Northern Illinois to play Toledo at White Sox stadium
Northern Illinois and Toledo will play at the home of the Chicago White Sox in 2016.
NIU announced the game at U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday morning. The game will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 9 and televised on ESPN.
“This is a historical moment and an outstanding day,” NIU athletic director Sean Frazier said in a statement. “Our fans have said, come back to Chicago, come to the city. Well, we’ve listened and we’re back! There are 145,000 NIU alumni living and working in Chicagoland. U.S. Cellular Field is a fantastic venue and I can’t wait for our fans to see this game in the ballpark. For years, NIU and Toledo have been featured in the November weeknight #MACtion games on ESPN, and in 2016, we are taking it to another level.”
NIU’s home stadium in DeKalb, Illinois, is approximately 70 miles due east of U.S. Cellular Field.
Here’s how the field will look. #MACtion pic.twitter.com/amBAkA2V62
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) February 17, 2016
The game, billed the “Chi-Town Huskie Showdown” is the second matchup in recent years played at a Chicago baseball stadium. Northwestern and Illinois played for two seasons at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. The game, played in 2010, had to have both teams go the same direction on the field because there wasn’t enough room between one end zone and the outfield wall at Wrigley.
Northwestern and Illinois played at Soldier Field in 2015 and will play there in 2017 and 2019.
NIU beat Toledo 32-27 in 2015. The loss was Toledo’s first of the season and, coupled with a season-ending loss to Western Michigan, prevented the Rockets from facing the Huskies in the MAC Championship Game.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
