The cries for a more stable and present fan base at NIU home games have been at the top of NIU athletics and the football team’s wish list for years now.

Granted, a mere three years ago the Huskies walked into homecoming weekend with the longest losing streak in the nation, but the Huskies shocked the small crowd that braved the elements that day and pulled a 16-6 victory over Central Michigan.

Now, three years later, the Huskie football team is in the need of a miracle from its fans. The team has improved greatly from that rainy, goalpost tearing down day in 1998 and deserves more fan support.

Unfortunately, this time if the Huskies don’t get our support, the football team could end up being demoted to Division I-AA status. As stated in today’s front page story, USA Today reported Thursday that an estimated 20 football programs could be in jeopardy of losing their Division I-A status when the NCAA reviews its membership guidelines.

And right now, the Huskies are on that list. Athletics director Cary Groth said right now she isn’t worried about being placed on the list, and she feels that the Huskies will be able to meet the guidelines put forth by the NCAA.

The guidelines should easily be met, except the guideline on attendance, which states that Division I-A schools must have a home attendance average of 15,000. This season, the Huskies are averaging 14,752 but averaged only a combined 11,881 in 1999 and 2000.

Sure, being lowered to Division I-AA status could mean that the Huskies would have more wins since they will be playing smaller schools, but when the quality of competition goes down, often the quality of play goes down, as well. Plus, this could be a crucial blow to recruiting more star players, and it could be a tremendous shock in general to the program that Joe Novak, the coaching staff and the athletes have built up.

So, we encourage students, faculty, staff, community members and everyone else in the country to partake in this weekend’s activities, especially the football game and support the Huskies. We’ve all been critics of the football team before, but now is the time to be fans.

And a homecoming victory would be nice.

Go You Huskies!!!