HuskieJWN wrote:Give respect where it is due, NIU played the schedule they were given and did things many/no MAC teams can't do/have ever done. Two BigTen road wins, they won 7 road games, and went undefeated in conference play. Your team accomplished none of these feats.
Not this season. In 2003, we beat two Big Ten teams. Also, if you go back and look at what Miami did 1973-75, it is quite comparable to what Northern Illinois is doing now.
Most of us respect the heck out of what you guys are doing. Does it merit a BCS bowl game? I think so, and I think some others here do, too. Others here take Kirk Herbstreit's point of view, I guess.
HuskieJWN wrote:Give respect where it is due, NIU played the schedule they were given and did things many/no MAC teams can't do/have ever done. Two BigTen road wins, they won 7 road games, and went undefeated in conference play. Your team accomplished none of these feats.
Not this season. In 2003, we beat two Big Ten teams. Also, if you go back and look at what Miami did 1973-75, its quite comparable to what Northern Illinois is doing now.
Most of us respect the heck out of what you guys are doing. Does it merit a BCS bowl game? I think so, and I think some others here do, too. Others here take Kirk Herbstreit's point of view, I guess.
Yes, BG won two games over big ten foes, but they weren't both on the road or in the regular season. Not discounting it, just calling a spade a spade. Different scenario you know what I mean? I also wasn't trying to call them the best team ever, just saying they have now broken quite a few MAC records.
kdog27 wrote: They were awarded the bowl game based on the rules that we currently have.
They got in fair and square by the rules. Nobody is arguing that. Their performance in the game and the complete ineffectiveness of Lynch proved their team wasn't able to compete at that level and why the so-called rules suck and are in the process of being changed.
This is a counterproductive attitude. The rule that gives us access is a great rule, and it will be a big, big setback for the MAC if it is eliminated, as I think is the case next year.
How NIU played (not great, but far from awful) is a side issue compared to whether or not they deserved a chance to show their stuff in the first place. They deserve a chance. They were in the top 15 and better than any Big East team. Why should a Big East or American team automatically qualify, but not a better team from the MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, or Conference USA?
That rule that got Northern Illinois in last year (and may get them in again this year), is a great rule. When a MAC team (or a Conference USA/Mountain West/Sun Belt team) has an exceptional season, that team ought to have access to one of the biggest bowl games to see how they measure up. Marshall didn't get that chance in 1999. Miami didn't get that chance in 2003. Now our conference has that chance, and college football is better for it.
I'm not exactly sure how it will work starting next year, but the very fact of a four team playoff -- with no realistic chance for a MAC school to squeeze into that show, no matter what they do on the field -- seems like a pretty big setback for us and our conference.
A four team playoff is not enough. That actually seems worse for us than the status quo.
Seems to me the best thing for us would be a 16-team playoff, with automatic bids for each conference, just like every other NCAA division and subdivision has. Glancing at the current BCS standings, that would probably put Northern Illinois against Missouri (at large) in the first round. Tough game, but not impossible for the Huskies. Why not play it out and see what happens?
Based on the current rankings and conference winners, here's your 16-team bracket:
1 Florida State (ACC)
16 Louisiana Lafayette (Sun Belt)
8 South Carolina (At-Large)
9 Baylor (At-Large)
5 Missouri (At-Large)
12 Northern Illinois (MAC)
4 Alabama (At-Large)
13 Central Florida (American)
6 Oklahoma State (Big XII)
11 Arizona State (At-Large)
3 Auburn (SEC)
14 Fresno State (Mountain West)
7 Stanford (Pac-12)
10 Michigan State (At-Large)
2 Ohio State (B1G)
15 Rice (Conference USA)
24. Quality provider of the truth, for better or for worse.
Ahhh...the way it should be, 24! Would love to see that and I think niu might give Mizzou a good game.
Ridiculous that this bcs garbage keeps conference winners out of a playoff. Even more ridiculous that next years system might actually be worse for mid majors.
hammb wrote:Ahhh...the way it should be, 24! Would love to see that and I think niu might give Mizzou a good game.
Ridiculous that this bcs garbage keeps conference winners out of a playoff. Even more ridiculous that next years system might actually be worse for mid majors.
