(07-06-2014 08:51 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  I am not ripping on NIU ftball, BOB. I am pointing out that we have not played any good teams since 2004. And yes, I would say that every year there are no more than 30-40 good teams. Also Bob, I support NIU FTBALL financially and by attendance more than 90 some percent of NIU fans. Just because I am a big fan of bball doesn't mean that I am ripping on ftball. Is this ripping on the ftball team, I believe the bball team will double the ftball teams wins this year. BobL, name the team that was good other than Wisconsin that we have played since 2004?

Not sure why you brought mt into this...but since you asked, the last 5 years:
Iowa last year(8-5), finished a top 40 team
Florida State 2012(12-2), finished a top 10 team
Wisconsin 2011(11-3) finished a Top 10
Wisconsin 2009(10-3) finished a top 20 team.

How about Michigan and Ohio State

And what difference does it make if they a good team in the regular season rather than the postseason?

niu007, because we were talking about schedules. NIU has no control over postseason schedule. NIU controls there non-conference schedule.

(07-07-2014 07:19 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  niu007, because we were talking about schedules. NIU has no control over postseason schedule. NIU controls there non-conference schedule.

I think their schedule has been tough enough, on the road. It's the home schedule that needs fixing.

(07-06-2014 09:37 AM)NIU05 Wrote:  Arkansas will be EXTREMELY difficult task. Best regular season team we have played since Wisconsin and Russell Wils. on on the lakefront. BB will get Arkansas to the SEC title game within 2-3 years.

Arky has a ballbuster schedule; opening at defending SEC champion Auburn, 2 weeks later on the road at Texas Tech. After NIU they travel to Reliant Stadium to take on TX A&M, they a bye week followed by a home gam with Alabama. They will likely have at least 2 losses on their record and NIU is not their home opener (Nichols State). Trap game made to order.

(07-07-2014 11:21 PM)Policiious Wrote:  

(07-06-2014 09:37 AM)NIU05 Wrote:  Arkansas will be EXTREMELY difficult task. Best regular season team we have played since Wisconsin and Russell Wils. on on the lakefront. BB will get Arkansas to the SEC title game within 2-3 years.

Arky has a ballbuster schedule; opening at defending SEC champion Auburn, 2 weeks later on the road at Texas Tech. After NIU they travel to Reliant Stadium to take on TX A&M, they a bye week followed by a home gam with Alabama. They will likely have at least 2 losses on their record and NIU is not their home opener (Nichols State). Trap game made to order.

NBD but the TX A&M game is at Arlington, TX in AT&T Stadium.

I agree this hints of a trap game for Arky but it would have been MUCH better for us if Johnny M was still playing for TX A&M.

My hopes for this game is we get out of it injury free.

(07-07-2014 11:21 PM)Policiious Wrote:  

(07-06-2014 09:37 AM)NIU05 Wrote:  Arkansas will be EXTREMELY difficult task. Best regular season team we have played since Wisconsin and Russell Wils. on on the lakefront. BB will get Arkansas to the SEC title game within 2-3 years.

Arky has a ballbuster schedule; opening at defending SEC champion Auburn, 2 weeks later on the road at Texas Tech. After NIU they travel to Reliant Stadium to take on TX A&M, they a bye week followed by a home gam with Alabama. They will likely have at least 2 losses on their record and NIU is not their home opener (Nichols State). Trap game made to order.

Thanks,did not know that. Still ARK will be tough. Love the way they have been recruiting BIG TALENTED OLINE, with a GREAT Oline coach in Sam Pittman (ex Huskie asst). BB is laying the foundation for a SEC run in 2,3 years.

(07-08-2014 06:41 PM)NIU05 Wrote:  

(07-07-2014 11:21 PM)Policiious Wrote:  

(07-06-2014 09:37 AM)NIU05 Wrote:  Arkansas will be EXTREMELY difficult task. Best regular season team we have played since Wisconsin and Russell Wils. on on the lakefront. BB will get Arkansas to the SEC title game within 2-3 years.

Arky has a ballbuster schedule; opening at defending SEC champion Auburn, 2 weeks later on the road at Texas Tech. After NIU they travel to Reliant Stadium to take on TX A&M, they a bye week followed by a home gam with Alabama. They will likely have at least 2 losses on their record and NIU is not their home opener (Nichols State). Trap game made to order.

