Thanks Ball State writer:

Northern Illinois returns to Mid-American Conference West Division play bruised and battered as if it just brawled with the Jersey Shore cast.

Your Northern Illinois Huskies vs. the Ball State Cardinals
Convocation Center, Dekalb, IL
3:00 PM CST (Saturday)
Spread: NIU -4.5 Last Ten: 6-4 Huskies
TV: ChannelSurfing.net Radio: 670 The Score

Which brings the question...

Did you know that BG had both male and female mascots?  And that they are both on coke?

Your Northern Illinois Huskies (8-14, 4-6) @ the Bowling Green Falcons (11-11, 4-6)
Anderson Arena, Bowling Green, OH
6:00 PM (CST) Wednesday
Spread: BGSU -6.5, Last Ten: 5-5
TV: N/A, Radio: 670 The Score / WBGU 88.1

Once again, I'm giving a sliver of hope to Coach Patton and the NIU Men's Basketball team to get me excited about this team.  A win here could be a huge boost in momentum going in to the final stretch of MAC West games and finally Cleveland for the MAC Tournament.

Speaking of drugs, the Falcons will be without welcome back after a 3-game suspension Danny McElroy, a 6'8" freshman who was suspended for possession of 6.57 grams of the green stuff.  He wasn't seeing much playing time anyways.

Still on Bowling Green: the 6'9" 285 lb senior Otis Polk, who is averaging 7.1 rpg and 9.4 ppg.

Will they shoot 63% from three like Miami did?  BG is only 302nd in the nation in launching up the tre-ball.  Watch out for G Dee Brown (Yes, DEE BROWN) who shoots 47% and PG Joe "The Polish Prince" Jakubowski who shoots 36% from beyond the arc.

Video: http://channelsurfing.net/watch-ncaa-college-sports.php?w=25

The GOLDEN FLASHES have a lady announcer.  Nice.

Your Northern Illinois Huskies (8-10, 4-2) vs. the Buffalo Bulls (10-7, 3-3)
The Convocation Center, DeKalb, IL
12:00 PM (CST), Saturday
Spread: Buffalo -1, Last Ten: 7-3 Buffalo
TV: ChannelSurfing, Radio: WSCR / WECK

If there was ever a must-win game for the Huskies, this game is it*

*I'll likely say this multiple times before the season is over.

So you thought Ohio was the worst team in the MAC East?  You thought wrong, brother!  The Bobcats may just be the hottest team in the conference putting up 99 pts in each of their last 2 games.  Yes the Huskies have to improve on defense if they want to win this conference, but NIU caught OU when they were white-hot.  They may never have that type of offensive performance again.

The real meanders on the EAST SIDE?  Why the Buffalo Bulls of course.  After a respectable 3-0 start in the MAC including a MAC title re-match win over Akron, the Bulls were rolling.  Then came road losses to a respectable Kent and then Ohio of course.  And then...a home loss to BALL STATE???  How the heck did that happen?

In many ways the Huskies are looking into a mirror vs. Buffalo

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Your Northern Illinois Huskies (8-9, 4-1) vs. the Ohio Bobcats (10-9, 1-4)
The Convocation Center, Dekalb, IL
7:00 P.M. (CST) Wednesday
Spread: Bobcats -1, All-time Series: 26-12 Ohio
TV: ChannelSurfing, Radio: WSCR / WXTQ

The west was won (kinda) by the NIU Huskies achieving a 4-1 record with their only loss a tough-fought road game against Central Michigan.  Now comes the real meat of the schedule.  Everybody knows that the MAC East has historically been the better division, but how good really are they this year?  The first test comes in the form of Ohio, who has been sliding ever since conference play opened.  Their only win is over a Buffalo team that is turning out to be a very terrible road team.

For some reason in the MAC, half-empty arenas are very intimidating to visiting opponents.  As will be the case today for the Bobcats.

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Michael Conroy - AP

CMU Basketball = Thug Life

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Your Northern Illinois Huskies (8-8, 4-0) vs. the Central Michigan Chippewas (8-8, 3-1)
Rose Arena, Mt. Pleasant, MI
5:30 PM (CST), Saturday
TV: ChannelSurfing?, Radio: WSCR / WCFX

This is it.  The chance for sole possession of 1st place in the MAC if the Huskies win.  This also would be a clean sweep of the MAC West for the first go-around.  It won't be easy though, as CMU was picked to win the MAC West in the coaches preseason poll and by Blue Ribbon.  The big reason for that is because CMU is the 3rd most experienced team in the MAC with 3 Seniors & 4 Juniors playing most of the minutes.  Compare that to NIU, who is the 4th LEAST experienced team playing in the MAC.

If the Toledo game was any indication of how we're going to play on the road against the Chips, then we're screwed.  Hopefully that was just a warm-up road game and we can now put that stinker behind us.

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Let's go Huskies!!!

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The Huskies can't really win 5 straight and go 3-0 in the MAC, can they?

Here's the Dog Pound game thread as well.

Discuss

This picture never gets old

Yes, the football season is over.  Now what?  Time to follow our basketball team through their journey playing one of the toughest conferences in the nation: The MAC West!  But first, the final OOC opponent.

Your Northern Illinois Huskies (3-8) vs. the Chicago St. Cougars (5-10)
Where: The Jones Convocation Center, Chicago, IL
Gametime: 7:00 PM (CST)
All-time Series: 21-0 NIU
TV: None?
Radio: CSU Basketball

Yes, you read that right: Northern Illinois is 21-0 against Chicago State.  Amazing, huh?  The 93-81 win over CSU in Dekalb last year counted for 10% of our total victories.  Will this year's game be another offensive explosion or a defensive battle?  Statistical analysis and predictions after the jump.

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