33 is right....

[Flipper]

OU is the second best team in the east!

#thanksFrank

Given the way the MAC usually plays out.... I'm 50/50 on WMU pulling the upset Friday.

[kdog27]

Yeah I was shocked to see them play so well after losing to BG. Usually that game signals their doom.

[jpfalcon09]

Yeah I was shocked to see them play so well after losing to BG. Usually that game signals their doom.

They were decimated by injuries and were able to get some key pieces back for their final two games to make an impact. I'm happy they had a good showing as it should shut up the people who always rail on the East for being down...OU will end up with the 3rd best overall record in the conference.

[BGSU33]

OU is the second best team in the east!

#thanksFrank

Given the way the MAC usually plays out.... I'm 50/50 on WMU pulling the upset Friday.

Finally something we can agree on. Just kidding. But seriously though, it's why I kept saying weeks ago that the BG-OU game would decide the East, because it essentially did, just not at the time it was played. But with the finish OU had down the stretch, it would have cost us had we not beaten them. BG finished 7-1 and OU finished 5-3. Had OU beat BG instead, both teams would have finished 6-2 and OU would have gotten the tie breaker. BG's win over them was huge and is why the Falcons are going to Detroit and the Bobcats are not.

[Falcon137]

It didn't hurt that NIU was down to a 3rd or 4th string freshman QB that they pulled a redshirt off of.

[BGSU33]

It didn't hurt that NIU was down to a 3rd or 4th string freshman QB that they pulled a redshirt off of.

True, but Ohio was also down to its 3rd string QB too as Vick was out for the game and Sprague got knocked out on a trick play in the 2nd quarter I believe. Plus NIU was playing at home with everything to play for and OU was on the road with nothing on the line. NIU was also on a 22-0 streak in November games dating back to 2009!

[Falcon137]

Ohio fans are hilarious, they are calling that their best win in MAC, history. Those wins that get you to 5-3 and a potential tie for 2nd place in your division. Special.

[bgsufalcon24]

Ohio fans are hilarious, they are calling that their best win in MAC, history. Those wins that get you to 5-3 and a potential tie for 2nd place in your division. Special.

I have to say...Ohio's fans are not ones to usually flip out about losses or go hammer and tongs after coaches and players if they screw up. Fans of a lot of other teams in this conference will tend to get all bent out of shape if their teams don't win all the time, but I've read Bobcatattack a lot over the years and it seems that they are much more thankful for what they do have than most. I get the feeling that Toledo fans, or WMU or CMU fans would be ready to run Frank Solich out on a rail surely, but he's largely beloved in Athens.

They were quite upset after the blowout losses to WMU and BG, but then again I think fans of any team would be in that situation. I guess a lot of other MAC fanbases view winning the division title as pass/fail whereas down in Athens they find the joy in individual wins like their win over NIU regardless of whether or not the bigger goal was accomplished.

Some would call this being okay with mediocrity, but you have to say that Solich has built a very consistent, stable program in Athens that is usually in contention for the division title and usually going bowling. They just haven't won the big one yet, mostly for the same reason that BG didn't win the big one from 2002 thru 2012...they just seem to come up empty in the big games when everything's on the line.

P.S. - When you think about it, BG is to Toledo what Ohio is to BG. We're that one big opponent that they simply can't beat, and usually get blown out against. It's been 4 straight for BG over OU, which if some of those results had gone differently BG wouldn't have won the division.

[threestooges]

Ohio fans are hilarious, they are calling that their best win in MAC, history. Those wins that get you to 5-3 and a potential tie for 2nd place in your division. Special.

I have to say...Ohio's fans are not ones to usually flip out about losses or go hammer and tongs after coaches and players if they screw up...

In football, maybe. In men's basketball, if you asked me which MAC fan base would be ready to flip out at the drop of a hat, Ohio would be at the top of my list.

[BGSU33]

Ohio fans are hilarious, they are calling that their best win in MAC, history. Those wins that get you to 5-3 and a potential tie for 2nd place in your division. Special.

When you think about it, BG is to Toledo what Ohio is to BG. We're that one big opponent that they simply can't beat, and usually get blown out against. It's been 4 straight for BG over OU, which if some of those results had gone differently BG wouldn't have won the division.

I would add to that and say Toledo is to BG what NIU is to Toledo. Toledo has beaten BG in 6 consecutive years, but has also lost to NIU in 6 consecutive years. And those losses to NIU hurt UT way more than any of those wins over BG helped. That's exactly why, even though crossover games count the same, your division games still carry more weight. If UT had lost to BG and beaten NIU, UT would be headed to Detroit and not NIU.