NIU joined a number of independent universities who met recently at Nashville, Tenn., to discuss better scheduling opportunities for their football programs and the possibility of combining to form a football-only conference.

Louisiana Tech, Southwestern Louisiana, Southern Mississippi, Akron, and NIU athlectic department officials met to discuss future scheduling possibilities during the NCAA convention held last week.

Other schools mentioned were Memphis State, Louisville, Cincinnati, Arkansas State, Tulsa and East Carolina.

Louisiana Tech athletic director Jerry Spoball said Southwestern Louisiana State head football coach/athletic director Nelson Stockly initiated the dialogue between the schools. Stockly could not be reached for comment.

“We talked about helping each other with scheduling because it’s getting more and more difficult for the independents to schedule schools,” Spoball said. “We met to try and help each other. And it just so happens the schools represented in these meetings were independents and could form a conference.”

Spoball said he would “feel very good to be associated with the institutions mentioned. I’m working towards us joining a football conference, and this is a possibility.”

NIU athletic director Gerald O’Dell said there are some hesitations among the schools, and a possibility of a bowl connection and/or a television contract will have to be evident in order to form a new conference.

“Ideally, there could be a bowl tie-up or TV opportunities,” O’Dell said. “I think discussions with the bowl officials and TV representatives would have to take place for us to get together.”

Another key factor for the independent unification to develop is the fate of the Metro Athletic Conference, currently a basketball conference. Memphis State and Cincinnati defected from the Metro to the new basketball-only Great Midwest Conference, while Florida State joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, and South Carolina escaped to the Southeastern Conference.

“I think the fate of the Metro Conference will determine what steps will be taken for a new football conference,” Southern Mississippi athletic director Bill McLellain said.

Metro Conference Commissioner Ralph McFillen said the remaining four schools (Southern Mississippi, Louisville, Tulane, and Virginia Tech) have committed to the Metro and plan to rebuild the conference. But the four defections have considerably set back the Metro’s bid to bring football to its conference.

“Memphis State and Cincinnati wanted football to resolve, but they left prematurely,” McFillen said. “But now football is not as important, because we now have to establish stability. But if we were to expand to football, Northern definitely would be considered.”

Not everyone was enthusiastic about the conference. “I don’t think this conference is going to happen,” Akron head football coach Gerry Faust said. “But, I would be all for getting into a football conference with Northern.”

Faust would rather work towards developing another conference. “I would like to see West Point (Army), Navy, Northern, (Akron), and a couple other schools join as a conference,” he said. There has been no discussion among these schools, but “someone’s got to lead the charge,” Faust said.