The Developed Rivalry Between Northern Illinois & Toledo

Rivalries all have one thing in common: hatred, angst, and history. While Northern Illinois and Toledo may not be exactly the first rivalry to come to mind when you heard the word, the teams are developing a history. Although the all-time series is in Toledo's favor, 29-14, both teams have had their moments throughout. From 1990-2004, Toledo dominated the Huskies, winning eleven straight contests and eventually winning the Mid-American Conference Championship under Bruce Gradkowski in 2004. Since then, Northern Illinois has won eight of the past eleven meetings. A lot of times in rivalries, there will be stretches of domination, these teams certainly have that going both ways.

Despite being hard to make out, a dry-erase
board on the NIU sidelines seasons ago featured:
"Tuck Foledo."

For years now, Northern Illinois fans have hated Toledo. A lot of fans, especially outside of the MAC and outside of DeKalb, Illinois may ask why. The reason is due to the implications the series has had on the MAC West division. For the past decade, the match-up has almost always decided who would represent the west division in the championship game. Therefore, the hatred has begun to burn deep between the two fan bases. In fact, Northern Illinois had a sign placed in their locker room in 2013 that stated, 'Tuck Foledo,' it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.

While the programs have tremendous respect for one another, there isn't much respect on the playing surface, especially among former and current players.

An article on Huskie Wire, a website devoted to Northern Illinois athletics, posted an article in 2010 in which several current players at the time featured their hatred for the Rockets.

"I have a strong dislike for Toledo," former defensive end, Jake Coffman, stated. Former Northern Illinois assistant coach and former interim head coach, Tom Matukewicz, was reportedly extremely bitter towards the Huskies after they defeated the Rockets in 2012 and 2013, following Coach 'Tuke's' departure to become the defensive coordinator at Toledo in 2012.

Bill Baker, who has been the broadcaster for Northern Illinois for over thirty years, also had interesting words, "I'm sure we feel it's a rivalry," Baker was quoted, "But they couldn't care less about us because they've handed it to us over the years." Again, keep in mind this article was posted in 2010, before the Huskies' six-game winning streak.

Northern Illinois broadcaster, Bill Baker, a Hall of Fame
commentator who has been around the match-up for decades.

Let's talk about Mr. Bill Baker, the Hall of Fame broadcaster of the Northern Illinois Huskies. The 2015 match-up between the Huskies and Rockets was obviously extremely intriguing. The Rockets came in undefeated at 7-0 and ranked No. 20 in the country. Broadcasting for WXUT, The University of Toledo's student radio station, we are always posted up next to the visiting team's flagship radio station, or the big-wigs, as we call them. On occasion, especially during commercial break, we can hear those broadcasters on the other side of the glass and their call. Well, following a game closing interception by Northern Illinois to put a cap on a 32-27 win over Toledo at The Glass Bowl, Baker went on to go bananas. In fact, Baker looked at us, the student radio, pointing and shouting: "GOODBYE TOLEDO! GOODBYE TOLEDO! GOODBYE TOLEDO!" Over and over again. Very rarely have we, the student broadcasters for the university, had a bad experience with visiting broadcasters. If nothing else, we're usually at awe of how nice and down-to-earth the commentators are with us. However, Baker showed extreme disrespect, as if the MAC Championship was already won by the Huskies with their win over the Rockets. While I'm not complaining, it's interesting to see Baker's perspective in which is obviously a rivalry to someone who has been such a big part of the meeting.

Northern Illinois marked one of the biggest wins in
program history in The Glass Bowl.
Photo Courtesy: WHIO 

Aside from Baker's call and feelings towards Toledo, I host a sports radio show on WXUT on Sunday nights. Therefore, I wanted to have a Northern Illinois football writer call in to talk about the Huskies and preview the match-up. After reaching out to four different writers, both at different newspapers, and college students, I never received responses. Once again, not a complaint, but bringing awareness to the feelings of Huskie fans and media toward Toledo.

As illustrated, the Northern Illinois students, players, and even media members feel strongly towards Toledo. In fact, several media members that made the haul from Toledo to DeKalb for the meeting between the teams in 2014 reported being treated not poorly, but uniquely, is the way to put it, by the media members in Illinois. Just another fact to backup the rivalry talk, even in the press box.

Obviously, Bowling Green will also be Toledo's biggest rival due to the proximity of the campuses, and being just 25 miles away. However, Bowling Green is in the MAC East, the opposite division of the Rockets. Therefore, the game is important, but doesn't serve up the national attention that Northern Illinois and Toledo have begun to show over the past decade. The saying is that the MAC West runs through DeKalb, Illinois and without a doubt, it does. The Huskies have won the Mid-American Conference a number of times over the past several years, including in 2014.


If you're up for some fun, or bitterness if you're a diehard Toledo fan, search 'Tuck Foledo' on Twitter and enjoy. This phrase and hashtag was going crazy following Northern Illinois' sixth straight win on Nov. 3 against the Rockets. In fact, Northern Illinois freshman long-snapper, Hayden Sak took to Twitter following the victory with a picture of the Husky locker room, featuring the famous hashtag.


To Northern Illinois, their match-up with Toledo has always been seen as a rivalry. However, Rocket fans are beginning to respect the Huskies after the series has tightened up over the past decade. By the way, Northern Illinois head coach, Rod Carey remains undefeated against the Rockets as Toledo head coach Matt Campbell, fell to 0-4 as head coach of the Rockets against their new second rival.

Former Northern Illinois head coach, Jerry Kill, who recently retired from Minnesota due to health concerns, also expressed the importance of the Toledo game with NIU fans: "You're darn right the Toledo game is important to Huskie Nation, there's no doubt about that," Kill was quoted in the Huskie Wire article.

I'll leave you with this via Twitter.

Toledo, it's time to wake up. Yes, Bowling Green is important and is obviously a big rival, but start to pay attention to Northern Illinois. Anytime you logon to a Mid-American Conference blog or website, there's a chatroom containing Huskie fans bashing the Rockets and their team or fans, yet not much fight in return from Toledo. Northern Illinois has always featured deep hatred for the Rockets, and now, due to the six game losing streak and recent prominence of the two programs, it's time to return the favor. The Nov. 3 match-up was a start, due to the 23,000-plus in attendance on a Tuesday night, which shows how important the game was to Toledo fans, but it needs to continue.

Isn't MACtion fun? Rivalries are beginning to grow.



Questions? Comments? Contact Zach on Twitter by clicking here: @ToledoZach