Would NIU be the only Division 1 school in the nation to not even send their cheerleaders, pep band, and dance team to the conference tournament? I understand that it is a long way from DeKalb to Cleveland. Also the men's program has been very weak for awhile and the women haven't really accomplished anything lately either, but come on! A handful of fans showed up, and that was it for support. That is somewhat understandable, but not even cheerleaders?? No band. The only team with no one cheering for them.
For the record, the men lost on Tuesday and the women won on Tuesday and lost on Wednesday.

The men must have been really bad to lose on a travel day.

Wow they used to send them I remember liking their band especially since they seemingly copied Kent's old hockey style Flasher Brass uniforms for their pep band.

I counted 27 people in the section for NIU at the UT women's game. Not sure they were all NIU fans though. Mix was sitting there for a minute but I didn't count him. All I can say is that's a long haul for NIU and shows why the tournament should be moved back to Toledo permanently.

A few years back we had both our band and cheerleaders. No idea why we didn't send them this year. Both of our teams won first round games and earned a trip to Cleveland. Not acceptable IMO.

(03-12-2012 08:24 AM)HuskiemobileMan Wrote:  A few years back we had both our band and cheerleaders. No idea why we didn't send them this year. Both of our teams won first round games and earned a trip to Cleveland. Not acceptable IMO.

+1

(03-12-2012 12:54 AM)JSF Wrote:  The men must have been really bad to lose on a travel day.

I guess that would make them winless on the road.

This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

(03-12-2012 09:29 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

I think they're waiting for a coach, hopefully the current one, to turn things around on the court, before they spend a lot of money on it. They do have the Convo now to play in, instead of the old fieldhouse. If the team does better and the fans start to show up, then maybe....

(03-12-2012 09:29 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

No doubt football is #1 at NIU. However, NIU has put substantial resources into the Mens and Womens BBall programs. The salaries for Montgomery and Bennett are certainly competitive in the MAC.

That aside, there is NO excuse for not having the cheerleaders and band in Cleveland. None.

(03-12-2012 09:29 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

Yep, there is no reason why NIU shouldn't be contending for the MACC in basketball every year with how close we are to Chicago and really nice facilities. Other sports are improving though. We are just not improving in basketball but hopefully on the right path. It's insane how long we have been bad at mens basketball.

(03-12-2012 09:29 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

That makes no sense...

NIU doesnt even have a band at home games. Unless you call the 6-7 that show up "the band".

Why pull things together so you can spend $ you dont have to support something that normally isnt strongly supported?

When they start winning and generate support in the future the Huskie Pep Band will likely make an appearance. Not now.

(03-14-2012 07:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(03-12-2012 09:29 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

That makes no sense...

I agree.

Why would they? There are plenty of other MAC schools that put as much effort in basketball as we do football but none of us have been invited to another conference. Why would NIU be extra special? And there is no MAC team that is a serious contender for conference expansion?

(03-15-2012 01:21 AM)Beckman4President Wrote:  

(03-14-2012 07:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(03-12-2012 09:29 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

That makes no sense...

I agree.

Why would they? There are plenty of other MAC schools that put as much effort in basketball as we do football but none of us have been invited to another conference. Why would NIU be extra special? And there is no MAC team that is a serious contender for conference expansion?

Look where NIU is located. There are very few MAC schools that put the proper effort into all sports. Those couple of MAC schools that do.....are being noticed, even if you don't hear about it publicly.

Also, NIU has the potential for very strong attendance. And they are in a part of the country that gives them several conference options. A school like Akron or Kent State for instance, has less conference options in the grand scheme of things. And Illinois is not over-saturated with DI schools like Ohio and Michigan are.

(03-14-2012 07:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(03-12-2012 09:29 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote:  This is why NIU is not a serious contender for conference expansion. If they put as much effort into their other sports as they do football, they probably would have received an invite from another conference by now.

That makes no sense...

Most on here won't understand it, but it's like I've said......most fans on here don't really understand the conference expansion stuff as much as we'd like to think we do.

I understand what you are saying about Illinois not being saturated and you are right but it isn't like NIU has the Chicago market. NIU is like the same distance from Chicago as UT is from Detroit and I'd say NIU has the Chicago market the way Toledo or EMU has the Detroit market.

The MAC gets very little media coverage in hoops here in Chicagoland....neither does NIU for the most part. Due to the recent success, NIU football seems to get a lot more coverage...again, coverage on the MAC is negligble as everything is focused on ND and the Big Ten for the most part. Leagues like the MVC (hoops) also get scant coverage here as well.

(03-15-2012 01:09 PM)exCincy Kid Wrote:  The MAC gets very little media coverage in hoops here in Chicagoland....neither does NIU for the most part. Due to the recent success, NIU football seems to get a lot more coverage...again, coverage on the MAC is negligble as everything is focused on ND and the Big Ten for the most part. Leagues like the MVC (hoops) also get scant coverage here as well.

Yep, that's what I'm talking about. And Cincy...think about this. How much coverage do ND and Illinois/NW get compared to the Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Bulls, and Bears? These are just arbitrary numbers I made up but it seems like the Chicago pro teams get about 75% of the coverage/amount that locals give-a-schitz, 23% to the ND, Illinois/NW, and 2% to NIU, ISU, WIU, etc.

Again, those are just numbers that I made up and aren't correct but I would bet that if I walked out and asked 10 guys on the sidewalk who was NIU's starting QB the past couple years or name one player on NIU's basketball team, maaaaaayyyybe one would say Harnish but I'd guess it would be zero. And I'd exempt any European. I would guess that the majority would be able to tell you that Cutler is the Bears starting QB, Rose, Deng, or Noah are Bulls players, etc.

Not a knock on NIU though. Like I said, we like to think we have the Detroit market but we really don't.

(03-15-2012 01:17 PM)Beckman4President Wrote:  

(03-15-2012 01:09 PM)exCincy Kid Wrote:  The MAC gets very little media coverage in hoops here in Chicagoland....neither does NIU for the most part. Due to the recent success, NIU football seems to get a lot more coverage...again, coverage on the MAC is negligble as everything is focused on ND and the Big Ten for the most part. Leagues like the MVC (hoops) also get scant coverage here as well.

Yep, that's what I'm talking about. And Cincy...think about this. How much coverage do ND and Illinois/NW get compared to the Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Bulls, and Bears? These are just arbitrary numbers I made up but it seems like the Chicago pro teams get about 75% of the coverage/amount that locals give-a-schitz, 23% to the ND, Illinois/NW, and 2% to NIU, ISU, WIU, etc.

Again, those are just numbers that I made up and aren't correct but I would bet that if I walked out and asked 10 guys on the sidewalk who was NIU's starting QB the past couple years or name one player on NIU's basketball team, maaaaaayyyybe one would say Harnish but I'd guess it would be zero. And I'd exempt any European. I would guess that the majority would be able to tell you that Cutler is the Bears starting QB, Rose, Deng, or Noah are Bulls players, etc.

Not a knock on NIU though. Like I said, we like to think we have the Detroit market but we really don't.

I'd say your arbitrary numbers are about right, with ND getting more media attention than either Illinois or NU.