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BYU next NIU football SchedulePalooza opponent

July 30, 2014

SchedulePalooza logoSean T. Frazier, NIU associate vice president and director of Athletics, continued Huskie Football SchedulePalooza today by announcing that Northern Illinois University and BYU will meet in a home-and-home football series in 2018 and 2020.

The series will begin Oct. 27, 2018, at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, while the Cougars and Huskies will play Oct. 24, 2020, at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb. The 2018 game will mark the first meeting between the teams.

On Tuesday, NIU kicked off SchedulePalooza by announcing a home-and-home series with San Diego State in 2016 and 2017.

Since arriving at NIU a year ago, Frazier has made building future football schedules that will position the Huskies properly in the College Football Playoff era a priority.

“BYU is an opponent that will bring a national name and a long tradition of success to our schedule,” Frazier said. “I think this is a series that will make Huskie fans take notice and realize that we are serious about bringing top-quality opponents to Huskie Stadium and that now is the time to get involved with NIU Football.”

Juwan Brescacin

Juwan Brescacin

The Cougars, who have competed as an independent since 2011, are among the most consistent winners in college football over the past four decades. Only three programs have won more games than BYU over the past 40 seasons and BYU ranks 10th nationally in total wins since 2006. The Cougars have earned a bowl berth in each of the past nine seasons with six wins.

NIU is announcing one new football series every day this week on NIUHuskies.com as part of SchedulePalooza. In addition, future series will be announced as they are finalized in August. The announcements are the result of nearly a year of work by Frazier and his staff, and may include games between 2015 and 2023.

NIU will give fans a chance to guess that day’s opponent by offering “hints” to their followers on the Huskies’ primary social media platforms – @NIUAthletics on Twitter and NIU Huskies on Instagram and Facebook.

SchedulePalooza will lead directly into the start of preseason camp for the NIU football team as the Huskies open practice Saturday, Aug. 2. NIU’s 46 wins over the last four seasons are the second-highest total in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Huskies take a school and MAC record 26-game home stadium winning streak into the 2014 season opener versus Presbyterian at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28.

For more information on NIU football and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.