Thanks,did not know that. Still ARK will be tough. Love the way they have been recruiting BIG TALENTED OLINE, with a GREAT Oline coach in Sam Pittman (ex Huskie asst). BB is laying the foundation for a SEC run in 2,3 years.

Arkansas will be a tough game but it will definitely be a possibly winnable game for NIU even while having a new QB. Arkansas was awful last year and isn't expected to be much better this year. I disagree that they will make a run for the SEC in 2-3 years. Do you really think they are going to surpass Texas A&M, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama in their division? No way and it's not happening anytime soon.

(07-09-2014 08:41 AM)RednBlackHuskie Wrote:  Arkansas will be a tough game but it will definitely be a possibly winnable game for NIU even while having a new QB. Arkansas was awful last year and isn't expected to be much better this year. I disagree that they will make a run for the SEC in 2-3 years. Do you really think they are going to surpass Texas A&M, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama in their division? No way and it's not happening anytime soon.

That's what I remember hearing people in the MAC say about NIU after we rejoined the conference in 1997 and had gone 0-11, 2-9, 5-6, 6-5, and 6-5. We got some great o-line recruits, suddenly Novak with Pittman's help got the Huskies turned around. What's A&M do without Manziel? Maybe Auburn's due for another investigation. Alabama was a Top 25 team when the Huskies surprised them and that year turned out to be a (pun intended) low tide. Hard to say when a program is going to change for the better or worse. One thing for certain, as NIU05 noted, Pittman's an excellent coach and was a terrific coordinator for us. We'd be lucky to have him as a head coach.

No one thought Mizzou would be in the SEC Championship game last year

(07-09-2014 09:52 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(07-09-2014 08:41 AM)RednBlackHuskie Wrote:  Arkansas will be a tough game but it will definitely be a possibly winnable game for NIU even while having a new QB. Arkansas was awful last year and isn't expected to be much better this year. I disagree that they will make a run for the SEC in 2-3 years. Do you really think they are going to surpass Texas A&M, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama in their division? No way and it's not happening anytime soon.

That's what I remember hearing people in the MAC say about NIU after we rejoined the conference in 1997 and had gone 0-11, 2-9, 5-6, 6-5, and 6-5. We got some great o-line recruits, suddenly Novak with Pittman's help got the Huskies turned around. What's A&M do without Manziel? Maybe Auburn's due for another investigation. Alabama was a Top 25 team when the Huskies surprised them and that year turned out to be a (pun intended) low tide. Hard to say when a program is going to change for the better or worse. One thing for certain, as NIU05 noted, Pittman's an excellent coach and was a terrific coordinator for us. We'd be lucky to have him as a head coach.

NIU didn't have two teams ahead of them in their division at that time that had won national championships in recent years. Alabama then versus now are completely different. Alabama was beginning to slide then (yes, NIU did beat them when they were ranked) and now are as good as they ever have been and are a top 5 team year in and year out. As long as Saban is there, it will be hard to take them down. I think the only teams that can take Alabama down are Auburn and LSU on a yearly basis. I don't deny that Pittman's an excellent coach and should help them immensely. I deny that Arkansas has a legitimate chance to leap past LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M, and Auburn in their own division (without even discussing South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Missouri in the other division) to make it to the top of SEC in the near future.

Arkansas has to leap 4 teams (technically 6 teams with Ole Miss and Miss St. ahead of them too, but they can easily be passed) with 3 of them (LSU, Alabama, Auburn) legitimate SEC and national championship contenders every single year. Not happening for Arkansas. They might get to be a respectable team, but they won't beat all those teams in one season any time soon.

Quote:No one thought Mizzou would be in the SEC Championship game last year

I agree that no one thought that, but Mizzou won the east because UGA had a ridiculous amount of injuries and South Carolina can't win multiple big division games in a season to clinch the east. Mizzou had to have two teams fall apart and both are known for doing so to begin with (UGA, SC). That isn't to say Mizzou wasn't good (they were), but they had an easier path than usual this past year.

