NIU, Wisconsin to Play at Soldier Field
Huskies will host Badgers at Bears Home in 2011
Monday, Jan 26, 2009 | Updated 3:53 PM CDT
AP
Huskies and Badgers fans will pile into Soldier Field to see their schools clash in 2011
Northern Illinois will play host to Big Ten foe Wisconsin on Sept. 17, 2011 at historic Soldier Field in Chicago and will open the 2009 season at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, officials from both schools announced Thursday.
The Huskies will return to Soldier Field for the first time since their Labor Day weekend contest versus Iowa that filled the 61,500-seat Chicago landmark stadium on Sept. 1, 2007, producing the largest home crowd in Northern Illinois history.
“Given the opportunity to engage with tens of thousands of Huskie alumni in the city and the chance for our student-athletes to play in an NFL stadium where many of them dreamed of playing while growing up, we felt strongly that Wisconsin is the right opponent at the right time for our return to Soldier Field." said NIU Associate Vice Preisdent and Director of Athletics Jeff Compher. "In addition, we will once again be garner extra attention from the Chicago media outlets, which is great for recruiting.”
The Northern Illinois-Iowa game at Soldier Field set a then-Mid-American Conference record as a crowd of 61,500 filled the NFL venue for the game, which Iowa won, 16-3. It was the first NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) game held in the stadium since its renovation in 2003. The contest was declared a sell-out six weeks prior to the game as tickets sold out in only five months.
The adjustment will also result in Northern Illinois opening the 2009 season at Wisconsin on Sept. 5, 2009.
In addition to Wisconsin, Northern Illinois will take on Western Illinois, Purdue and Idaho in non-conference games in 2009.
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