Boston College Football Set To Face Northern Illinois In 2015 And 2016 Or 2017

This didn't make its way onto Northern Illinois's #SchedulePalooza, but it'll do. According to ESPN's Brett McMurphy, Boston College has agreed to a home-and-home football series with Northern Illinois.

Boston College, NIU schedule home/home series; 2015 at BC; either 2016 or 2017 at NIU

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) September 9, 2014

The Huskies will visit the Heights on September 26, 2015, with the Eagles return trip to DeKalb on either September 23, 2016 or September 2, 2017. Boston College and NIU have previously met once before ... way back in 1971 -- a 20-10 Eagles victory on the Heights. The Eagles own a 36-8 (.818) all-time record against current MAC programs.

Here's NIU Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier on the deal:

"The opportunity to have a home game with a quality ACC opponent in 2016 or 2017 was simply too good to pass up," Frazier said. "Because of the national name our football program has established, and my relationship with BC (and former Miami) Athletic Director Brad Bates, we were able to make it happen. I'm excited about this series. We're really looking forward to going to Boston next year and to the Eagles playing in Huskie Stadium."

This series likely replaces the Boston College-Buffalo series, which has been on the books for what feels like forever and was most recently tentatively scheduled for 2015 and 2016. However, Buffalo has already completed its 2015 non-conference schedule with games against Albany (9/5), Penn State (9/12), Florida Atlantic (9/19) and Nevada (9/26). Not sure whether the BC-Buffalo series will be pushed back again or simply canceled outright.

Interestingly, NIU already had a full non-conference schedule in 2015. The Huskies were set to face UNLV (9/5), Murray State (9/12), at Ohio State (9/19) and Wyoming (9/26) in 2015. In order to accommodate the opportunity, NIU and Wyoming have moved their game in DeKalb from 2015 to 2021.

The Huskies have been one of the MAC's top programs in recent seasons, winners of four straight MAC West Division titles and back-to-back conference titles in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, NIU became the first MAC program to reach a BCS bowl game, ultimately falling to the ACC champ Florida State 31-10 in the Orange Bowl.

In addition to the Huskies, Boston College has a non-conference game scheduled against Notre Dame at Fenway Park (11/21) and a tentatively scheduled game against Army next season. BC has yet to schedule an FCS opponent in 2015 and if they do, that game would complete the Eagles' non-conference schedule for next season.