By Woodrow Carroll
Coming off a 76-66 victory over Eastern Michigan Saturday, Feb. 3, a victory that ended the Northern Illinois eight-game losing streak in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, the Huskies’ men’s basketball team finds itself in a position to not only improve its record this week, but, to give the MAC some bragging rights.
After confronting Miami, Ohio, on the road in the early part of this week in the MAC, the Northern Illinois men will be in Mobile, Ala. at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 to play the host Jaguars of South Alabama. The game with South Alabama is part of the MAC vs. Sun Belt Challenge.
Down through the years, there have been different ways to spice up interest in collegiate basketball. Remember the Bracket Buster? The idea behind the Bracket Buster was to pair up good teams so as to further their recognition. Pitting teams with comparable records late in the season had some inherent flaws, however. Two teams with losing records had little or no appeal, and, little or no drawing power!
Many of the teams that the Sun Belt is comprised of are familiar to MAC and/or Huskies’ backers. Arkansas State, the team that the Huskies beat in the Camellia Bowl, is a member of the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt is composed of 14 schools and the MAC has 12 members. So, a couple of teams from the Sun Belt will be sidelined along the way.
The MAC vs. Sun Belt Challenge is more inclusive than most challenges because both the men’s and women’s teams are taking part. The challenge is a split-season affair.
The first part of the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge is history and found the MAC men playing host to Sun Belt teams. In the home floor advantage, MAC teams took a 7-5 edge.
One of the biggest surprises from the November 2023 games in the Challenge was the Northern Illinois men’s 91-76 victory over visiting Appalachian State. Since that game, the Appalachian State Mountaineers have soared, while the Huskies men have plummeted
Heading into this week, Appalachian State was 19-4 overall and led the Sun Belt with a 10-1 record. The Northern Illinois men, were 7-14 overall and near the bottom of the MAC at 1-8.
As to how good Appalachian State really is let’s see what happens Saturday when the Mountaineers play host to Toledo of the MAC.
•The Northern Illinois women’s basketball were on the road to begin the Challenge in November 2023. For Northern Illinois and the MAC overall, it was not a good run.
The Northern Illinois women dropped a 75-62 decision to host Arkansas State, November 9. The Northern Illinois women will play host to Georgia Southern, at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 in the MAC-SBC Challenge.
•What do Purdue and Grand Canyon University have in common? Among the major college men’s basketball programs in the Division I, the two teams were the leaders in victories entering this week. Each started the week 21-2.
Purdue was on top of the Big Ten standings with a 10-2 record and entered the week ranked No. 2 behind defending National champion Connecticut.
Grand Canyon was 11-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Short of a major meltdown, Purdue will be a part of the NCAA men’s Tournament. Grand Canyon most likely will have to win the WAC Conference Tournament championship to make it to the Big Show.