By Woodrow Carroll
After suffering a tough 74-71 road defeat to the Monmouth Hawks last Saturday, the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team held a 5-4 won-loss non-conference record. With the Mid-American Conference (MAC) schedule set to start early in January 2024, the Huskies men would like to get their fans to take notice, with victories being the key.
Rashon Burno is in his third season as the Northern Illinois men’s head coach. Last season, Northern Illinois finished with a 13-19 overall record to go with 9-9 in the MAC. More than just putting a winning team on the floor, Northern Illinois needs to put more bodies in the Convocation Center (9,100 capacity). It is a formidable task, for sure.
The loss to Monmouth was a tough one to take. The Monmouth Hawks (West Branch, N. J.) are in the Colonial Athletic Conference. At one point in the contest, Northern Illinois was ahead, 33-14, however, Monmouth fought back and a three-pointer at the buzzer by the Hawks sent the Huskies down to defeat.
The NIU men have three non-conference games to go prior the MAC schedule kicks in January 2, 2024. with a 7 p.m. game when Northern Illinois plays host to conference rival Akron. Off this week, the Huskies will welcome Calumet College, December 18, then will play Northern Iowa December 21. A game December 29 at the University of Iowa of the Big Ten will close the non-conference Huskies’ schedule.
As for MAC play, the Huskies are in a mix with the rest of the conference. No MAC team is viewed as a prohibitive favorite for the conference championship. Ball State has the best overall record of all the MAC teams starting this week, 8-2, however, one of the two defeats suffered by Ball State was a 90-64 loss to Arkansas-Little Rock. Early on this season Northern Illinois edged Arkansas-Little Rock, 98-93, in a tournament played in Atlanta. Draw your conclusions!
David Coit, a 5-11 junior, leads the Huskies in scoring. In the rebounds, it’s Xavier Amos a 6-8 sophomore showing the way.
Despite a number of quality victories in recent seasons, the NIU men need to come through this season with some attention-grabbing victories, and why not? The MAC in the minds of most who follow the Conference the men’s basketball race is wide open.
Northern Illinois men’s basketball targets? A berth in the NCAA Tournament is first and foremost. A berth, which would most likely require the Huskies to win the MAC Tournament championship. A conference such as the Big Ten will have multiple members in the NCAA Tournament. The MAC is usually a single-entry conference in the NCAA Tournament.
Three times Northern Illinois has made it to the Big Show, and, although the Huskies were knocked off right away, all three of the Northern Illinois tournament foes knew they had been in a ball game.
In 1982, Northern Illinois, seeded No. 12, lost an opening-round game to Kansas State, 77-68. In 1991, the No. 13 Huskies were 75-68 losers to St. Johns in the opening-round. In 1996. It was Texas Tech, 74-73 over No.14 Northern Illinois. Three NCAA opening-round defeats although all by single digits.
- There are 133 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams seeking the National championship, captured by University of Georgia last season. Only a select 20 to 25 major college programs have legitimate shots at winning the National championship this season. When it comes to NCAA basketball championship, the brand names are there.
- Believe it or not, there are 351 teams that could win the NCAA basketball championship, a number will grow with a many schools in the process of making a transition to full Div. I status.
A glance at the schools in the top 25 in college basketball, most schools are recognizable for their solid football programs. There are a few outliers, such as Gonzaga and Creighton. But, name recognition in both football and basketball is usually evident.