The world is about to be overcome with the new #Harnishing sensation. This is the finger pointing in the sky pose that NIU QB Chandler Harnish does when he scores a TD. Already people are Tweeting their Harnish poses or photoshopping Harnish into other photos.

#Harnishing in real life

#Harnishing on YouTube

Congratulations to the NIU men's soccer team on earning their second MAC title since 2006.  The #2 seed Huskies defeated the #4 seed Broncos 1-0 in regulation with their lone goal coming at the 83:20 mark in the 2nd period on a header by NIU's Sean Totsch.  NIU will now advance to the NCAA tournament.  The last time the Huskies made the tournament was in 2006 when they defeated Loyola (Chi) 1-0 in OT.  The Huskies would lose in the second round at Indiana 1-0 that season.

NIU Football is beginning to get some recognition.  It is still a big hole to climb to get into the top 25 but what might help them is their last loss was in the first half of the season.  As evidenced in previous years, late-season losses hurt and make it hard to stay or get back into the top 25.

USA Today Top 25 - Week 12

Others receiving votes: Cincinnati (7-2) 84; Baylor (6-3) 56; Texas (6-3) 27; Virginia (7-3) 24; Rutgers (7-3) 15; Tulsa (7-3) 10; Arkansas State (8-2) 5; Missouri (5-5) 5; Texas A&M (5-5) 5; Brigham Young (7-3) 4; Arizona State (6-4) 2; Northern Illinois (7-3) 2; Utah (6-4) 2.

via mac-sports.com

The #2 NIU men's soccer team will look for its second MAC Title since 2006 when they play #4 WMU in Akron, Ohio today at 4pm ET.  NIU defeated WMU in the regular season with a final 3-0 tally.  NIU advanced to the title game by defeating #3 Buffalo 1-0 in regulation.  WMU advanced to the title game after defeating defending national champion #1 Akron 4-3 on penalty kicks.  NIU won its last soccer title in 2006 when they defeated Akron 1-0.

Live coverage should be available here: http://mac-sports.com/Championships/SoccerM.aspx

The following NIU sports teams are having a good fall season thus far and are being recognized in the top 25 polls.

NIU Football:

Record: 1-0

Wins: Army

Current Ranking:  44th in the AP Top 25 and 38th in the USA Today Poll

NIU Men's Soccer:

Record: (3-0)

Wins: Saint Louis, Michigan, and Oakland

Current Ranking: 20th in the NSCAA Coaches Poll and 4th in the NSCAA Great Lakes Regional Rankings

NIU Women's Volleyball:

Record: 6-2

Wins: IUPUI, Cincinnati UW-Green Bay, Creighton, Marquette, South Dakota, and UW-Milwaukee

Losses: #15 Northern Iowa and #17 Iowa State

Current Ranking: 37th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll

Congrats to those Huskie teams on a job well done!

Here are a couple of free NIU Huskie Blackberry themes for the Curve and Storm devices.  Read on to find out how to get them on your phone.

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Saturday's rundown:

NIU Spring Game: 1 PM

NFL Draft: 3 PM

Most pre-draft projections have Larry English going anywhere from #20 to #30 overall.  NFL.com just submitted some new projections two hours ago and all four analysts have English going as high as #24 to as low as #28.  My personal guess is that English will go to the Atlanta Falcons.  Many projections had him going there before the Tony Gonzalez deal.  Now that the Falcons have another offensive weapon to add to former Huskie Michael Turner and Matt Ryan they may be even more inclined to select a player from the defensive side of the ball with their first round (24th) pick.  I could also see English going a pick before to the Patriots at #23.  LE is a SOLID football player who went through the combine AND the pro day.  No controversy, nothing.  Just some great workouts from one of the most intriguing players in the draft.

However, since most people have beaten to death the topic of pre-draft projections let's change the tone and focus on the money Larry English could potentially see as a first round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Here are the contracts 2008 NFL draft players selected #20 through #30 received:

20. CB Aqib Talib (Buccaneers) - Signed a five-year, $14 million contract. The deal includes $8.2 million guaranteed.
21. OT Sam Baker (Falcons) - Signed a five-year, $13 million contract. The deal includes $8 million guaranteed.
22. RB Felix Jones (Cowboys) - Signed a five-year, $10.525 million contract. The deal contains $7.665 million guaranteed, including a $3.57 million signing bonus.
23. RB Rashard Mendenhall (Steelers) - Signed a five-year, $9.855 million contract. The deal contains $7.125 million guaranteed, including a $6.83 million signing bonus.
24. RB Chris Johnson (Titans) - Signed a five-year, $12 million contract. The deal includes $7 million guaranteed.
25. CB Mike Jenkins (Cowboys) - Signed a five-year, $9.725 million contract. The deal contains $6.75 million guaranteed, including a $3.1 million signing bonus.
26. OT Duane Brown (Texans) - Signed a five-year, $9.1 million contract. The deal includes $6.2 million guaranteed.
27. CB Antoine Cason (Chargers) - Signed a five-year, $12.03 million contract. The deal included a $6.3 million signing bonus.
28. DE Lawrence Jackson (Seahawks) - Signed a five-year, $11.25 million contract. The deal included a $6.1 million signing bonus.
29. DE Kentwan Balmer (49ers) - Signed a five-year, $8 million contract. The deal includes $6 million guaranteed.
30. TE Dustin Keller (Jets) - Signed a five-year, $8.5 million contract. The deal includes $5.995 million guaranteed.

Source: rotoworld.com

By looking at those numbers there, we see that English most likely would see a deal around five years and $10 million with around $6 to $7 million of that money guaranteed.  Either way, making $2 million a year in this economy isn't too shabby.

