Final week of the season...

[jpfalcon09]

Amazing how quickly this year went by as it seems like a month ago the team was gearing up for the opener against Tennessee. A few things to watch for this week in the MAC:

- NIU must beat Ohio to clinch the West. A loss and a Toledo win guarantees the Rockets a spot in Detroit. NIU can also make it if they lose and the Rockets lose to Western Michigan.

- Buffalo needs to beat UMass to become bowl eligible. As is stands right now, the conference has seven bowl teams and I believe eight would tie the record for the most the conference has ever sent.

- The college football playoff scenario. Toledo may end up the highest ranked G5 team but not qualify for the access bowl if they do not win the conference championship. I can already smell the controversy...

- Will this be the last regular season games coached by Matt Campbell, Dino Babers and Rod Carey? History would suggest it, and if so would this group go down as one of the better coaching classes the MAC has ever produced?

- Matt Johnson can break the school and MAC record for touchdowns in a season even before the championship and bowl games.

[Falconfreak90]

Yep, hard to believe how fast the seasons always go.

BEAT BALL STATE

[Class of 61]

Can anyone tell me me WHY our game will NOTbe on one of main ESPN channels? ESPN3 sucks in terms of my getting to watch ( didnt used to be that way). Really disappointed in coverage of last reg. season game.

[jpfalcon09]

Can anyone tell me me WHY our game will NOTbe on one of main ESPN channels? ESPN3 sucks in terms of my getting to watch ( didnt used to be that way). Really disappointed in coverage of last reg. season game.

ESPN only left the U open for one MAC game this week and since NIU's game has more importance on it regarding their situation, it only makes sense. I agree it's stupid...

[Flipper]

If your cable provider doesn't do the ESPN3....you can always do a free trial of sling tv. When espn3 asks you for your cable provider, pick sling and you're all set

[Beaker]

It just infuriates me that we bend over for ESPN and agree to weeknight games and then we are not on a broadcast channel. I thought the whole argument for sacrificing the fans' ability to go to the game was so we could get the national tv exposure. Instead, we are playing on an internet feed..........which we would have had if the game were played on a Saturday, but at least fans would have the option of attending on a Saturday. That's a load of crap that the conference needs to address. They need to get a backbone and put it in the contract that if we play on weeknights then it's mandated that it must be on a broadcast channel. Don't tell me about leverage. ESPN has been making money off these November MAC games for years now and if the conference stood up to them they could get that concession. ESPN makes most of the conference play on weeknights, then they get to cherry pick their choice of which weeknight games they want to broadcast and the fan bases of the teams not chosen can just sit and spin. It's asinine for the conference to let them get away with that.

[jpfalcon09]

It just infuriates me that we bend over for ESPN and agree to weeknight games and then we are not on a broadcast channel. I thought the whole argument for sacrificing the fans' ability to go to the game was so we could get the national tv exposure. Instead, we are playing on an internet feed..........which we would have had if the game were played on a Saturday, but at least fans would have the option of attending on a Saturday. That's a load of crap that the conference needs to address. They need to get a backbone and put it in the contract that if we play on weeknights then it's mandated that it must be on a broadcast channel. Don't tell me about leverage. ESPN has been making money off these November MAC games for years now and if the conference stood up to them they could get that concession. ESPN makes most of the conference play on weeknights, then they get to cherry pick their choice of which weeknight games they want to broadcast and the fan bases of the teams not chosen can just sit and spin. It's asinine for the conference to let them get away with that.

It is what it is, the MAC needs exposure to be able to survive in the current college football climate and the weeknight games are the only way to do so. Besides the American, no other conference gets the same national exposure the MAC does from these games and I think it's something to keep in mind, the league could easily be on the level of the Sun Belt which gets little to no national air time and whose teams are almost a non-entity.

The conference has earned itself a positive reputation outside of the die-hards like ourselves, just go on Reddit's college football page and see how many hardcore fans love the MAC and being able to watch the games mid-week. If it takes this to recruit good talent and to be competitive every year, then so be it.

[Roll Along!]

Also, remember that for midweek games, schedules need to be lined up weeks ahead of time. Nobody wants to play on Saturday/Tuesday, so it takes a lot of queuing up the schedules. So a team might play on a Wednesday on ESPN3 so that they can get ESPN2 the following Tuesday. For this week, what are the other options? Tuesday on ESPN3 or Friday on ESPN3? With the MAC Championship next Friday, I'd rather play on Tuesday and have 10 days to prepare than on Friday or Saturday. It's the necessary evil of midweek games that you either have to have a bye to line up your schedule for midweek or play midweek after midweek after midweek.

[Falcon137]

ESPN always does this...2 years ago, BG vs Ohio was a ESPN3 only weeknight game. They try and guarantee themselves a decent game.

This time of year, every network fills up their lineup with college basketball tournaments. ESPN has the Maui Inviational and ESPN2 has the Legends Classic.

I thought ESPN might sell the rights to this game to CBS Sports, but, they have college bball also.

The last week of "MACtion" is a throwaway. The difference from being on ESPN(2) and ESPNU is, 400-500,000 viewers. The BG Ball State game will have dozens watching from the stands and hundreds watching from home. But, others are correct in saying there isn't much difference between this and playing Friday. Last years Ball State game had about 2,000 people in the stands and was ESPN3, only.

[Schadenfreude]

I remember when it was just about impossible to learn what was happening during a game in real time unless you were in range of WFOB radio. In 1991, the only Bowling Green game to make it on television was the California Bowl, and that was only on SportsChannel, a regional cable network.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3hKOJQWZtE" target="_blank

Yes, it's not ideal to have to play a game on a cold November weeknight and not even merit ESPNU, but it beats the alternatives.

Being able to stream games is a pretty nifty thing. I'll have my iPhone hooked up to a big screen in my man cave. I'll be warm. Life will be good.

[Falcon137]

BG has a chance to go undefeated in true road games this season. Technically, the Tennessee game was a neutral site game.

@ Maryland - W
@ Purdue - W
@ Buffalo - W
@ Kent - W
@ WMU - W
@ Ball State -

1985 was the last time that happened.

[BGSU33]

I'm hoping to see a clean game where we execute, don't turn the ball over, and don't have any injuries. I also think it's important to get a decent win. Last year we went to Detroit limping and with our tail between our legs. Hopefully this year we'll go in with our heads up. I'll be watching BG on the computer and the NIU-OU game on TV since that game could determine our opponent on Dec 4th.

[Falconfreak90]

Me too, 33. I wanna see us play fast, crisp and mistake free football. Go into the MACC full throttle and ready.