There are some who have compared a trip to DeKalb, Illinois – home to Northern Illinois University – to the migration of the monarch butterfly. This is a fallacy, as a surprising majority of those who attempt the trip to DeKalb will live to see its end. Also, the monarch butterfly is not subject to tolls as it attempts to meander through the Land of Lincoln.

The trip this weekend may get a bit hairy. Cold weather will again take firm grip and a couple inches of snow may fall over the region. It will not keep you from getting there, but it will make a long drive even longer. There are benefits to this when considering you are traveling to a part of the country that absolutely revolves around food. It’s just not fair to contain a trip to Northern Illinois to a single day’s meal plan. When heading to a place steeped in deep dish pizza, hot dogs with vegetables on them, and seasoned beef sandwiches, you can’t cover it all with just a lunch and pre-game dinner. One must either have King Solomon’s wisdom or a hotel reservation in Naperville. When I think about a trip to NIU, I count myself fortunate to possess a high metabolic rate and a Diner’s Club card.

Mark Montgomery is ever so gradually improving the NIU program. Standing at 7-8 overall, he’s already improved on the pair of five-win seasons he started his tenure with. Kent State needed a 30-foot bomb in the last minute of regulation to force overtime in their Convocation Center on Wednesday night; otherwise the Huskies would be more than halfway to their previous MAC win totals as well.

NIU does it with defense. They are holding opponents to 64.6 points per game, including the sick 36 Bowling Green managed last weekend. They have only one player averaging double figures, and that’s Dontel Highsmith, who’s been lost for the season with a torn ACL. They have struggled to find their offensive identity since then. Darrell Bowie is going to crash the glass; he leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game. They’re not going to shoot a lot from the perimeter; they are going to go at the basket and get to the line (43 foul shots taken against Kent). And that should be the biggest concern given the Bobcat tendency to foul.

Last Edited: 1/18/2014 8:18:41 PM by OUbobcat9092