I will be in the house.
Can't wait

NIU 63
SIU 60

Bring as many people as you can. Get them to order tickets now. We need as many Huskie fans as possible there for this game. Have people plan ahead for it, don't just tell them the day of.

Something strange and disturbing has happened with NIU student support of the Huskies the last few years. It was never great to begin with, but now it just BAD. Why is this? Is it the changing demographic profile on campus? Do African American students and other minority student groups just not care about NIU sports? When I'm at football and basketball games I don't see that many minorities in attendance, especially for a campus that must have 3 or 4 times the number of minorities than when I attended NIU in the early-mid 1980's. I'm not picking on one group of people. NOBODY among the student group is there.

Huskiefan38 Wrote:Bring as many people as you can. Get them to order tickets now. We need as many Huskie fans as possible there for this game. Have people plan ahead for it, don't just tell them the day of.

SIU fans may have already ordered many tickets. We need to get the word to NIU alumni and the community to do the same NOW. DON'T WAIT. It's our own fault if Huskie fans don't buy their tickets early and instead all end up sitting up high as the Saluki fans get the better seats!
http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/tickets/niu-tickets.html

It's during winter break too which is very nice.

I can't wait for it.

Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Something strange and disturbing has happened with NIU student support of the Huskies the last few years. It was never great to begin with, but now it just BAD. Why is this? Is it the changing demographic profile on campus? Do African American students and other minority student groups just not care about NIU sports? When I'm at football and basketball games I don't see that many minorities in attendance, especially for a campus that must have 3 or 4 times the number of minorities than when I attended NIU in the early-mid 1980's. I'm not picking on one group of people. NOBODY among the student group is there.

Actually there were quite a few black students at the game along with nice amount of what looked like fraternity guys sitting behind the basket. Not nearly enough but a good start.
Winning brings the students back.
This team continues to show improvement and exhibits talent. Something we did not see for the prior 3-5 years. As the word gets out more will come to see the tam play.
A better non conference home schedule will also help with attendance. Having Loyola and SIU come in this year will help a lot. I would like to see more home and home games with Bradley and Illinois State also. UIC is also another team that could develop into a rivalry if we played on a regular basis.

SIU should win based on better and more experienced talent but NIU could give them a game and keep it within 10 -12 points at the end.

HuskieBro Wrote:SIU should win based on better and more experienced talent but NIU could give them a game and keep it within 10 -12 points at the end.

I doubt it. NIU beat Western Illinois by 11 and Indiana State by 7 (in their first game of the season) and lost to Maine by 14. I don't see NIU being able to keep it close against SIU in front of a big SIU crowd (no matter how many NIU fans are there). SIU will win by at least 20.

Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Something strange and disturbing has happened with NIU student support of the Huskies the last few years. It was never great to begin with, but now it just BAD. Why is this? Is it the changing demographic profile on campus? Do African American students and other minority student groups just not care about NIU sports? When I'm at football and basketball games I don't see that many minorities in attendance, especially for a campus that must have 3 or 4 times the number of minorities than when I attended NIU in the early-mid 1980's. I'm not picking on one group of people. NOBODY among the student group is there.

We haven't been winning so students don't show up. The carry over from 2003 only lasts so long.

Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Something strange and disturbing has happened with NIU student support of the Huskies the last few years. It was never great to begin with, but now it just BAD. Why is this? Is it the changing demographic profile on campus? Do African American students and other minority student groups just not care about NIU sports? When I'm at football and basketball games I don't see that many minorities in attendance, especially for a campus that must have 3 or 4 times the number of minorities than when I attended NIU in the early-mid 1980's. I'm not picking on one group of people. NOBODY among the student group is there.

You have had some pretty dumb posts...

But I think this one wins as the dumbest of all time. Yes even dumber than stating we haven't play an offense like Navy in YEARS (and by years you meant 12 months).