Just wait until the P5 schools stop scheduling G5 schools altogether. Its going to happen sometime in the future once schools realize how much its gonna take to get into the final playoff conversation.
kdog27 wrote: They were awarded the bowl game based on the rules that we currently have.
They got in fair and square by the rules. Nobody is arguing that. Their performance in the game and the complete ineffectiveness of Lynch proved their team wasn't able to compete at that level and why the so-called rules suck and are in the process of being changed.
This is a counterproductive attitude. The rule that gives us access is a great rule, and it will be a big, big setback for the MAC if it is eliminated, as I think is the case next year.
How NIU played (not great, but far from awful) is a side issue compared to whether or not they deserved a chance to show their stuff in the first place. They deserve a chance. They were in the top 15 and better than any Big East team. Why should a Big East or American team automatically qualify, but not a better team from the MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, or Conference USA?
That rule that got Northern Illinois in last year (and may get them in again this year), is a great rule. When a MAC team (or a Conference USA/Mountain West/Sun Belt team) has an exceptional season, that team ought to have access to one of the biggest bowl games to see how they measure up. Marshall didn't get that chance in 1999. Miami didn't get that chance in 2003. Now our conference has that chance, and college football is better for it.
I'm not exactly sure how it will work starting next year, but the very fact of a four team playoff -- with no realistic chance for a MAC school to squeeze into that show, no matter what they do on the field -- seems like a pretty big setback for us and our conference.
A four team playoff is not enough. That actually seems worse for us than the status quo.
Seems to me the best thing for us would be a 16-team playoff, with automatic bids for each conference, just like every other NCAA division and subdivision has. Glancing at the current BCS standings, that would probably put Northern Illinois against Missouri (at large) in the first round. Tough game, but not impossible for the Huskies. Why not play it out and see what happens?
I'm all for a MAC team crashing the party, including the national championship party, if they have an genuinly exceptional season. Losing to Iowa and beating Tennessee-Martin, Army and Kansas is not exceptional. Beating Iowa, Purdue, Idaho and Eastern Illinois is not exceptional. Running the table in the MAC is and it's too bad they chose to play a timid non-conference schedule when the debate could have been ended had they actually beat someone people respect. Kent scheduled LSU. Buffalo scheduled Ohio State. They were years in advance but you knew these teams were going to be amazing years in advance, too.
I want the MAC to earn national respect, not whine for it or have it handed to them by a mathmatical formula.
I think you're a little off base. Iowa has turned out to be quite a formidable team, nothing from a patsy. Purdue, that didn't turn out well, there was no way when that was scheduled the athletic department thought Purdue would be a 1 win team. They aren't that far removed from a bowl team. Plus, NIU has played Wisconsin when they were a top 5 team in recent years, and has scheduled Nebraska and Ohio State. You expect them to be good.
I'm not saying Eastern Illinois is an exceptional win, but the amount of respect North Dakota State has right now, those two teams are more than likely playing each other in the FCS title game. I'd also wager they are better than half of the teams in the MAC this year. Give respect where it is due, NIU played the schedule they were given and did things many/no MAC teams can't do/have ever done. Two BigTen road wins, they won 7 road games, and went undefeated in conference play. Your team accomplished none of these feats.
If they were a flash in the pan, I'd say they don't deserve going to the BCS, but they've won 25 straight in conference, 24 straight regular season games, have gone 31-1 in regular season MAC games over 4 years, and have 2 straight conference titles. They have a top 10 scoring team and a top 40 scoring defense. They've also gone 4-4 in their last BigTen games, so it's not like teams are compeletely overmatching them, outside of FSU, which has NFL talent all over the field.
Good luck Friday, I think it will be an excellent game. But before you say somebody is undeserving, you might want to fact check, also look at some of the other BCS buster schedules, are they that much better than NIU's?
Agreed. I don't even think that loss to FSU was that bad. They were overmatched talent wise but kept the game respectable. Plenty of teams have put up worse showings against teams less impressive.
Amazing how cyclical the MAC is. Marshall dominated from '97-'02. A mix of Miami, BG, NIU, and UT from '03-'05. CMU had their run from '06-'09. And now NIU from '11-today.
