CSNbbs

Very even schedule with many winnable games.
NO long road trips are an improvement.

I like this schedule because it gives our team a chance to develop their skills for MAC conference play.

I like the schedule a lot. Its nice to see that we have some more Saturday games for a change. It will be fun to see how NIU matches up against Siu one of the better teams in the valley. I also like how we are having a rematch with Air Force that was a great game from last year.

Why the pic of smilin' choke artist Tony Romo. With all due respect, Romo is ridiculously overrated and has vaporized the past two playoffs. I actually know his neighbor in Burlington Wisconsin. Romo just built a new house on the lake. But I digress. I hate that pretty boy choke.

rabidawg900 Wrote:I like this schedule because it gives our team a chance to develop their skills for MAC conference play.

I really like the SIU/Loyola back to back homegames, that is the kind of scheduling that will help to bring some fans back. Ive said this before but I REALLLLY wish NIU could play basketball in the Horizon league, it is a perfect fit.

This schedule is an improvement over year's past. What we need is more weekend games and this schedule seems to have more of that in DeKalb.

Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Why the pic of smilin' choke artist Tony Romo. With all due respect, Romo is ridiculously overrated and has vaporized the past two playoffs. I actually know his neighbor in Burlington Wisconsin. Romo just built a new house on the lake. But I digress. I hate that pretty boy choke.

Haha I know but Eli Manning started out 0-2 in the playoffs and then we all saw what happened. I can only hope.

I'm just bustin' your chops. Tony Romo really needs to step up this year in the BIG GAMES. Cowboys are loaded and should be serious Super Bowl contenders. Unlike my Chicago Bears who will be lucky to get to 6 wins.

If I have a disappointment, other than SIU, there is no other quality team & highly visible program from major conferences.

To eventually become a major player and measure the progress of a program, you gotta play a few bigboys.

cyberdawg Wrote:If I have a disappointment, other than SIU, there is no other quality team & highly visible program from major conferences.

To eventually become a major player and measure the progress of a program, you gotta play a few bigboys.

That struck me at first too, but in basketball I think the dynamic is different. You do not need to play the "big boys" to become successful. Take a look at the MVC, that conference got a national reputation as being good without really playing anybody. And besides the way basketball is, the differences between the "big boy" conferences and the "mid major" conferences continues to shrink.

Good = 7 weekend games, SIU and Loyola at home, 3 MAC games every 7-9 day period (keep up momentum)

Bad??? = 3 weeks off in Dec/Jan before MAC play

Future schedules will hopefully include rotating in-state D1 opponents with home and return games. We should play Illinois, Northwestern, DePaul, Bradley, SIU, UIC, ISU, and Loyola regularly, if for no other reason than publicity in the Chicago media.

NIUmike Wrote:Good = 7 weekend games, SIU and Loyola at home, 3 MAC games every 7-9 day period (keep up momentum)

Bad??? = 3 weeks off in Dec/Jan before MAC play

Future schedules will hopefully include rotating in-state D1 opponents with home and return games. We should play Illinois, Northwestern, DePaul, Bradley, SIU, UIC, ISU, and Loyola regularly, if for no other reason than publicity in the Chicago media.

Good point about the layoff, Ive never seen a layoff that long at that point in the season before. Sometimes you get an extended layoff from early dec to mid dec for finals, but that is very odd. It is a busier than normal November/Early December so it all balances out in the end, but that could be bad with some rust to begin conference season. Luckily that opener is at home which should help.

MaddDawgz02 Wrote:

NIUmike Wrote:Good = 7 weekend games, SIU and Loyola at home, 3 MAC games every 7-9 day period (keep up momentum)

Bad??? = 3 weeks off in Dec/Jan before MAC play

Future schedules will hopefully include rotating in-state D1 opponents with home and return games. We should play Illinois, Northwestern, DePaul, Bradley, SIU, UIC, ISU, and Loyola regularly, if for no other reason than publicity in the Chicago media.

Good point about the layoff, Ive never seen a layoff that long at that point in the season before. Sometimes you get an extended layoff from early dec to mid dec for finals, but that is very odd. It is a busier than normal November/Early December so it all balances out in the end, but that could be bad with some rust to begin conference season. Luckily that opener is at home which should help.

that is HORRIBLE scheduling. I really hope a game or two is added.. even if they are against Div II teams that won't count towards the RPI. You cannot take 3 weeks off before the conference schedule... ridiculous.

other than at air force, those all look like winnable non-conf games. even the first couple of shootout games.. not sure who the other alaska teams are but im sure theres a big ten or some billion dollar team there.

philhelm Wrote:other than at air force, those all look like winnable non-conf games. even the first couple of shootout games.. not sure who the other alaska teams are but im sure theres a big ten or some billion dollar team there.

I'm not sure that's true. I recall reading that they are having trouble getting the big boys out to Alaska, it's not such a big tourney anymore.

The Alaska Shootout field is not very strong. Portland State who NIU plays the first round is most likely the cream of the crop. NIU would have a much easier time with any of the other six teams. They lost to Kansas in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year and they have their best players back. NIU basketball is not going to be great this year but it needs to build momentum for 2009-2010 season which I would like to believe will end with NIU in the NCAA tournament for two straight years.

Portland State may not have the "name" or come from a BCS type conference, but they have very good talent and experience coming back. It will be a good test for a young NIU team. I would expect that they will be the 'favorites' going into that tournament. This season will be a great experience builder for the Huskies. Overcoming experience and physical maturity is something that they will be going up against all season, but hopefully they 'surprise' a lot of people along the way and will improve a lot from last year and throughout this upcoming season. Can't wait for the first game vs. Maine!

Looking at the non-conference schedule, I think it's possible for NIU to go 6-6 or better. The key will be getting off to a good start in the mini tournament. If we start off 0-2 again it's going to be another rough road. Maine is a game that SHOULD be won and assuming they meet WIU in the "finals", I'd consider that one a toss-up.

As Coach Storm pointed out, Portland State is a solid team.. probably our biggest non-conference test other than SIU. However, looking at the field, I see no reason why we can't go 2-1 in Alaska.

Imagine how great it would be to come home 2-0 and then knock off a MVC team in Indiana St. That would really build some much needed excitement around this basketball program.

There are two things to be encouraged about for a NIU basketball program that has been basically dead for a long time.

1. Ricardo Patton was a great hire. As I've stated before I strongly doubt he will remain in DeKalb beyond the next year or two, but in the interim I'm convinced he can get this program to gel and start winning in the lowly MAC. The 2008-09 Huskies are going to be surprisingly exciting. Patton is banking on a blend of multi-skilled guards and his coaching acumen to net immediate results. I think he is going to succeed in this endeavor. The longer-term key becomes the successor to Patton building upon the foundation laid.

2. I am semi-encouraged by the statements of Jeff Compher to suggest that he is solidly focused on building basketball excitement in DeKalb. Granted Compher's background is in football, but I'll have faith in his basketball agenda until he proves otherwise. As much as we all liked Jim Phillips, it never seemed that he invested much in NIU basketball.

The 2008-09 schedule IS an improvement over past years. Our home schedules of recent vintage have been terrible for alumnus and fans who can't typically get to DeKalb during the weekend. While I still won't by season tickets this season I will be making several weekend trips given this schedule. It's not the greatest schedule obviously but it is a definite improvement.