Iowa @ SF that same year.
Red and Black Attack - Northern Illinois Pride
Great exposure
This would be great exposure for both schools. Do it.
It's a Horns' world. Even Aggies play hoops with a burnt orange ball.
I'm not a fan of one-for-ones with non-BCS teams
While I’d personally like to take a short trip to Soldier Field as a Chicagoan, it’s almost all downside from the on-the-field perspective since “we’re supposed to win” as the Big Ten team yet will get pounded if we lose at a neutral location. (See our game at Ford Field last year.) If we’re going to do home-and-home series, it should be with BCS teams. For example, I’d love to see us keep Mizzou on the schedule as a home-and-home series.
The other thing it does
is lower costs. MAC teams are costing just South of $1M per appearance in a Big Ten stadium. Throw them a home game (on a 2-1 or 3-1 basis) and you can eliminate or greatly reduce that cost.
I have to believe thats why MSU signed up the 3 Michigan MAC schools for the next decade (The Only Colors has details).
The Rivalry, Esq.
The quintessential Big Ten smoking room.
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