Bloguin's The Crystal Ball Run blog has been hard at work this week cranking out a series of posts this week previewing the upcoming 2013 Mid-American Conference football season. The Crystal Ball Run staff makes its conference championship picks, names its all-conference teams and ranks the strengths of schedules. There is an interesting post on the future relationship of the MAC and Big Ten and a podcast breaking down this year's season.

You can meet the league's new coaches, including NIU head coach Rod Carey and CBR breaks down the top 10 #MACtion games for 2013. The Huskies make three appearances on the list, including the top two.

NIU Athletics would like to offer its sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of long-time NIU Football "Sound Guy" Rick Calderon, who passed away Wednesday, May 1, in DeKalb following a long illness.

Calderon, who retired from NIU in 2008, was a fixture at Northern Illinois home and away football games for many, many seasons. In addition to operating the public address and music systems during games, he was responsible for the coaches' headset communications both home and away. At head coach Joe Novak's request, Calderon would set up "music" (often the opposing teams' fight songs, crowd noise and band played on a loop) to be blared at footbal practice during the week to simulate the other team's stadium atmosphere. On road trips, he would spend time illustrating post cards which he would then send to his many friends.

Calderon graduated from Northern Illinois in 1982 and was active in designing, installing and maintaining audio/visual systems around campus in addition to working with the football team. Read much more on Calderon, here. A memorial service was held Wednesday, May 8, in DeKalb.

With spring football right around the corner, check out this preview on the Huskies' upcoming 2013 spring drills by Yahoo! Sports blogger Frank Schwab. He identifies the defensive front seven and the skill positions on the offensive side of the ball as wild cards heading into spring. He also talks about Jordan Lynch's chances of winning the Heisman in 2013.

Northern Illinois Head Football Coach Rod Carey will join Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein of WSCR 670 AM The Score Friday, March 8 from Fatty's Pub & Grille in DeKalb.  Carey will update listeners on what's been happening with Huskie Football since the Orange Bowl as NIU gets ready for spring practice beginning March 20.  Fans in the area are welcome to come by the show, which will be live from Fatty's from 1-6 p.m.  Carey's segment will begin at approximately 3:40 p.m  If you can't make it to DeKalb, be sure to listen!

Former Northern Illinois assistant coach and NIU alum Dan Roushar was hired as the running backs coach of the New Orleans Saints over the weekend. Roushar will join Sean Payton's staff after spending his last six seasons at Michigan State. During the past three seasons at MSU, Roushar served as the Spartan's offensive coordinator, where he helped the likes of Kirk Cousins, Le'Veon Bell and Andrew Maxwell set new school records.

News of the success of the Northern Illinois University football team has reached across the pond to Ireland. Right guard Aidan Conlon, who's parents hail from Castlebrock and Ballinalee, Ireland, was featured in the Longford Leader. The story talks about Conlon's success at NIU, his roots in Ireland and his aspirations to play professionally. It's great to see the Northern Illinois football story go international.

Huskie wide receiver Martel Moore will be playing in the 2013 Texas vs. The Nation Game, an annual all-star game pitting college football players from the state of Texas versus the players from the other 49 states. The game will be played February 2, 2013 1:30 p.m. at Eagle Stadium in Allen, Texas.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Moore will play for Team Texas. The 6-0, 183 pound wide receiver led the Huskies in receiving with 1,083 yards on 73 receptions. He was also third on the team in scoring with 13 touchdowns. Moore is the third Huskie to play in the Texas vs The Nation Game, joining Eddie Adamski and Chad Spann who played in the game in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Texas vs. The Nation Moore is one of four Mid-American Conference representatives playing in the game. Toledo's Dan Molls and Ohio's Eric Herman and Tremayne Scott are playing for The Nation.

Northern Illinois University Faculty Athletics Representative Matt Streb was honored Thursday by the National Football Foundation as part of the organization's 2012 Faculty Salute Initiative.
 
Streb was one of 15 FARs from across the country that was recognized for his efforts. The honor was given to the FARs at each of the schools who had an NFF National Scholar-Athlete. In 2011, former NIU FAR Jan Rintala was recognized alongside NIU QB Chandler Harnish.
 
Below is a list of the FARs who were honored:
 
·         Baylor University, Mike Rogers (Nick Florence, QB, 3.79 GPA)
·         Duke University, Martha Putallaz (Sean Renfree, QB, 3.40 GPA)
·         Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hank Smith (Ethan Peterson, OL, 3.83 GPA)
·         Northern Illinois University, Matt Streb (Nabal Jefferson, DT, 3.78 GPA)
·         Northwestern University,  Robert Gundlach (Patrick Ward, OT, 3.94 GPA)
·         Robert Morris University, Scott Branvold (Nolan Nearhoof, DE, 3.73 GPA)
·         Saint Xavier University (Ill.), Barbara Becker (Shane Zackery, WR, 3.71 GPA)
·         Syracuse University, Mike Wasylenko (Ryan Nassib, QB, 3.57 GPA)
·         Texas Tech University, Brian Shannon (Cody Davis, S, 3.70 GPA)
·         University of Alabama, Kevin Whitaker (Barrett Jones, C, 4.00 GPA)
·         University of Mount Union (Ohio), Scott Mason (Nick Driskill, S, 3.77 GPA)
·         University of Nebraska, Josephine Potuto (Rex Burkhead, RB, 3.43 GPA)
·         University of Notre Dame, Patricia Bellia (Manti Te'o, LB, 3.32 GPA)
·         University of Southern California, Clare Pastore (Matt Barkley, QB, 3.21 GPA)
·         West Texas A&M University, David Rausch (Aaron Mullane, OL, 3.84 GPA)
 
Launched in 2011 by Fidelity and the NFF, the initiative is an extension of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Program that provides postgraduate scholarships for college football's elite student-athletes. Fidelity, which is also the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, has taken on a leadership role with the initiative as a natural extension of its ongoing support of the scholar-athlete ideal and commitment to higher education nationwide. As part of the initiative, each school with an NFF National Scholar-Athlete receives recognition for their faculty athletics representative, and a $5,000 donation per school ($75,000 total) from Fidelity will be made to support the academic support services for student-athletes at each school.

Football: Northern Illinois won their second consecutive Mid-American Conference title Friday with a 44-37 double overtime win over then No. 17 Kent State at Detroit's Ford Field. Jordan Lynch combined for 372 yards of total offense, while the Huskie defense held KSU's vaunted rushing attack in check before Demetrius Stone's fourth down interception in the endzone sealed the win. The victory solidified a spot for the Huskies in the 2013 Discover Orange Bowl against ACC champion Florida State.