Going Bowling???

[BelieveNBG]

MAC Bowl Agreement:

The conference champion earns a spot in either the Motor City or GMAC bowl.

Whichever game does not get the MAC champion will select an **at-large** team from the league.

To be eligible for a bowl, a school must have at least six victories over NCAA Div. I-A teams.

The way I see it is we need to finish out with a strong season. This would include hammering Marshall to make a statement that we are the better and more exciting team. We would also need to wrap up that statement by beating UT on their field. This should certainly put us in the drivers seat for the "at-large" bid. As much as we complain about the weaker competition, we need to continue posting those 50 point games to show that we are an elite team and that we are better than that showing we had against NIU.

[BGSU33]

EXACTLY! It's pretty much our only hope, because I don't see NIU losing twice. But first, let's beat OHIO!!!

[NWLB]

Now that you mention it, that sets me thinking.

There is some feeling in the MAC, that Marshall shouldn't be eligable for a bowl, or the title game. Marshall is indeed leaving the MAC this year.

If the Herd were to get to the title game and lose to an NIU, BGSU might very well have a chance at a bowl game. Why would the MAC want to have a lame-duck team go to one of its precious bowl games? They wouldn't. If the Herd win the title game, then let them go to a bowl. But if they lose to an NIU, or god forbid, even Toledo, let the Herd rot. Last year there was some thought that BGSU might be skipped in favor of NIU for the MCB. IF BGSU wins out, I think we could make a decent case for a game, if it is Marshall in the title game, which we hope the lose.

You can start to make a case for BG to go even if Marshall wins. However, assuming NIU has only the title game loss in conference, I can't honestly say we should go ahead of them. The same arguement was made in our favor last year.

[1987alum]

Transfer: Thanks for the post. Certain validates several posts made across the board.

In the end, all we can do is run the table and hope that Chryst has the guts to put the screws to Marshall as they leave the MAC.

[transfer2BGSU]

Transfer: Thanks for the post. Certain validates several posts made across the board.

What did I say?

[BelieveNBG]

If NIU goes to the title game and we win out, it would be best if NIU won the title game against Marshall. If this happened, all things would point to BG being the 2nd best team in the MAC. NIU would get the deserved bowl appearance and BG should be considered the team deserving of the 2nd bowl spot. The Herd would have a not so impressive 5 loss season with 2 losses from MAC opponents and BG would have only 2 losses with both occurring early in the season and one of those at the hands of a BCS championship contender.

When you look at the possibilities, I still believe we are in the drivers seat if we just take care of our own business. No forgetting Ohio this weekend. We need to win in an impressive fashion by solidly beating a good team on their home field at their homecoming. Our offense needs to show how explosive we can be against the best defense in the MAC.

[NWLB]

As noted above, I think that is true. Thought I'm sure Miami will want consideration if they don't lose any other games. (Does Toledo play Miami this year, if so, go Hawks.)

BG has to win out for any of this to mean anything.

But if you are a BG fan, then you either want to get to the title game and win, or have NIU run the table, with the Herd in the title game.

I'm not sure how things change, if somehow Miami does wind up in the title game (which is very unlikely at this point) and doesn't beat an NIU. If BG wins-out, and is still pulling top 25 votes, the choice is tricky.

The Toronto Bowl can't come soon enough. Lets hope the talk that the Indy people are still shopping for a title sponsor are true.

[Redwingtom]

Unfortunately, the MAC has little to no say in who goes to the bowl games. The MCB will take the MAC champion more than likely.

If we are up against Marshall for consideration to go to Mobile for the GMAC bowl we will lose out handily. Like it or not...Marshall travels better than us and has much more name recognition in Mobile.

We need to win out and hope for Toledo to beat NIU so we can go to the MACC and we will need to win that to get a bowl.

First things first though...BEAT THE BOBKITTIES!!!

[Dayons_Den]

I said this last year when there was some doubt whether or not we would be going to Detroit or not-

We should PRE-SELL tickets for an un-named bowl so the MAC and Krebs can lobby by saying, look we have X number of tickets sold and we haven't even announced the location or time of the game. When bowls are concerned its the MONEY not the 50 point blowouts that talk.

If we didn't make it to a bowl or if the person can't attend use the money paid as downpayments for season tix or ticket plans for 2005. This can and should be done if We as fans want to show how serious we are in following the Falcons.

[Schadenfreude]

Unfortunately, the MAC has little to no say in who goes to the bowl games.

They can do some things behind the scenes.

For instance, Marshall is paying an exit fee. They could promise a portion of that to a bowl to sweeten the pot. Not saying they would -- but I also refuse to underestimate the antipathy other ADs seem to have for Marshall.

I think it actually *hurts* the MAC for Marshall to go bowling. They get the exposure, and the announcers can be counted on to go on and on about how Marshall is leaving the MAC for "greener pastures."

I maintain there is still a chance of a third bowl for the MAC. Some conferences will come up short of filling their slots. The question is how many, and how the math works out.

[CapitalFalcon]

I think if NIU wins the West, the only way we go bowling is if, by some miracle, the MAC gets a third bowl bid. We have to win out...No question. But, if I was a betting man, I would put my money on the team watching bolw games on TV just like the rest of us. I hope I'm wrong.

[BelieveNBG]

I prefer to chose the non-pessimistic route myself. There is no guarantee that the GMAC Bowl would prefer Marshall over BG. Reason being, BG had a heck of a showing at the MCB last year. Also, what kind of viewership would a bowl game have that is featuring a 5 loss MAC team vs. a top 25 team or an explosive offense vs. a non-existant offense. If we win out, we will be a top 25 team and if Marshall loses 5 games, not alot of folks will care to watch or attend a bowl game featuring them. As much as bowl committees look at how well folks travel, they also want to reward a "hot" team. Let's also not forget that last year the GMAC picked the number 1 MAC team. If that happened again and it was NIU, the MCB was very impressed with the crowd and the game that BG gave them last year.

[orangeandbrown]

I agree. Marshall is a very attractive bowl team, regardless of where they are going. The MAC might not want them in a bowl, but it isn't our call. We could try to use the exit fee to buy our way in, but my guess is our cash-strapped schools have other things in mind for those $$.

[bgbrandon]

Ive got a question and it may be really stupid but what if...We win out which includes beating toledo. and Toledo beats NIU leaving all of us with one loss... WHO goes to the MACC in that scenario?

[BelieveNBG]

but bottom line, it would go to NIU. BG and Toledo have both been in the championship game more recent than NIU, so NIU would get the game. We need NIU to lose twice and for us to win out.