For the most part I agree with you, but you should never say never. At one time, people said NIU would never play in a major bowl.
You're absolutely correct in your analysis that there were / are better teams ahead of Arkansas in their division than the Huskies had to face. However, just like better teams ahead of a Mizzou stumbled, a path opened up for the Tigers. It takes one loss and Alabama, Auburn, LSU fans consider the season a bust, and thanks to the SEC's other division, someone can deliver one of those teams a second loss. Once again, Arkansas doesn't have to beat all of those teams, they need to beat the right one, get help, and suddenly they're part of a tie for first. Is that possible two three years down the road? Did anyone think Florida wouldn't continue to be in the national title picture after 2006 and 2008? Did anyone think Urban Meyer would leave the Gators?

(07-10-2014 11:59 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  For the most part I agree with you, but you should never say never. At one time, people said NIU would never play in a major bowl.
You're absolutely correct in your analysis that there were / are better teams ahead of Arkansas in their division than the Huskies had to face. However, just like better teams ahead of a Mizzou stumbled, a path opened up for the Tigers. It takes one loss and Alabama, Auburn, LSU fans consider the season a bust, and thanks to the SEC's other division, someone can deliver one of those teams a second loss. Once again, Arkansas doesn't have to beat all of those teams, they need to beat the right one, get help, and suddenly they're part of a tie for first. Is that possible two three years down the road? Did anyone think Florida wouldn't continue to be in the national title picture after 2006 and 2008? Did anyone think Urban Meyer would leave the Gators?

I kind of feel like the Razorbacks like I did with Beckman at Toledo. As long as he is the coach there is a limit to how much success they can have, the guy is just bad, so so bad.

Completely way off topic, but I was thinking yesterday about previous seasons and just realized Bowling Green ended our chances in the first year of the BCS and they ended our chances in the last year of the BCS. Kinda crazy.

(07-11-2014 01:17 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  Completely way off topic, but I was thinking yesterday about previous seasons and just realized Bowling Green ended our chances in the first year of the BCS and they ended our chances in the last year of the BCS. Kinda crazy.

BCS started in 98...also the rules in 03 were not the same as in 12 and 13. Remember that 11th BCS ranked Miami was not picked for a BCS game.

The only chance the 03 NIU team would have maybe gone to a BCS game was to beat BGSU, Toledo and win the MACC vs 1 loss Miami. Even then it wouldn't have been guaranteed as there were only 4 BCS games then.

...looking at the actual picks...
#5 OSU 10-2 was the ONLY at large team in 03...almost no chance that we could have been picked over them as an at-large.

I thought that was the first year they had actual BCS rankings? I must have had it confused then. I get that we would have had to beat Miami and Toledo, but the punch in the gut was the BGSU game because we were undefeated to that point.

(07-11-2014 01:50 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  I thought that was the first year they had actual BCS rankings? I must have had it confused then. I get that we would have had to beat Miami and Toledo, but the punch in the gut was the BGSU game because we were undefeated to that point.

yup...I cried after that loss. It hurt.

Somewhat complimentary preview from CFN

http://cfn.scout.com/2/1420616.html

(07-08-2014 08:53 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(07-07-2014 11:21 PM)Policiious Wrote:  

(07-06-2014 09:37 AM)NIU05 Wrote:  Arkansas will be EXTREMELY difficult task. Best regular season team we have played since Wisconsin and Russell Wils. on on the lakefront. BB will get Arkansas to the SEC title game within 2-3 years.

Arky has a ballbuster schedule; opening at defending SEC champion Auburn, 2 weeks later on the road at Texas Tech. After NIU they travel to Reliant Stadium to take on TX A&M, they a bye week followed by a home gam with Alabama. They will likely have at least 2 losses on their record and NIU is not their home opener (Nichols State). Trap game made to order.

NBD but the TX A&M game is at Arlington, TX in AT&T Stadium.

I agree this hints of a trap game for Arky but it would have been MUCH better for us if Johnny M was still playing for TX A&M.

My hopes for this game is we get out of it injury free.

Thanks for the clarification on the TX A&M game location. No doubt it would be an easier go if Arky was playing TX A&M with Johnny Football, even more if they were playing A&M before NIU and not after.

But that being said, they open on the road vs the defending SEC champions and then 2 weeks later at Texas Tech vs a team that was 8-5 in 13 including a 2 TD bowl win over Arizona State. After their home game with the Huskies they travel to Texas to play TX A&M and 2 weeks later a home game with Alabama.

Not a schedule I would want in my 2nd year as a head coach of a program that is trying to turn itself around.