(05-16-2020 02:04 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(05-16-2020 10:35 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(05-13-2020 04:53 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  The point is that it pisses off the season ticket holders and if it does that, what does it do to the less serious fanbase? The less serious fanbase simply doesn't show up and we don't hear about it.

It's not clear that it would have as big of an impact on the less serious fanbase ... fair weather fans get that name for a reason.

But this is part of the reason they should have Rivalry Week on the Third Saturday in October ... because that helps provide a ledge against the drops in November attendance from spilling backward into October.

I know Toledo doesn't consider us a rival, but considering that the West division came down to NIU vs. Toledo for most years for about a decade in a row, with none of those games on a Saturday, that's just messed up no matter how you look at it.

Yes, the three schools that don't have a fixed (or rotating) "Rivalry Week" game, I'd favor letting them pick a school to play Saturday the following week. If NIU wants Toledo, Ball State wants Miami and Buffalo wants ... I dunno, Kent State (closest), then so be it.