(12-20-2015 06:48 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(12-19-2015 11:22 AM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  Stupid trib won't let me read the article without signing up.

For you HuskieFootballAddict:

Northern Illinois benefits in name recognition from 8th straight bowl trip

By Jack McCarthy
Tribune Freelance Writer

Athletic director Sean Frazier doesn't need to make introductions for Northern Illinois football these days.

The program has transcended its mid-major roots and cultivated a national presence entering Wednesday's Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, the Huskies' eighth consecutive postseason appearance.

"When I put the NIU tag out there, people know where we're from, know what we do and what games we've played in," Frazier said this week. "It's pretty phenomenal to be in a small part of Alabama — where my people are from — and for somebody to say in the Piggly Wiggly: 'Oh, NIU, you guys played in the Orange Bowl. You guys are big time.'

"The brand has grown into a national brand, and we're proud of it."

NIU faces a Boise State program that has smashed similar barriers to college football prominence. The Broncos have played in, and won, three Fiesta Bowls in the last 10 seasons — including a 38-30 victory over Arizona last year — while the Huskies made a landmark Orange Bowl appearance against Florida State in January 2013.

With increased attention has come an expanded recruiting base that reaches into Florida — home to 10 current Huskies, including All-America cornerback Shawun Lurry — and other southern and western states.

Coach Rod Carey said national exposure, consistent winning and strong academics — NIU tops the Mid-American Conference with an 86 percent graduation rate, according to NCAA data — have resulted in positive receptions from recruits.

"That's been a really good response, not just with the recruits but with the coaches and parents," Carey said. "The position we've been in the last five years, not only with making the MAC championship but with the 'MACtion' (midweek ESPN games), really gives us a leg up in getting our brand out there. Five years later, you are really seeing a comfort and a good response to that."

The Huskies have gone 65-18 since 2010, easily outperforming the state's other two FBS programs, Northwestern (43-32) and Illinois (31-44).

NIU has also upgraded facilities, including the Yordon training center adjacent to Huskie Stadium that opened in 2007 and the spacious Chessick indoor practice field that debuted in 2011.

The national exposure has come from aggressive scheduling that included games this season at then-No. 1 Ohio State and Boston College, plus exclusive attention via the MAC's November midweek games on ESPN networks.

Future schedules include Boston College, Nebraska, Iowa, BYU, San Diego State, Maryland, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. And an expanded Huskie Stadium is on the drawing board as part of a privately funded facilities upgrade plan.

But first officials have to figure out how to draw notoriously fickle students and fans to fill the existing 23,595-seat stadium, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2015. NIU averaged just under 14,000 fans for six home dates.

"At the end of the day, it's time to show up," Frazier said. "It's not because we're not winning. If you want the Boises of the world to come to Huskie Stadium, the BYUs, you've got to show up."

The Poinsettia Bowl has a reported payout of less than $1 million that is shared with the conference. NIU's traveling party to San Diego will number between 250 and 260, and the school typically doesn't break even on bowl trips.

But even as a loss leader, any postseason appearance has significant value.

"To have that publicity is huge," Frazier said. "You have an institutional infomercial about everything that is special about NIU for a three- or 3 1/2-hour time block. That TV time on a national broadcast is pretty significant."

Jack McCarthy is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.