Big 12 football needs to take action soon. As we learned this past December, the College Football Playoff selection committee harshly punishes you for not playing a conference championship game. Big 12 members Baylor and TCU learned that the hard way. The NCAA is a subjective, inconsistent, arbitrary and capricious being, and they have deemed that you need 12 teams in your league in order to have a conference title game.
If Big 12 football gets shut out of the playoff again this year, they will morph into the college football version of the drunkest most desperate person in the bar at closing time.
Right now, it’s been rumored that BYU and Cincinnati are the most viable candidates to make Big 12 football 12 once again. No deals are close by any means, and everything is still wide open at this point. As I pointed out in the NIU Football Season Preview, I don’t think Big 12 football will be considering directional schools at this time.
Of course, given the fluidity of college football conference realignment these days, it might not be long until directional schools like NIU will indeed become viable candidates to join the power five. As it stands now, NIU is clearly ready for a step up to a bigger conference. Then, if that transition goes well, possibly the Big 12 someday down the line. Maybe that upgrade would conveniently correspond with the completed expansion and renovation of Husky Stadium?
The idea of NIU/Big 12 has been written about before, but mostly by media who happen to be NIU alums and fans. So obviously those arguments were biased. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Personally, I’d like to see NIU in a bigger and better conference; playing more brand name opponents myself.
There are three main issues to examine first, and at NIU Football Media Day (Chicago edition) I discussed these topics in my exclusive conversations with NIU Athletic Director Sean Frazier and NIU Head Coach Rod Carey.
1. Branding Issues
Northern Illinois football the on-the-field product product is way ahead of Northern Illinois football the brand. NIU has the nation’s longest winning streak and they are among the top five in total wins in all of FBS the past five years. Yes, they’ve largely feasted on weaker competition, but the Huskies have also shown us that they can handle the power five too. Yes, they got blown out in the 2013 MAC Championship game, but for the most part they’re dominating the MAC. #MACtion has run its course and it’s time for something bigger and better.
However, you remember the story of what the Orange Bowl committee person told the person in 2012, “we didn’t want you here.” That’s very telling, and indicative of how NIU doesn’t quite move the needle enough yet. It’s gotten a lot better though. And going from a mid-major to a power five takes a long time, and a lot of winning.
NIU gave the Mid-American Conference it’s first ever BCS bid that season and the league’s first Heisman Trophy finalist (Jordan Lynch) in a generation the following season. There’s also a master plan to expand the facilities. Once it’s formally announced, the plan will call for Husky Stadium will have increased capacity, as well as luxury boxes, and the whole nine yards.
However, when the first phase is complete capacity will expand from 24,000 to 30-33,000s Big 12 football facilities are all in the 40,000s or much higher. The master plan at Husky Stadium is targeting 42,000 ultimately.
Frazier: “We’ve had significant success in the state of Illinois; our brand is pretty damn good, so now how do we put it all together and get our fan base more interactive with us.”
Carey: “Obviously, the Orange Bowl and then being on the door step of the Fiesta Bowl, and those things when they’re talked about is a good thing, what’s that old saying all publicity is good publicity. It’s definitely taken a lot of steps here in the last three years, as far as out there nationally.”
2. Chicago Market Issue
NIU cannot sell itself as Chicago’s team to any potential conference suitor. Notre Dame is the only team that can do that, and even that’s not entirely accurate. Chicago is and always be a pro team town. That doesn’t mean Chicago doesn’t also love college sports too. It’s just that Chicago’s interest in college sports is segmented and fragmented. It always will be. The five most popular college football teams, according to the most recent polls, are
1. Notre Dame
2. Illinois
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Northwestern
ND will always be #1 due to the cultural demographics of very large portions of the city. Or as The Simpsons put it, see the video below:
Yes, the Big Ten is headquartered in Chicago, but the Big Ten fans in the city are divided by
1.) where they went to school and
2.) what Midwestern state they grew up in.
Chicago is the capital of the region and it attracts transplants from all over the Midwest. Neither NIU nor Illinois nor Northwestern will ever unite the city and become “Chicago’s team.” (Unless one of these programs starts winning 11 games and a New Year’s Day bowl every season for at least a decade, then we can revisit that idea) It would take a massive sea change to make Chicago have a non-fragmented college football landscape.
It’s tempting for these programs to proclaim that they’re THE team in the nation’s third biggest market, but it’s inaccurate.
Maybe NIU is indeed the metaphorical “state champion.” They did win at Northwestern last fall and maybe they could beat the Illini this year. But Big 12 football doesn’t care who’s the Illinois “state champion.” NIU leadership understands the big picture pretty well. They get that Chicago is a tough nut to crack.
Frazier: “Chicago, and Chicagoland is a pro town, and if you don’t know that as a college administrator, you’re in trouble. The good news about us is we have a significant foothold. We have 137,000 alums right here from two hours from our campus right here in Chicagoland. A lot of people like to claim Chicago, but at the end of the day we can agree that it’s a pro town and (it’s about) if we can get a piece of it. I’ve got 137,000 people that are going to be fans because of they went to school here, now if I can expand that with increased visibility and increased amenities”
3. Shifting plate tectonics of college football conference realignment
Maybe Big 12 football will get back to a dozen without NIU, but that’s not a big worry because another opportunity will present itself down the line. The more NIU is mentioned in the media as a candidate for realignment, the better it is for building their brand. It’s kind of like the politicians who run for President knowing that they cannot possibly win this time; but believe they’ll have a chance again four years down the road. It’s all about getting your name out there- increasing brand awareness.
Maybe Big 12 football and NIU aren’t a match now, but perhaps they will be down the line. Or another big conference will be a perfect fit in the future. Given the new landscape in college football, this isn’t going away any time soon.
Carey: “We’re on a carousel right now and we need to see where this carousel ends before we can say was it good or was it bad. Because right now everyone is in a dollar grab, everyone is trying to get the biggest buck, which you need for your program and your university now with the way universities are being funded at state levels. So we’re not wrong in going to grab the dollar, because it’s not just going back into football. It’s going into universities.”
Bottom Line: I asked NIU Athletic Director Sean Frazier straight up about NIU’s future in the MAC. Here’s the audio of what he said.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country.
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