Signature Wins
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:12 pm
Much has been made about Northern Illinois not having any "signature" victories this season as a reason why they should not have been given the Orange Bowl invitation. The talking heads at ESPN seemed especially incensed about NIU's Orange Bowl invite. I was especially disappointed by the attitude of Kirk Herbstreit who, among other things, called the selection a joke. They especially seem upset about the lack of any signature wins by the Huskies. I think they might be well advised to look at the Big Ten and tell us what signature wins that entire conference had this season. The closest they came too was Michigan State beating Boise State in the first game of the year. Otherwise, the Big Ten's biggest win was Iowa over Northern Illinois also in game one. Neither Boise State nor NIU are BCS schools. Those were the only wins the Big Ten in non-conference play over any top 25 teams all season. The entire Big Ten conference did not have any so-called signature wins at all. Yet that didn't keep 5-loss Wisconsin from going to the Rose Bowl. Perhaps there should be an investigation into that issue.