It has been three years since the Convocation Center opened its doors on Nov. 23, 2002. That night saw the DePaul men’s basketball team christening the new arena with a 63-48 victory over NIU.

Just imagine how that game would have felt if the University of Illinois was the Convo’s first opponent?

It could have happened.

“We really tried to schedule a game to get U of I to open the Convo,” said NIU basketball coach Rob Judson, who was an assistant at Illinois from 1996-00.

The Huskies are the only Division I school in Illinois the Fighting Illini have not played.

Of the 11 in-state rivals Illinois has to chose from every year, with the exception of DePaul, all have played a game within the last five years. Where’s the Huskies’ chance to get a piece of the pie?

“I know that coach [Bruce] Weber has made it a priority to play in-state schools during non-conference play to try and help all the programs,” U of I Assistant Athletic Director Kent Brown said.

So if it’s such a priority to the U of I basketball program, why hasn’t a matchup with the Huskies happened?

“Oftentimes, a game doesn’t work because one of the schools may require a return game rather than just one game, say, at Illinois.” Brown said.

Outside of the Judson connection, the Flying Illini of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s wouldn’t have been the same either without NIU. Out of West Aurora High School, Kenny Battle went unnoticed, but the Huskies gave him a shot.

He played two years for NIU before transferring to Illinois and became the team’s most exciting player above the rim, a roster upgrade which helped the Flying Illini reach the 1989 Final Four.

“To the best of my knowledge, there is really no reason why a matchup between NIU and U of I hasn’t happened in men’s basketball,” Brown said. “I know there have been some discussions between coaches about possibly playing each other.”

So what it comes down to is Illinois’ unwillingness to travel from its throne in Champaign.

“The University of Illinois is open to play anyone who is willing to just head down to Champaign,” Judson said. “They’ve offered up to $40,000 as a pay out to avoid the one and one. It has to be more advantageous to us.”

If coach Webber of Illinois really wants to help the other state schools, why not schedule a simple one and one, where the two teams exchange home games in different years?

“U of I just has the budget to pay a team for one game without having to return,” Judson said.

With Judson looking for more out of the deal and the Illini riding their high horse – rightfully so as the nation’s No. 1 team – it doesn’t look like a deal will be set anytime soon.