What happens is at schools like NIU, and ALL OTHER MAC SCHOOLS, is that when teams lose fans don't come out. Everyone on this board loves NIU, but other fans who aren't like us like other teams just as much if not more. So if NIU isn't winning they focus on U of I, Notre Dame, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc.

Big Red Wrote:

HuskieBro Wrote:SIU should win based on better and more experienced talent but NIU could give them a game and keep it within 10 -12 points at the end.

I doubt it. NIU beat Western Illinois by 11 and Indiana State by 7 (in their first game of the season) and lost to Maine by 14. I don't see NIU being able to keep it close against SIU in front of a big SIU crowd (no matter how many NIU fans are there). SIU will win by at least 20.

Maine is 3-0 right now. They look to be a pretty decent team. Western Illinois won tonight too.

Big Red Wrote:

HuskieBro Wrote:SIU should win based on better and more experienced talent but NIU could give them a game and keep it within 10 -12 points at the end.

I doubt it. NIU beat Western Illinois by 11 and Indiana State by 7 (in their first game of the season) and lost to Maine by 14. I don't see NIU being able to keep it close against SIU in front of a big SIU crowd (no matter how many NIU fans are there). SIU will win by at least 20.

Not seeing it. HuskieBro is dead on, a 10-12 point win seems about right to me too.

SIU is extremely talented but we're extremely raw too. Even though there could be more SIU fans there, it's still a road game.

epasnoopy Wrote:

Big Red Wrote:

HuskieBro Wrote:SIU should win based on better and more experienced talent but NIU could give them a game and keep it within 10 -12 points at the end.

I doubt it. NIU beat Western Illinois by 11 and Indiana State by 7 (in their first game of the season) and lost to Maine by 14. I don't see NIU being able to keep it close against SIU in front of a big SIU crowd (no matter how many NIU fans are there). SIU will win by at least 20.

Maine is 3-0 right now. They look to be a pretty decent team. Western Illinois won tonight too.

Fun with numbers. Maine beat NIU, Kennesaw State, and Princeton (by 3 points). Basically you're saying Maine and Southern Illinois are about the same team, and I'm not so sure about that.

Big Red Wrote:Fun with numbers. Maine beat NIU, Kennesaw State, and Princeton (by 3 points). Basically you're saying Maine and Southern Illinois are about the same team, and I'm not so sure about that.

Who said that? I didn't get that out of the previous posts? They were just commenting that Maine is now 3-0 and maybe not as bad as everyone assumed. And, even though we lost by 14, it was a closer game than that. If I remember it was only 6-8 points we were down fairly late in the game. At the end we missed shots and they hit free throws. If we hit a couple of those shots the game could have been very different.
Before you assume what I am saying and post it here, let me say that I am not saying that we are going to be real good this year. I'd be thrilled with a .500 record or close to it because we are going to be so much better next year. But we might be more competitive than people expect in some games. That said, SIU is way ahead of us in experience and physical maturity and recruiting.

I just keep thinking: Imagine this same team next year (minus Smith), a year older physically and experience wise, and throw in Xavier Silas who might be the best player on the team. And Nixon will likely contribute as well. Then get most of them all back again (except Ervin and Dzpina) for 2010-11! They don't have to win much this year for me to be excited!

Big Red Wrote:

HuskieBro Wrote:SIU should win based on better and more experienced talent but NIU could give them a game and keep it within 10 -12 points at the end.

I doubt it. NIU beat Western Illinois by 11 and Indiana State by 7 (in their first game of the season) and lost to Maine by 14. I don't see NIU being able to keep it close against SIU in front of a big SIU crowd (no matter how many NIU fans are there). SIU will win by at least 20.

It's a little bit early to make a prediction that is that crazy.

It looks now like SIU will win by like 12 points or so, our young kids will be more comfortable at home so 12 should be right on.

20 is crazy. I know there will be a lot of SIU fans, but our kids don't have to worry about a bus ride back home, or a bus ride there.