Both the NIU football and basketball teams were picked preseason to win the MAC. But one has distinguished itself as the fan favorite in DeKalb.

DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow thinks both the Huskie football and basketball teams will be playing postseason games this season.

The NIU football team is 9-1 on the season, and according to a Nov. 3 panel on ESPN.com, the Huskies seem to be a unanimous choice to be in a bowl game even if they don’t win the MAC.

The basketball team is projected to represent the MAC in the field of 65 for the NCAA Tournament, according to the MAC preseason poll.

NIU students also think DeKalb is more of a football town.

“People like football more than basketball [at NIU],” sophomore accounting major Justin Hickman said. “Football gets more publicity and there’s tailgating. You can’t tailgate at the Convo Center, so I think DeKalb is more interested in football.”

NIU senior basketball player Marcus Smallwood said DeKalb definitely is a football town right now, with the job Huskies coach Joe Novak has done.

It wasn’t always that way. In the mid-’90s, the basketball team had back-to-back winning seasons, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1995-’96, while the football team was in the midst of its sixth consecutive losing season.

From 1996 to 1998, the football team lost a school-record 23-straight games.

“We didn’t have a product people were interested in,” NIU athletic director Cary Groth said. “We had about 9,000 or 10,000 people a game in football. DeKalb is more of a winner town. Whoever’s doing well is who people follow.”

Both teams were projected as preseason favorites this season, but if one team had to be good, football would benefit the university more.

“The GMAC Bowl or the Motor City Bowl would pay out $750,000,” Groth said. “Playing in a first-round NCAA tournament game would pay about $50,000 to $95,000.”

The NIU football team has been ranked for eight straight weeks. Novak said having both teams do well at the same time is fun for everyone.

“We’re having a great year, and it’d be great for the basketball team to continue success for the university,” Novak said. “Athletics aren’t the most important thing, but they’re great for the community.”

NIU basketball coach Rob Judson said the football team’s success has excited the whole town.

“We’d like to be in a situation where Northern Illinois is always thought of as one of the top teams in the MAC, no matter the sport,” Judson said.

The last time NIU was represented in a bowl game was 1983. The last time NIU made the NCAA Tournament was 1996.

Fans thinks this could be the year both teams make it to the postseason, an unlikely occurrence at NIU.

“When I decided to come to NIU, I never expected them to ever go to a bowl or March Madness,” sophomore accounting major Arthur Tolbert said. “I never knew they had sports teams like this.”

Sparrow said he is more of a football fan than basketball, but his main sports interest isn’t in either sport.

“My No. 1 sport is baseball,” Sparrow said.