BG's Silver Lining Bowl Hope

[BGSU33]

While I personally don't think BG is actually a "bowl worthy" team, its bowl hopes are still alive - albeit - hanging by a thread. While BG couldn't ask for a worse two-game stretch to close out the season - facing both division winners Toledo and Ohio - and both on the road nonetheless, there is a small silver lining in these two games in favor of BG. While I would give BG zero shot at winning either one of these games had they been played a week or two prior to their scheduled date, the silver lining for BG is there will be little riding on either of these games for Toledo or Ohio to play for. Toledo has already locked up the West, and Ohio essentially already has locked up the East (OU will have locked up the East by the time they face BG). And they're both already bowl eligible. Sure, the BG-UT game is a rivalry game, that goes without saying. But Toledo has much bigger fish to fry than beating another down BG team. I'm not saying they won't care, I'm saying there's less to care about all things considered. Finn was limping around on one leg last week, so I'm guessing he's going to see limited snaps in the last two meaningless games for UT before the MACC. They need to get him healthy, he's is not the same player as he was prior to getting hurt in the Buffalo game. He's not running and can't move well at all right now. Ohio has simply been on cruise control and looks unbeatable right now. If they plan to play full go vs BG, it's not even going to be a game. It's possible they play conservatively and pull starters after a few series and look at it from a staying healthy standpoint. Aside from that, there's no way BG is beating Ohio if OU needs to beat BG to secure the East or if they play full go the entire game.

[roguewarrior]

I agree with the above. We usually play well after extreme humiliation too. Hopefully SL doesn’t get into a whose got bigger stones competition again, going for it on 4th down at midfield. A little field position goes a long way toward winning.

[Falconfreak90]

This team is not bowl worthy. If they cannot get up for tsun and come out on fire Tuesday night...prove to us you want this game.

[Beaker]

Honestly, the thought of a bowl game for this team almost scares me. I don't disagree that our next 2 opponents may not have the fire they might have if they were in a position of needing to beat us, but I don't think it will amount to a hill of beans in terms of us having a chance to win. Even if one of them somehow managed to give a game away to us, I would worry about going to a bowl game and facing a competent team, motivated to win, in front of a larger audience than what watches MAC games on a Tuesday night. A performance like we saw against Kent would probably be more likely than a hard fought, competitive game and I don't want to endure that embarrassment. I'd be worried about having another 2008 GMAC bowl on our hands.

[jpfalcon09]

Honestly, the thought of a bowl game for this team almost scares me. I don't disagree that our next 2 opponents may not have the fire they might have if they were in a position of needing to beat us, but I don't think it will amount to a hill of beans in terms of us having a chance to win. Even if one of them somehow managed to give a game away to us, I would worry about going to a bowl game and facing a competent team, motivated to win, in front of a larger audience than what watches MAC games on a Tuesday night. A performance like we saw against Kent would probably be more likely than a hard fought, competitive game and I don't want to endure that embarrassment. I'd be worried about having another 2008 GMAC bowl on our hands.

The extra practice time would probably be the only thing of value, but given the current state of affairs we may witness a decent amount of players hit the transfer portal come January so it may not matter a whole not.

[Flipper]

Two game season...if you can't prepare for that, so long. The stuff Mr VanTrease discussed...if true...a change probably should be made regardless

[kdog27]

Unless we lucked out on a generous matchup a bowl game would be vintage Tulsa 2006 or whatever year it was.

[mbenecke]

Unless we lucked out on a generous matchup a bowl game would be vintage Tulsa 2006 or whatever year it was.

Hell, our 2015 conference champion team lost by like 30 in their bowl game.

The MAC just blows, man. It’s unfortunate.

[UofToledoFans]

Speak for yourself. The MAC was good in 2015. Toledo knocked off ranked Temple in the bowl game. If not for the NIU curse, and Campbel having a foot out the door, Toledo beats WMU at least and there is a rematch in Detroit. Which would have been 40k in attendance and the largest rivalry game in Battle of I75 history. Babers was leaving... that bowl game you played was an anomoly, and NOT indicitive of the MAC strength. Toledo did that in 2017 after it won the MAC. Uninteresting opponent, some where in Alabama. Apathetic performance.

