DeKalb, Ill. – Games at Notre Dame (2024) and Kentucky (2022) and a renewed emphasis on playing Football Championship Subdivision teams from the state of Illinois highlight a list of future non-conference football opponents announced Thursday by Northern Illinois University Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier.  (see list below)
 
Future Huskie non-conference football schedules also include previously announced contests at Big Ten opponents Michigan (Sept. 18, 2021) and Iowa (Sept. 13, 2025). The games at Notre Dame (Sept. 7, 2024) and Kentucky (Sept. 24, 2022) are the first between NIU and those teams.
 
NIU and UMass will play a home-and-home series in 2024 (Oct. 5 in DeKalb) and 2025 (Sept. 27 in Amherst), with home games versus Eastern Illinois (Sept. 3, 2022), Southern Illinois (Sept. 9, 2023) and Illinois State (Sept. 5, 2026) also set. The Huskies will play host to Maine on Sept. 25, 2021.
 
Early in his tenure at NIU, Frazier made a splash with a series of home-and-home schedule announcements dubbed "SchedulePalooza," that included series with seven opponents from the "Power 5" and "Group of 5" ranks. Those series extend into the 2022 season. 
 
The Huskies' complete 2020 non-conference schedule begins with a visit from Rhode Island on Sept. 5, games at Maryland (Sept. 12) and Iowa (Sept. 26), along with a visit to Huskie Stadium by BYU (Oct. 24). The Maryland and BYU games were part of the SchedulePalooza announcements in 2014.
 
With the College Football Playoff entering its sixth year and football scheduling evolving at all levels, Frazier addressed the current landscape of football scheduling in the Q&A below.  
Q: We are coming up on the five-year anniversary of SchedulePalooza, during which eight different home-and-home series were announced between July and September of 2014.  We are now in the midst of playing those series, including games versus Utah, Vanderbilt, BYU and Maryland over the next two seasons. Looking back, did scheduling these opponents and series have the desired effect?
 
FRAZIER: Yes and no. Yes, it created a certain level of excitement, enthusiasm and interest, both from our fan base as well as national competitors and the national media. I think having teams from the ACC (Boston College), the Pac 12 (Utah), SEC (Vanderbilt) and Big Ten (Maryland), come into our stadium has provided us with a certain amount of respect. There is a certain amount of pride for our fan base in coming to DeKalb and watching good competition. The diehard fans who showed up saw great football; then there are those who did not show up who decided maybe to watch it on TV or to not come out, and I do get many questions about that.  I definitely stand by the decision to bring in this level of competition. At the end of the day, those who did show up saw a great brand of football. From a national perspective, SchedulePalooza definitely sent the message to the rest of the country that we will continue to compete at that level.
 
Q: When SchedulePalooza was announced, the four-team College Football Playoff was entering its first year. Five years into the CFP era, how has the CFP affected football scheduling both at the national level and for Group of Five schools, specifically NIU?
 
FRAZIER: The CFP has given us the road map. They have sent the message that they want the entire body of work and it really does matter who you play and who you schedule. We have to play someone. A lot of conferences – both Group of Five and Power Five - are saying they're automatically good because they play a very good conference schedule. That's all debatable. That's all subjective. Not all schedules are equal. I think how you get to a true champion is you play a quality schedule that includes Group of Five and Power Five and you evaluate it and let the committee, who have years of experience, evaluate that. So those who are out there saying that their conference championship is adequate to gain access to the CFP, that's their opinion. Those that are out there playing people and winning these games, they should be given the ability to have a shot at the access bowl or the CFP.
 
That's why it's important for NIU - specifically for our non-conference slate - to make sure we put teams on the schedule for the non-conference that are worthy of respect. What I mean by that is not necessarily just being in the Big 12 or the ACC or the Big Ten. If we go on the road and beat those teams on the road in front of a stadium full of fans and come out of there with a win, there should be a certain level of respect that goes along with that, so I'm for that. If we string along, one, two or three of those wins and then turn around and take care of business in the league and win the conference, then we have a credible body of work. The CFP committee can say, you know what, they are the best out of the Group of Five, they are the best out of the Power Five and they deserve the opportunity to be a part of that structure, or that January 1 bowl bid or that CFP slot.
 
The other affect is that we need to make sure we take a look at scheduling for the long haul. As we talk about the next level with Coach Hammock, we want to make sure we put together a competitive schedule that continues to put us in the national conversation. We need to make sure we're playing against those types of schools that really value football on a national level. That's what we need to continue to do. I'm excited that we've done that, both in the non-conference as well as in our conference.
 
Q: Obviously with putting together a football schedule, there are a lot of moving pieces from the financial aspect to the desire to have balance in terms of competitiveness, fan experience, student-athlete experience, national exposure and opportunities.  How do these come together when you are scheduling games from next year five to eight years in the future?  
 
FRAZIER: There are reasons why we schedule. We're creating excitement but we're also making sure we're doing it in an intentional way. This is not just throwing darts in the dark. Our schedule was specifically put together to make sure we maintain our excellence, maintain our balance and financially support our department.  This is all done very strategically to place our program to be at the national level.
 
Financially, if we put out a pro forma per game, there are a certain amount of dollars we receive for having a home football game.  We need to make sure that having a home football game produces a quality experience for our fans and for our student-athletes, and quite frankly, financially pays the bills. Then, I need to make sure that I'm being evaluated by the CFP committee and the national media that we're worthy to be in these next level conversations. We should be a part of that conversation because we have done yeoman's work on winning our conference, being competitive, knocking off P5 schools, knocking off conference opponents so we've earned that right.
 
