Ball State giving NIU all it can handle right now

[BGSU33]

Cardinals are up 21-13 with 1:28 before halftime.

[BGSU33]

No sooner did I type that and NIU scores, 21-20 with 1:13 to go 2Q.

[Falcon Fanatic]

What channel is the game on?

[transfer2BGSU]

What channel is the game on?

Last night.

[zete]

Since fans showed up in masses, it resembled college football atmosphere; instead of a HS setting as we have seen the last couple of weeknight games.

[mscarn]

Since fans showed up in masses, it resembled college football atmosphere; instead of a HS setting as we have seen the last couple of weeknight games.

Jason Whitlock was patting himself on the back for paying for a bunch of Ball State students to attend the game. Didn't one of our boosters do something similar for the Kent and Indiana games?

[Falcon137]

Since fans showed up in masses, it resembled college football atmosphere; instead of a HS setting as we have seen the last couple of weeknight games.

9-1 (6-0) @ #15 9-0 (5-0) probably helped.

[kdog27]

Since fans showed up in masses, it resembled college football atmosphere; instead of a HS setting as we have seen the last couple of weeknight games.

9-1 (6-0) @ #15 9-0 (5-0) probably helped.

Longest home winning streak in FBS doesn't hurt either.

[mscarn]

Since fans showed up in masses, it resembled college football atmosphere; instead of a HS setting as we have seen the last couple of weeknight games.

9-1 (6-0) @ #15 9-0 (5-0) probably helped.

Longest home winning streak in FBS doesn't hurt either.

As does incessant national media hype of a team that feasts on bad teams and was playing only the second FBS team with a winning record on their schedule up to that point.

[zete]

I guess that is what it takes. Maybe we will reel off 25-30 games in a row in he next couple of years. Sure would be fun. In the meantime we can only dream-on.

[bgsufalcon24]

Since fans showed up in masses, it resembled college football atmosphere; instead of a HS setting as we have seen the last couple of weeknight games.

9-1 (6-0) @ #15 9-0 (5-0) probably helped.

Longest home winning streak in FBS doesn't hurt either.

As does incessant national media hype of a team that feasts on bad teams and was playing only the second FBS team with a winning record on their schedule up to that point.

I don't think NIU is to blame for not playing any of the good East teams either of the past 2 seasons. Their nonconference schedule on paper should've been tougher playing 2 B1G teams on the road. Them's the breaks really.

[transfer2BGSU]

Jason Whitlock was patting himself on the back for paying for a bunch of Ball State students to attend the game. Didn't one of our boosters do something similar for the Kent and Indiana games?

Someone provided Chris Kingston with the funding to help send two busses of Falcon Fanatics over to both the Kent State and IU games.

Thank you to that anonymous donor.

[mscarn]

I don't think NIU is to blame for not playing any of the good East teams either of the past 2 seasons. Their nonconference schedule on paper should've been tougher playing 2 B1G teams on the road. Them's the breaks really.

You're absolutely right about certain things being beyond their control. Basically, my resentment of them stems from the belief that they're profoundly unworthy of the acclaim they receive based on the schedule they play both inside and outside the conference. If they beat a Top 10 team, a Top 25 team or a traditional power I'd be the first to table any jealousy and tip my hat to them. Their path to media darling status includes a 3 point win over 6-4 (3-3 Big 10) Iowa and not one other FBS team even close to a winning record until Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the rest of the MAC has competed against the likes of Ohio State, Baylor, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, LSU, Missouri, Florida, Mississippi State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Kansas State. This list includes members of the best conference in college football, recent BCS bowl game participants and major conference champions. They are not Iowa (10-14 over the last 2 years and trying to buy out their coach) or 1-8 Purdue.

They put up points, but if they're going to be called a great team and represent the conference as such I'd at least like it to be supported by indisputable evidence. They've been rewarded for ducking the big boys while the rest of the league, in a way, has been punished.

[zete]

Meanwhile, the rest of the MAC has competed against the likes of Ohio State, Baylor, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, LSU, Missouri, Florida, Mississippi State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Kansas State.

And lost to all of the above......NIU is an above average MAC team with no business playing in the BIG (Orange) bowl games. Wasn't that obvious last year? Shut down Superman and they become more MAC like.

[Schadenfreude]

NIU is an above average MAC team with no business playing in the BIG (Orange) bowl games. Wasn't that obvious last year?

No. It wasn't. They hung in there most of the night against a good Florida State team. My take away was that they showed they belonged on that field, even if they didn't win. Lots of teams got blown out worse during bowl season than Northern Illinois did.