[BGSU33]

Honestly, the thought of a bowl game for this team almost scares me. I don't disagree that our next 2 opponents may not have the fire they might have if they were in a position of needing to beat us, but I don't think it will amount to a hill of beans in terms of us having a chance to win. Even if one of them somehow managed to give a game away to us, I would worry about going to a bowl game and facing a competent team, motivated to win, in front of a larger audience than what watches MAC games on a Tuesday night. A performance like we saw against Kent would probably be more likely than a hard fought, competitive game and I don't want to endure that embarrassment. I'd be worried about having another 2008 GMAC bowl on our hands.

The extra practice time would probably be the only thing of value, but given the current state of affairs we may witness a decent amount of players hit the transfer portal come January so it may not matter a whole not.

This is exactly my line of thinking as well. The bowl practices alone "were" deemed very valuable. Then the transfer portal and transfer rules arrived in full force. Nowadays, who the hell knows who you will or won'r have from season to season any more. If BG had bowl prep time, how many of it would go to guys who leave after the season anyway?

[mbenecke]

Speak for yourself. The MAC was good in 2015. Toledo knocked off ranked Temple in the bowl game. If not for the NIU curse, and Campbel having a foot out the door, Toledo beats WMU at least and there is a rematch in Detroit. Which would have been 40k in attendance and the largest rivalry game in Battle of I75 history. Babers was leaving... that bowl game you played was an anomoly, and NOT indicitive of the MAC strength. Toledo did that in 2017 after it won the MAC. Uninteresting opponent, some where in Alabama. Apathetic performance.

I understand where you're coming from, but I was more talking about the MAC since then. In 2019, the MAC champ went 8-6. In 2021, the champs were 9-5. The standard for being championship material in the MAC is lowering because the rest of college football is passing the league by. The champion this year will have AT LEAST 3 regular season losses, and very possibly lose their bowl game. It's sad compared to a lot of the rest of college football.

[jpfalcon09]

Speak for yourself. The MAC was good in 2015. Toledo knocked off ranked Temple in the bowl game. If not for the NIU curse, and Campbel having a foot out the door, Toledo beats WMU at least and there is a rematch in Detroit. Which would have been 40k in attendance and the largest rivalry game in Battle of I75 history. Babers was leaving... that bowl game you played was an anomoly, and NOT indicitive of the MAC strength. Toledo did that in 2017 after it won the MAC. Uninteresting opponent, some where in Alabama. Apathetic performance.

I understand where you're coming from, but I was more talking about the MAC since then. In 2019, the MAC champ went 8-6. In 2021, the champs were 9-5. The standard for being championship material in the MAC is lowering because the rest of college football is passing the league by. The champion this year will have AT LEAST 3 regular season losses, and very possibly lose their bowl game. It's sad compared to a lot of the rest of college football.

Unless a MAC program gets fortunate in OOC scheduling and gets a couple P5 schools on the downswing, the eventually conference champion is likely going to have anywhere from 3-6 losses. Even though there's precedent of with NIU and WMU, the college football landscape has changed so much since even 2016 that a double-digit win MAC champion seems less and less likely.

[Flipper]

We've been passed by the Sunbelt Conference...

[jpfalcon09]

We've been passed by the Sunbelt Conference...

MAC is ever so slightly better than CUSA in Sagarin thus far or else it would be the worst conference in FBS.

Geographically and demographically the MAC is screwed. The depth of high school football talent isn't what it used to be in the midwest. People are moving away and flooding the south due to better economic opportunities and less crappy weather. Conference members need to get creative when it comes to recruiting. No coincidence BG has seen their best years when they invest resources in places like Florida.

[BGSU33]

We've been passed by the Sunbelt Conference...

Oh, for sure we have! I saw that writing on the wall about a decade ago. After visiting all the Sun Belt campuses as that conference was starting to form and gaining traction, coupled with the facilities they were building, I knew it was only a matter of time. The SBC lies directly in the same footprint as the SEC. Remember when the MAC used to pluck a lot of their skills guys from down south? Well, that pool got a lot smaller to choose from because now all those guys can stay down south and play in the SBC. That conference has a lot going for it. It's a really good G5 league and they keep making it better and better.