These are all things that need to be a part of the conversation and what goes in the mixer that we call the scheduling plan. I think to be transparent with our season ticket members and our fan base is that this changes over time. It's not going to be one size fits all. When I first got here, the talk was, 'let's not put such and such a team on the schedule.'  Now we look at these different schools and say what's good financially? Is it a five-game home schedule, a six-game home schedule?  Making sure that we play the likes of Notre Dame, Kentucky, etc. so that, at the end of the year, we're in those conversations for a January 1 or an Access Bowl bid. I think to get there you must schedule strategically not just for year 2019 but for year 2025.
 
I find it extremely exciting to be able to talk to my colleagues in these different conferences. When I get that call back and we talk about scheduling and we talk about long term planning, it's clear NIU has a national brand that is respected, and I'm excited that we can get to the point that we're talking about home and homes and we're talking about taking on quality opponents.
 
I think it's very important for us to be very intentional with our schedules to play someone to have a body of work that's worthy of review and assessment and I think that's what we're doing here at NIU.  If you look at our last few years of non-conference competition, we're arguably Top 5 if not the toughest for Group of Five schools in the country. Now we've got to win these games, we understand that. But if we win these games, these are good wins and good losses because at the end of the day, very few schools that look like NIU are playing that schedule, and that's what's exciting about football scheduling right now for NIU.  
 
 
Q: Today's announcement included a number of Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponents, what is your philosophy on scheduling games like this, similar to year's season opener versus Illinois State?
 
FRAZIER: I think it's important. First, we've got to take care of the state. The first thing we do is reach out to the in-state FCS institutions. We have great football in the state of Illinois.  Some of the best FCS programs reside right here and they're very challenging. Folks are not knocking down the door to play these teams nationally, so we're going to do that because we know we have a fan base in the state of Illinois that's very prideful, that are going to travel to DeKalb, they're going to come here and see their team. We also see a great opportunity to schedule those in-state FCS schools so we can have some energy and synergy around football and from a financial standpoint, it's definitely the right thing to do. So that's the number one thing. If we can't get them to come, then we look outside our borders, then we take a look at other FCS programs and we say let's put this together and see what we can do. The other FCS teams that you see are primarily because we couldn't get a deal done with our in-state FCS teams for those years. That's why you see them. It's always job one for me to make sure if we can get Illinois State or Eastern Illinois, Western, Southern, I think that's the right way to go. I would love to have competition against University of Illinois and continue our relationship with Northwestern. These are great universities and I'm a football enthusiast so I want to see great football, and I think we have great football in the state of Illinois. If I can have those contests, I don't care where they are, I think that's imperative for us to continue to put them on the schedule.
 
 
Q: Over the last five years, NIU's schedule has also been affected by outside factors both in the state and within the university. How did those factors impact the schedule over the last few years and do you foresee scheduling in the future with those factors in mind?
 
FRAZIER: That's a very good question and scheduling has been impacted. Everyone knows in the great state of Illinois we've dealt with some significant budgetary issues and reductions, we've dealt with some significant enrollment issues that have caused some financial hardships.  We did make some adjustments. We've taken on some 'buy' games. It didn't affect us much because we've always had a philosophy of playing anyone, anytime, anywhere. One of the unique things we did with some of our partners is, not only did they give us a game, they forwarded financial support earlier than the actual game itself. What we did in the case of Florida State, they fronted money. They gave us money before the actual contest date. That was significant in so many different ways. Bottom line is they saved jobs. We've now done that with a number of these upcoming games.
 
We've been very creative on that but again, this is a relationship business. I couldn't have gotten that done without good relationships and quite frankly the administration above helping me facilitate that process. I don't anticipate moving forward looking at our financial situation and everything else having to do that again.  I don't want to put our football program in the situation where we can't be competitive in our scheduling philosophy.  Henceforth you won't see a gauntlet of 3-4 games again where we have Top 25 opponents all in a row. That's not going to help our program. We're going to have some ebb and flow.  We'll break up the scheduling, a Group of Five here, an FCS, but I don't see what we've had to do in the last 4-5 years moving forward. I think we'll have a more balanced approach to scheduling moving forward.
 
FUTURE OPPONENTS
 
2020
9/5 – Rhode Island
9/12 - at Maryland (SchedulePalooza)
9/26 - at Iowa (previously announced)
10/24 – BYU (SchedulePalooza)
 
2021
9/18 - at Michigan (previously announced)
9/25 – Maine
 
2022
9/3 - Eastern Illinois
9/24 - at Kentucky
 
2023
9/9 – Southern Illinois
 
2024
9/7 - at Notre Dame
10/5 -  UMass
 
2025
9/13 - at Iowa (previously announced)
9/27 - at UMass
 
2026
9/5 - Illinois State
 
Season tickets for the 2019 NIU Football campaign are now on sale, starting at as little as $60 for an East Side (general admission) season ticket. Purchase four tickets for family or a group of friends on either the East or West Side for as little as $55 or $75 per person with the Huskie Family Pack, including the ability to purchase tickets at those rates for additional people.  For groups of less than four, reserved seats on the West Side are priced at either $125 (sections C, D, E) or $110 (sections A, B, F, G) each, while senior citizens (62+), NIU Faculty and Staff, members of the NIU Alumni Association or the NIU Varsity Club can purchase a ticket in any West Side section for $110.
 
To renew or purchase new season tickets and #JointhePack for 2019, click the links above, which are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Tickets are also available by calling 815-753-PACK (7225), emailing huskiestickets@niu.edu or stopping by the NIU Athletics Ticket Office in the Convocation Center which is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
 
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