By defeating Wisconsin 19-17 Saturday in Madison, the Huskies ended 17 years of futility against members of the Big Ten Conference.

From 1971 to 1987 NIU played 0-12-1 football against three Big 10 opponents.

In the previous 13 contests with Wisconsin, Northwestern and Iowa, the Huskies were outscored 413 to 134, and outside of last season’s tie with Northwestern, a 10-3 loss to the Wildcats in 1975 marked the only time NIU came within 10 points of a Big 10 foe.

Before Saturday, NIU owned a 0-7 mark against Wisconsin, a 0-3-1 record against Northwestern and a 0-2 record versus Iowa. The Huskies will try to get the jump on the Golden Gophers when NIU and Minnesota meet for the first time ever next Saturday in Minneapolis.

Of course, the game most noteworthy to NIU enthusiasts is last year’s 16-16 tie with Northwestern in Evanston. In that game, only a Marshall Taylor-led drive in the last 1:35 and a 36-yard field goal (with :06 left) by the then-relatively-unknown John Ivanic saved the game from being unlucky No. 13.

Ivanic’s heroics brought a bit of national attention to NIU and played a part in his selection as a 1988 All-America candidate.

The other game that drew national interest, though it was of a rather dubious nature, was NIU’s 31-6 loss to Northwestern at Evanston in 1982.

One might recall all three network TV stations in Chicago highlighting their newscasts with film footage of NU fans tearing down the Dyche Stadium goalposts after the Wildcats snapped their record-long, 34-game losing streak.

In the worst defeat by a Big 10 foe, Iowa drilled NIU 57-3 in Iowa City in 1986. The Huskies gave up no less than 328 yards rushing in that game.

A year earlier, Chuck Long, Ronnie Harmon and company came to DeKalb and outgained NIU 534 yards to 85 in a 48-20 thrashing.