While some basketball fans might scour a collegiate directory to find out about a few of NIU’s opponents, NIU Coach Jim Rosborough seems content with his product.

Next season’s basketball schedule for the men’s team is just about ready, but some games need to be finalized before the package is complete. NIU men’s Athletic Director Robert Brigham presented a schedule to the Athletic Board Wednesday, but that schedule has been changed a little since it was written up. The final schedule is expected to be presented to the board for approval at its April 29 meeting.

“I’d like to get it finalized for my own sanity,” Rosborough said.

One game still not certain is the match-up against DePaul Nov. 30. Rosborough said Wednesday he tried to call DePaul Coach Joey Meyer about playing the game in DeKalb instead of the Rockford MetroCentre but Meyer was unavailable. Rosborough said if the Blue Demons refuse to play in Chick Evans Field House, NIU will not play them at all.

“I’d like to play DePaul, but I’m not going to get on my knees,” Rosborough said.

osborough said whatever happens with the DePaul game will determine the date of the Wisconsin game. If the DePaul game is called off, the Wisconsin game will be played around that time. But if NIU plays DePaul, Rosborough said the Wisconsin game will be moved to sometime in February or possibly follow Northern Iowa as the season finale.

NIU still has two open dates it will fill on the schedule. Originally, NIU was going to play a home-and-home series with Davidson College, but Brigham said Davidson decided to remain in its conference and needed those dates to play conference opponents. The cancellation of those dates—Jan. 16 at the fieldhouse and Feb. 27 in Davidson, N.C., leaves NIU with only three games in February.

On the schedule Brigham submitted to the board, NIU was slated for 12 games at the fieldhouse. Brigham said he plans to have 13 there now that Davidson is out of the picture, meaning the replacements would both be home games for NIU.

osborough said teams NIU is considering as replacements are Loyola, Bradley, Idaho and Lamar. He said he would not mind playing a home-and-home series with Loyola, but he said NIU would not play Loyola only on the road.

osborough said playing in front of NIU alumni and a majority of NIU students in the Chicago area was the main reason NIU is part of the Illinois-Chicago tournament Jan. 5 and 6. But he said he did not discuss with Brigham having a tournament at NIU.

“It’s too much work,” Rosborough said. “We wouldn’t have one here. It would have to be in the MetroCentre. Besides, I wanted to get us out east.”

The desire to head east was the reason Rosborough said he scheduled Central Connecticut State. Rosborough said his preference would have been to play in Boston.