Good luck to Mr. English tomorrow!  Huskie fans will be watching...

ESPN's "First Take" talked to Northern Illinois University defensive end Larry English today at 9:30 am CST about the 2009 NFL Draft.

MAC Baseball has been in full-swing for a while now but like most fans we want to know who the best teams are and how our Huskies fare in respect to the rest of our conference mates.  Below are the essential numbers stacking up the MAC.  Just like in college basketball, the college baseball RPI plays an important role in the postseason selection of teams.  Approximately once every week i will release an update so fans can continue to monitor NIU and MAC baseball.

2009 MAC Baseball Standings (As of Thursday, April 2)

via i305.photobucket.com

2009 MAC Baseball RPI's (As of Thursday, April 2)

1. Kent State - #108; down from #64
2. Miami - #158; down from #145
3. Northern Illinois - #166; down from #152
4. Bowling Green - #186; up from #217
5. Toledo - #197; down from #166
6. Ball State - #232; up from #241
7. Central Michigan - #247; down from #240
8. Ohio - #250; up from #272
9. Akron - #254; up from #267
10. Western Michigan - #260; down from #221
11. Eastern Michigan - #263; down from #259
12. Buffalo - #268; up from #278


2009 MAC Baseball SOS's (As of Thursday, April 2)

1. Akron - #148  // Oppositions Win % - .5008
2. Eastern Michigan - #149  // Oppositions Win % - .4997
3. Northern Illinois - #152  // Oppositions Win % - .4977
4. Miami - #178  // Oppositions Win % - .4828
5. Bowling Green - #179  // Oppositions Win % - .4826
6. Toledo - #200  // Oppositions Win % - .4744
7. Western Michigan - #206  // Oppositions Win % - .4704
8. Kent State - #227  // Oppositions Win % - .4565
9. Central Michigan - #267  // Oppositions Win % - .4324
10. Ball State - #273  // Oppositions Win % - .4302
11. Buffalo - #279  // Oppositions Win % - .4211
12. Ohio - #291  // Oppositions Win % - .4113

Source: http://www.warrennolan.com/baseball/2009/index

Here is an excellent FanPost recollection of today's post-game thoughts by NIUHuskies#1Fan. We had a lot of the same thoughts as we watched the whole game sitting next to each other.  We played a ranked NAIA team in Feed-Hardeman today for our first exhibition game and beat them 84-72.

Our starting five was Sean Kowal, Lee Fisher, Sean Smith, Jake Anderson, and Michael Patton.

This team started off the first half very lackluster and was not playing up-tempo or aggressive at all. That is why i feel they were losing at halftime. I'm not sure i would have wanted to be in that locker room at halftime. They came out the second half ready to play their game. Jake Anderson bullying defenders and taking it to the hoop. This team seems to lack shooters. Unless they improve their shooting ability, we're going to have to rely on being aggressive and taking it to the rim.

I was very disappointed by Kowal's play. He is very weak on defense. None of their big men had any problem scoring all over him. He even got posterized by #2 on the opposing team. He turned over the ball too much and missed a lot of close, easy shots.

Lee Fisher is high-energy. The kid is an absolute hustler on both sides of the ball. He was very aggressive getting rebounds. Looking at the post-game stats that was evident by his 13 rebounds. He's a very nice player for a walk-on. I could see him earning a scholarship with his play.

Sean Smith didn't play that much. I'm surprised he even started considering i thought he had a shoulder injury. Couldn't tell if his game is improved or not since he played so little. What i did see of him he looks the same as last year.

Jake Anderson was quiet the first half and then came out ready to play in the second half. He needs to always be aggressive by taking the ball to the hoop because this is going to open up opportunities for the rest of the team. I'm not sure he is good enough of a shooter to settle for jump shots.

Michael Patton was average. He did a decent job running the point, controlling the ball, and not turning the ball over.

Outside of Lee Fisher's play, the player i am most excited about is Mike DiNunno. This guy is an absolute baller. He has such a quick release that defenders have a hard time blocking his shot. He shot the three-ball well and even his misses were still on target. He's very quick with the ball and he has a lot of potential to become our #1 point guard if he does a better job not making bone-headed turnovers. He made a couple nice passes when penetrating the paint.

Bryan Hall lived up to the defensive hype. He's always all over the opposing player making it hard for them to get by him. He did a good job running the point in the little time he was out there and doesn't make mistakes.

I was hoping to see more of Tyler Storm. He was very quiet in the first half and in the second half it seemed like he wanted the ball more. Even though he missed his three-point shots they were still on target. He does a good job handling the ball and has good speed. Looks like he also bulked up since high school. He wasn't as skinny as i expected him to be.

As for Keith Smith, if he's 5'5" then i'm a giant. No way he's a legit 5'5". He's very small. His basketball shorts were down to his ankles. Speaking of which, can we get DiNunno and Smith some smaller uniforms? He easily pick-pocketed the ball a few times but he got trucked a couple times on defense. I don't know about him yet.

Also, Jeremy Landers did well in the short time he was out there. He hit some key open shots from the corner in the second half.

Overall, my concerns are the lack of depth in the post, lack of shooters, and mistakes handling and passing the ball. I'm afraid our defense in the paint is going to be very weak this year. Sean Kowal seems to get tired easily so they had Lee Fisher playing the 5 most of the time. Fisher is quick, athletic, and aggressive but i don't see him doing a good job guarding other big men. Although, he was no worse than Kowal on defense. The other concern is handling the ball. We need to do a better job but who knows if that improves with all the youth and inexperience.