Happy Holidays Huskies!

As the Huskie Football Family heads to Florida on Friday for what promises to be an outstanding bowl game and experience for our student-athletes, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for everything you have done to support this team, and NIU Athletics, in 2014.

I'll have a more complete recap for you in January, but I can't let any more time go by before I publicly congratulate Rod Carey, his staff and most importantly, our 2014 NIU Football team, for bringing home the MAC CHAMPIONSHIP! They took us on a crazy ride this season, but it was all worth it and man, did I enjoy that big win over Bowling Green in Detroit. Everything clicked on all cylinders and you saw the true potential of this team. That was fun!

That's now three MAC Championships in the last four years for these seniors and they really did earn it "The Hard Way."

As proud as I am of their accomplishments on the field, I am just as proud of what this group has done in the classroom. NIU has the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of any public university that will play in a bowl game this season. Our young men are graduating at a 91 percent rate. That ranks eighth nationally overall and we lead the MAC by a wide margin, with the next closest MAC Football team at a 77 percent mark (Miami).

Not only do these guys do it the hard way, they do it the right way and every Huskie fan can be proud of the way they represent NIU. They are deserving, as are all Huskie student-athletes, of your support. If you have purchased bowl tickets and will be joining us in south Florida, thank you and I look forward to seeing you there. It is important to fill our sections at FAU Stadium with Huskie Fans, just as we did the last time NIU played in south Florida. If you can't make it yourself, but purchased bowl tickets to be donated to the Coast Guard and VFW, thank you as well! We appreciate your support.

With the MAC Championship and our FIFTH straight 11-win season (hopefully 12!), the momentum behind this program and Huskie Athletics continues to grow. We're going to use that momentum to push forward with our Athletics Facilities Master Plan, released in October, and with our departmental Strategic Plan, which will go hand-in-hand with President Baker's strategic plan for the entire university. You will be hearing more about both the Athletics Facilities Master Plan and the Strategic Plan in 2015.

Our NIU basketball teams jump into MAC competition early in 2015. We're seeing how both Mark Montgomery's men's squad and Kathi Bennett's women's team have progressed in the non-conference season and, as always, the MAC will be the true test. Please plan to come out to the Convocation Center to check both of these teams out. Basketball mini-plans offer a great value. Choose from the Saturday MAC Plan for $45 for six Saturday men's MAC games, or "Weekday Your Way" with any three weeknight games for just $21. The women's basketball "Starting Five" mini-plan is just $20 for any five of the team's remaining home games. Use the order form (click here) or call our ticket office at 815-753-PACK (7225). Now that winter is here, Huskie Basketball is the perfect excuse to get out of the house. See you at the Convo!

By the way, the Convocation Center has some great shows coming in this semester! The staff has done a great job of lining up a really diverse set of acts. In February alone, you get the star power of Brad Paisley on Feb. 5, a show that will be fun for the whole family (Monster Trucks on Feb. 22), and the Christian rock group Casting Crowns (Feb. 27). On May 15, Rick Springfield brings a little nostalgia to the Convo for those who remember "Jessie's Girl."

I am really looking forward to 2015 at NIU. Just a heads up, we're going to be getting started early on our 2015 Huskie Athletic Fund Annual Drive and you can look for that information in your mailbox this January. Throughout the fall, we've heard from many of you, and we've listened. As a result, there will be more options for pricing on our football tickets, and more ticket plans to choose from. We're tweaking (and we think improving) some of the features we unveiled last year, from the parking structure to our benefits chart and more.

In the meantime, I am so excited to see this football team play one last time in Boca Raton against a great opponent like Marshall. This is the match-up we wanted, it's the match-up our 11-2 championship team deserved. If you can't join us in Florida, be sure to watch us on ESPN!

All the best of the season to Huskies everywhere from me and my family, and all of us at NIU Athletics. Go Huskies!

Sean T. Frazier
Associate Vice-President & Director of Athletics