Some stuff from collegefootballnews.com

[Warthog]

O.K., if those are the BCS conference favorites and sleepers, who are the teams in the "mid-majors" ready to pull a Utah and crash the party?

A: None of them. For a non-BCS conference team to get into the BCS, a team has to go unbeaten looking like a killer the entire way and there must be a few major wins on the slate. Boise State starts out its season at Georgia, at Oregon State and against Bowling Green; there's no way the Blue Turf Warriors go unbeaten in those three and if they do, they still have to deal with possibly the best Fresno State team ever. The Bulldogs have to prove they can beat the Broncos and have to go on the road to face Oregon. Unfortunately, even an unbeaten FSU team might not make the dance this year because of the light WAC. BYU might make a good run at it if it can beat Boston College in the opener and win at Notre Dame. No MAC or Sun Belt team will get enough love if it goes unbeaten in their average leagues and none of the Conference USA teams look strong enough to go unbeaten. So what about Utah? There's no way there won't be at least a little bit of a drop-off after losing Urban Meyer, Alex Smith and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford.

What about Bowling Green after they beat Boise St on the blue turf?

And the best conference in 2005 will be ... ?
10) MAC - Bowling Green will flirt with the top 15 all year, Toledo and Miami are solid, and Northern Illinois will be great until it comes up with it's annual loss to Toledo. Without Marshall, the rest of the league takes a dip

[UK Peregrine]

No MAC or Sun Belt team will get enough love if it goes unbeaten in their average leagues and none of the Conference USA teams look strong enough to go unbeaten.

What about Bowling Green after they beat Boise St on the blue turf?

I tend to agree with point. We will likely be in the position that Boise St. was this past season if we run the table. The MAC Sagarin conference rating doesn't do much for us, in fact it hurts our chances of making a run at the BCS. The MAC does much less than even the WAC did for Boise this past season. Consequently we could be ranked right around 10th in the nation and left on the outside of the BCS because of the weak status of the conference.

[BelieveNBG]

I tend to disagree. Fresno State will have one of their "best" teams ever. UT plays at Fresno and if they win at Fresno, that will only strengthen UTs ranking. NIU plays at Michigan and at Northwestern. A win over Northwestern and a win at Michigan would put NIU in a highly ranked position. This would definitely set the table for us. We would need to then beat a darn good Boise team on the road, Wisonsin on the road, a "ranked" NIU, and an un-defeated UT at seasons end. We would also need to blow out the rest of our schedule and win the MAC. Keep in mind, Miami plays Ohio State and Cincinnati.

These things would be enough to make BG the next Utah. Sure the MAC doesn't look strong right now, but if the MAC is winning those games againt non-conference opponents, we will look darn good in 2005, even with the bottom feeders.

GO BG!!!

[UK Peregrine]

I tend to disagree. Fresno State will have one of their "best" teams ever. UT plays at Fresno and if they win at Fresno, that will only strengthen UTs ranking. NIU plays at Michigan and at Northwestern. A win over Northwestern and a win at Michigan would put NIU in a highly ranked position. This would definitely set the table for us. We would need to then beat a darn good Boise team on the road, Wisonsin on the road, a "ranked" NIU, and an un-defeated UT at seasons end. We would also need to blow out the rest of our schedule and win the MAC. Keep in mind, Miami plays Ohio State and Cincinnati.

These things would be enough to make BG the next Utah. Sure the MAC doesn't look strong right now, but if the MAC is winning those games againt non-conference opponents, we will look darn good in 2005, even with the bottom feeders.

GO BG!!!

I truly do hope you are right. It's just a lot of "ifs" out of BG's hands. I hate having to rely on UT and we may not even get a chance to play NIU with a probable move to the East. The fact is the MAC was the lowest rated conference in D1-A football this past season, hopefully this can be turned around. Unfortunately, a lot of what you says relies on our opponents, which is a crap shoot at best.

[BelieveNBG]

Bottom line...We win every game next year...we will be highly rewarded, BCS or no BCS. Even Miami, OH finished in the top 10 with 1 loss when Big Ben was at the helm. They killed Northwestern and lost to Iowa (10-3). As long as we are sitting near the top 6, as teams lose and drop out...we would move in. That's what happened to Utah. Their schedule didn't have the heavy hitters (best win against Texas A&M 7-5) and they sat outside looking in, but other teams lost and they kept moving up. We need to win the MAC games heavily and convincingly beat NIU and UT.

[hammb]

Bottom line...We win every game next year...we will be highly rewarded, BCS or no BCS. Even Miami, OH finished in the top 10 with 1 loss when Big Ben was at the helm. They killed Northwestern and lost to Iowa (10-3). As long as we are sitting near the top 6, as teams lose and drop out...we would move in. That's what happened to Utah. Their schedule didn't have the heavy hitters (best win against Texas A&M 7-5) and they sat outside looking in, but other teams lost and they kept moving up. We need to win the MAC games heavily and convincingly beat NIU and UT.

