DeKALB | History will be made Sunday night in Oxford, Ohio.

The first-ever nationally-televised Sunday night Division I-A college football game will be played by NIU and Miami-Ohio at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Wait. Sunday at 7 p.m.?

“Ideally, no, I don’t think it’s the best thing for the kids,” said NIU football coach Joe Novak. “We’re going to get back at about 5 a.m. on Monday, and I’m going to tell our kids to go to their 8 a.m. classes.”

NIU’s game on Sunday is a prime example of a movement storming D-I college football. That movement is asking a majority of mid-major football teams to take big dollars to play nationally televised games on “school nights.”

But is the television exposure coming at the expense of student athletes’ personal health and academic integrity?

“In my view, the real ‘exploitation’ comes if institutions are admitting football players who are unable, or unwilling, to do the academic work,” said MAC commissioner Rick Chryst in an e-mail interview.

NIU football is playing all 12 of its games on television this year. Well, 13 if they make it to the MAC championship game.

Eight of NIU’s 12 games were televised last year. Three of those were Wednesday night games on ESPN2, while its 2005 MAC title loss came on a Thursday night on ESPN.

NIU has three dates with ESPN channels this fall. It also plays Toledo on a Tuesday on ESPN2 in November, and Central Michigan on a Friday on ESPNU.

Now, read the following stats and ask MAC Commissioner Chryst again whether or not mid-major schools are being exploited by ESPN.

Of the five Tuesday night D-I football games ESPN is airing this fall, all of them are match-ups between mid-major teams.

Four of the five games ESPN is showing on Wednesday nights this season are between mid-majors.

On Thursdays, nine of the 14 games involve mid-major teams. Then, on Friday, seven of 11 match-ups are between strictly mid-major schools.

Now that ESPN has lost the NFL on Sunday nights, ESPN has replaced it with college football.

And guess what? Five of the six Sunday night games on ESPN are between mid-major schools.

One Sunday showdown is between Morehouse University and Miles University. It begs the question of whether these schools would have gotten games on ESPN before this year.

Meanwhile, student athletes performing for their teams are returning to their schools early in the morning and showing up to class on little sleep.

“As a senior this year it’s not bad because I have a light class load,” said NIU senior safety Dustin Utschig. “But in previous years I’d have to do a lot of studying on the bus. We also have to make sure we talk to our teachers so they know we’re going to be gone.”

Next, take into account that NIU will get one less day of rest heading into its next game against Western Michigan, which is on the Saturday after Miami-Ohio.

“My concern is the next week because it’s a short week,” Novak said. “We can’t coach our kids off of the Miami tape because we have to prepare for Western.

“It’s our toughest stretch of the season, no question. What bothered me about having three straight road games was moving the Miami game to Sunday night. I’m not using it as an excuse, but I hope they consider this for all schools down the road.”

Not a single MAC regular-season game was shown on national television from 1987 till 1999.

Chryst said the leadership of NIU Athletics Director Jim Phillips, who is the chair MAC A.D.’s, and NIU President Dr. John Peters, a Past Chair of the MAC Council of Presidents, have played integral roles in generating new scheduling parameters for future football seasons that will bring more structure into future scheduling.

“For people not to have a chance to see a talent like Garrett Wolfe, both as a football player and a person, would just be wrong,” Chryst said. “Our relationship with ESPN has gained … exposure, bowl and NFL opportunities, and opportunities to showcase our campuses. Over 2 million people will watch a MAC nationally-televised contest, and the audience for its championship and bowl games often doubles that.”

True Mr. Chryst. Everyone across the United States will have the chance to see the nation’s leading rusher on Sunday in Wolfe.

So, again, is it worth it?

Sean Connor is an NIU football beat reporter for the Northern Star.