I guess you could argue this NIU team as one of the best ever in the MAC. Since I've been paying attention, I would place them behind, the 1999 Marshall team and 2003 Miami team.
hammb wrote:Ahhh...the way it should be, 24! Would love to see that and I think niu might give Mizzou a good game.
Ridiculous that this bcs garbage keeps conference winners out of a playoff. Even more ridiculous that next years system might actually be worse for mid majors.
Just wait until the P5 schools stop scheduling G5 schools altogether. Its going to happen sometime in the future once schools realize how much its gonna take to get into the final playoff conversation.
No it's not. Ohio State has a horrific schedule. They are still the #2 seed if the playoff is this year.
hammb wrote:Ahhh...the way it should be, 24! Would love to see that and I think niu might give Mizzou a good game.
Ridiculous that this bcs garbage keeps conference winners out of a playoff. Even more ridiculous that next years system might actually be worse for mid majors.
Just wait until the P5 schools stop scheduling G5 schools altogether. Its going to happen sometime in the future once schools realize how much its gonna take to get into the final playoff conversation.
No it's not. Ohio State has a horrific schedule. They are still the #2 seed if the playoff is this year.
Remember though with the current system that strength of schedule is not apart of any of the computer formulas that make up the BCS computer rankings and hasn't been apart of it for a few years. Those on the human committee that starts next year for the playoff have already stated that strength of schedule will be a big part of their rankings. A site I love to check out is fbschedules.com that list all future schedules for all FBS schools. The P5 schools know they have to schedule better and it has started
hammb wrote:Ahhh...the way it should be, 24! Would love to see that and I think niu might give Mizzou a good game.
Ridiculous that this bcs garbage keeps conference winners out of a playoff. Even more ridiculous that next years system might actually be worse for mid majors.
Just wait until the P5 schools stop scheduling G5 schools altogether. Its going to happen sometime in the future once schools realize how much its gonna take to get into the final playoff conversation.
No it's not. Ohio State has a horrific schedule. They are still the #2 seed if the playoff is this year.
Remember though with the current system that strength of schedule is not apart of any of the computer formulas that make up the BCS computer rankings and hasn't been apart of it for a few years. Those on the human committee that starts next year for the playoff have already stated that strength of schedule will be a big part of their rankings. A site I love to check out is fbschedules.com that list all future schedules for all FBS schools. The P5 schools know they have to schedule better and it has started
Agreed. Take OSU's 2016 schedule for example. BG, Tulsa, @ Oklahoma, and TBA. Right now it's a good schedule. But if for some reason Oklahoma is down (like Cal this year) and the Big10 still stinks people are going to say they didn't play anyone. At the same time they aren't going to play @ Oklahoma and then go schedule a game vs Ole Miss. No one is running the risk of having a good year while going 9-3 and missing the playoff because some other team played a Sun Belt school, a 1AA, CUSA, and a middle of the road PAC12 (caugh, caugh Auburn) team.
The biggest thing is going to be all the big boys giving up their 7th home game. That's not going to happen. Or middle of the road teams Northwestern and Utah scheduling brutal schedules and winning 4 games a year.
kdog27 wrote: They were awarded the bowl game based on the rules that we currently have.
They got in fair and square by the rules. Nobody is arguing that. Their performance in the game and the complete ineffectiveness of Lynch proved their team wasn't able to compete at that level and why the so-called rules suck and are in the process of being changed.
This is a counterproductive attitude. The rule that gives us access is a great rule, and it will be a big, big setback for the MAC if it is eliminated, as I think is the case next year.
How NIU played (not great, but far from awful) is a side issue compared to whether or not they deserved a chance to show their stuff in the first place. They deserve a chance. They were in the top 15 and better than any Big East team. Why should a Big East or American team automatically qualify, but not a better team from the MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, or Conference USA?
That rule that got Northern Illinois in last year (and may get them in again this year), is a great rule. When a MAC team (or a Conference USA/Mountain West/Sun Belt team) has an exceptional season, that team ought to have access to one of the biggest bowl games to see how they measure up. Marshall didn't get that chance in 1999. Miami didn't get that chance in 2003. Now our conference has that chance, and college football is better for it.