The most important part of Miami's final ranking was that the Iowa game was the VERY first game of the season. They lost only one game, and it was early on. After that all people remembered was them winning 12 in a row or whatever it was.

[Flipper]

And Miami just destroyed people (mostly us) when they got on TV later in the year when peole were paying attention.

[Schadenfreude]

Our schedule next year shouldn't be much weaker than Utah's was in 2004.

The Mountain West was a real lightweight last year. It was Utah and the seven dwarves.

[BelieveNBG]

The most important part of Miami's final ranking was that the Iowa game was the VERY first game of the season. They lost only one game, and it was early on. After that all people remembered was them winning 12 in a row or whatever it was.

True. So just think, if we do like Miami did (win all MAC games big), but in addition to that, we have 0 losses, which would include beating Wisconsin and Boise, there is no reason we shouldn't be ranked even higher. Similar schedule with 0 losses vs. 1 loss should equate to big things. All people will remember is us winning every game.

[JohnnySwoop '85]

I guess I am not that greedy....I'd settle for a 10-1, 9-2, beating Toledo, being at least in MAC Championship and going to another Bowl game and winning that against a BCS Conference opponent.

[FlippinFalconFan]

We def have a chance at an easy top 10 ranking next season because think about it...we beat wisky and boise at their places ( both ranked in top 25) and we should already be top 25 then that will boost us up a good 6-8 places id imagine then if we can knock off NIU and Toledo( assuming those are the only other 2 games that pose a problem) then we are setting ourselves up nicely if those 2 teams fare good enough against their BCS teams because taht makes us look that much better and with Omar's big season last year, he has got BG on the radar like Big Ben did with miami and run off a great record and get a good ranking at the end of the year

[1987alum]

If we go 9-2 with losses to Boise State and Wisconsin, I would not be disappointed. Why? It puts us back in the MACC game. For all our chest-thumping over the last four years, we have exactly ZERO MAC titles to show for it. All the other accolades, etc. are great, but we need to win the MAC title to lay claim to truly being a good program, IMO.

And if the above scenario plays out and we win the MCB, we're 10-2 with a bowl win, which would likely merit some Top 25 consideration.

Before the flames erupt ...

I firmly believe we have the talent to run the table in 2005 and give the BCS something to deal with. I also believe there's a good chance we'll do it. I think expecting it is a bit much.

[BelieveNBG]

With the talent that we have on this team, I am not settling for saying it's good enough to lose to Wisconsin and Boise. Wisconsin will not be ranked going into the season. They lost some key players. Boise is a team similar to ours. We can't gain the needed respect by winning just the MAC games. We need to do our part in proving that the MAC deserves more recognition by beating out of conference teams and not just the "Temples", the good teams too. If we lose those games, we'll be sitting outside of the top 25 all year and if we win all MAC games, our entire conference would be sitting outside the top 25 with us. If BG wants to be a powerhouse in the MAC, we need to continue getting top recruits, like Omar. Beating teams like Boise and Wisconsin is how you do that. Being in the top 25 is the other way to recruit. Not being able to play with the big boys will not help our program improve. So no, I won't settle and guess what, our players won't be settling either.


GO BG!!!

[1987alum]

Exactly the response I was expecting.

It's not a matter of settling. No athlete worth his or her salt goes into a season expecting to lose any games. Same goes for the coaching staff.

Note that I said: "I firmly believe we have the talent to run the table in 2005 and give the BCS something to deal with. I also believe there's a good chance we'll do it."

As for expectations, I expect BG to be in both the Boise & Wisconsin games and have a chance to win both of them. But expecting a team to go undefeated is setting the bar awful high. As good as our teams have been the last four years, we've ended each season with a handful of losses, unfortunately those have typically been in crucial games (see NIU in '04, Miami in '03 [twice], NIU is '02).

I'm all for having a great (not good) program. I believe if BG stays on its current path it will add a lot of MAC titles to its trophy case and give the BCS headaches as long as the system is in place. I also believe we are very close to those things.

But despite all of our recent success and all the excitement surrounding the program, we still have something to prove.

[hammb]

I will not be happy unless we win the MAC title next season. That's it. That's my expectation, and you can bet I'll be bitching if it doesn't happen.

As for Boise & Whiskey, I'd like at least a split, but these are two very tough road games. Whiskey may not be the best team on our schedule next season, but it sure as heck is going to be the toughest place we have to play. Giving our wonderful road record, I'm skeptical about our chances.

Boise is more talented than Whiskey, and will also pose a very big challenge. I think we should be good enough to win either one, or both, of these games. But I certainly don't expect us to win either. I hope for a split, a sweep would be icing, and a shutout wouldn't be shocking.

Either way, I'm with '87. Sweep the darn MAC. You gain more respect by winning your conference perennially than you do taking down one powerhouse only to get whooped in your conference play. Look at Marshall, they have a lot of national respect, but only a couple of really good wins out of conference. They gained their respect by having an undefeated year and consistently destroying the MAC.