New USA Today MAC Report

[BGSU33]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ ... c/home.htm

[TG1996]

which part of this should I start bashing first?

Lets go with the obvious: Suisham's THREE "on the money field goals"??? What game was this guy watching? And hopefully drilling a 47-yarder shows he's back to the Suisham he was in 2002, but I'll wait a couple games before dropping the "consistent" tag on him. (I hope they're right, though, and we know that Shaun has it in him to be nearly perfect with his kicks!)

Next, as much as we see Keon's conversation with Jason White as a sign that our men are classy and respectful, that quote in this context comes off to me like "Thank you sir for letting us play with you, can we wax your car now?" Knowing the story from our side makes me smile, but looking at it from the POV of an outsider, it seems like its a mid-major just happy to be spoken in the same breath as a big school.

Finally, this gem:

The defending champions of the MAC West know fully well they were not playing for a national ranking or a spot in the BCS picture when they received a half million dollar check for facing off with the No. 2 Sooners.

As evidenced by our 22 votes gone bye-bye in the polls, I say....BULLSHIT. Three years ago we would have hoped a game like this might get someone to vote for us in the polls, but with what this team has accomplished, this game was all about going to Norman and shocking the world. We gave them a hell of a game, and can pick out spots where we could have made it even better, but if this was about a paycheck, Coach Brandon would have sent a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Norman and got on with preparing for SEMO.

The money helps, but BG and most of the MAC are beyond playing for paychecks, and its damn time people start to realize it.

[Falconfreak90]

"The money helps, but BG and most of the MAC are beyond playing for paychecks, and its damn time people start to realize it."

The more the MAC wins these games, the more people will realize it. This past weekend certainly didn't help!

[TG1996]

maybe I shouldn't be so MAC-friendly and stop generalizing... WE don't play for paychecks anymore, and our record vs. BCS opponents should prove that over the last 4 years.

[hammb]

maybe I shouldn't be so MAC-friendly and stop generalizing... WE don't play for paychecks anymore, and our record vs. BCS opponents should prove that over the last 4 years.

I disagree. I think we still play for paychecks. Sure our coaches & players are getting to the point where we can compete and possibly even win these games, but we are still playing them mostly for the paychecks. If we win one that is just icing on the cake.

[Flipper]

I'm inclined to believe that we need the pay days and would be happier playing OOC games on the road against other mid majors like Boise State and Wyoming.

We've come along way in three years, but asking our kids to go to OU is biting off a bit more physically than we should have to at this point. Praise be to Jah that Jelani's was only injury of note.

[BelieveNBG]

If we had been dominated in the manner Minnesota dominated UT, then OK, it would be asking too much. The truth is that we played Oklahoma tough to the bitter end, even much better than many of their own conference teams have faired in recent years. We did not play a flawless game and we were still quite competitive. Many believed we needed a flawless game to compete, but the game showed we didn't. I dare you tell any of those players on that field that they were physically man handled. Sorry, not the case and I had a ring side seat to see it. We even held some things back in that contest because we know that winning the MAC is more important than beating OK. Oklahoma is a good team, but a 40 - 24 outcome does not mean physically undermatched. That 70 - 0 whipping on Texas would be physically too much.

[TG1996]

Not to downplay the importance of income to the athletic department (God knows if we're not getting chunks of cash from the BCS any time soon), but aside from anyone that shares a hallway with Paul Krebs, I don't think we're taking on these games just to get paid. We want to beat the best to prove we belong. If we could schedule Oklahoma, LSU and USC as OOC games, and have them pay for no more than flights and hotel rooms, I bet we'd do it. We'll take the money, but proving we belong is just as valuable in my opinion.