I'm not exactly sure how it will work starting next year, but the very fact of a four team playoff -- with no realistic chance for a MAC school to squeeze into that show, no matter what they do on the field -- seems like a pretty big setback for us and our conference.
A four team playoff is not enough. That actually seems worse for us than the status quo.
Seems to me the best thing for us would be a 16-team playoff, with automatic bids for each conference, just like every other NCAA division and subdivision has. Glancing at the current BCS standings, that would probably put Northern Illinois against Missouri (at large) in the first round. Tough game, but not impossible for the Huskies. Why not play it out and see what happens?
I'm all for a MAC team crashing the party, including the national championship party, if they have an genuinly exceptional season. Losing to Iowa and beating Tennessee-Martin, Army and Kansas is not exceptional. Beating Iowa, Purdue, Idaho and Eastern Illinois is not exceptional. Running the table in the MAC is and it's too bad they chose to play a timid non-conference schedule when the debate could have been ended had they actually beat someone people respect. Kent scheduled LSU. Buffalo scheduled Ohio State. They were years in advance but you knew these teams were going to be amazing years in advance, too.
I want the MAC to earn national respect, not whine for it or have it handed to them by a mathmatical formula.
I think you're a little off base. Iowa has turned out to be quite a formidable team, nothing from a patsy. Purdue, that didn't turn out well, there was no way when that was scheduled the athletic department thought Purdue would be a 1 win team. They aren't that far removed from a bowl team. Plus, NIU has played Wisconsin when they were a top 5 team in recent years, and has scheduled Nebraska and Ohio State. You expect them to be good.
I'm not saying Eastern Illinois is an exceptional win, but the amount of respect North Dakota State has right now, those two teams are more than likely playing each other in the FCS title game. I'd also wager they are better than half of the teams in the MAC this year. Give respect where it is due, NIU played the schedule they were given and did things many/no MAC teams can't do/have ever done. Two BigTen road wins, they won 7 road games, and went undefeated in conference play. Your team accomplished none of these feats.
If they were a flash in the pan, I'd say they don't deserve going to the BCS, but they've won 25 straight in conference, 24 straight regular season games, have gone 31-1 in regular season MAC games over 4 years, and have 2 straight conference titles. They have a top 10 scoring team and a top 40 scoring defense. They've also gone 4-4 in their last BigTen games, so it's not like teams are compeletely overmatching them, outside of FSU, which has NFL talent all over the field.
Good luck Friday, I think it will be an excellent game. But before you say somebody is undeserving, you might want to fact check, also look at some of the other BCS buster schedules, are they that much better than NIU's?
I think you'd find that the majority of posters on this site would tend to agree with you on this...and obviously, we want to beat you if for no other reason than to stop all those streaks.
I DO think some of the folks here don't follow football scheduling procedures very well or they'd realize that most OOC games are scheduled 4-6 years ahead of time...for example, we've known that we're to play OSU in 2016 and have known it for quite awhile...the last time we played...and lost to them 24-17, even my OSU alum daughter was sweating it out til the end of the game. But no one can know who is going to be good OR not so good that far ahead of time. Purdue is the perfect example.
Education our Challenge, Excellence our goal. (look it up)
Class of 61 wrote:...for example, we've known that we're to play OSU in 2016 and have known it for quite awhile...the last time we played...and lost to them 24-17, even my OSU alum daughter was sweating it out til the end of the game.
mscarn wrote:Beating Iowa, Purdue, Idaho and Eastern Illinois is not exceptional. Running the table in the MAC is and it's too bad they chose to play a timid non-conference schedule when the debate could have been ended had they actually beat someone people respect.
That is not a timid schedule. There was no way to know a few years ago that Purdue would suck this much now. And Iowa has a very good football team. That was a very good win.
Northern Illinois did everything they could do. They didn't schedule nonconference games as timidly as Ohio State and a lot of other schools.
Very good but not great. Greatness can't mean beating Iowa unless it's a wrestling match.
I completely agree about Ohio State and hopefully some of the poll voters do as well.
