1992 compared to today

[Falcon30]

In 1992, we were overwhelming favorites to win the MAC. We were on our way to setting a streak of something around 20 MAC games in a row without a loss.

At halftime of the Las Vegas Bowl and after a 9-2 regular season, they debated if we were a top 25 team. MAC teams rarely cracked the top 25

Erik White was not mentioned as a heisman candidate. Mark S. (I will never be able to spell "Slay-check" or "Mur-cow-ski") was not mentioned as a potential draft choice. MAC players just didn't get drafted. If we were on TV it was the bowl game, because we were playing Ohio State or we were on Fox Ohio.

Now, we have a legit heisman candidate, several players on NFL rosters and more who will be drafted. MAC quarterbacks start on 3 NFL teams. We were on ESPN more times in the last 3 years than in the previous 20. Every MAC school has someone on an NFL roster somewhere.

15 years ago, the MAC was on a significantly different level than even middle tier BCS teams. The difference is much less now than it has been. How many MAC teams have been ranked in the past few years? is it only 4 (Miami, Toledo, NIU and BGSU)?

When we dominated the MAC in 1991-2 we weren't ranked, were we? There certainly weren't three other teams ranked from the MAC in that era. I don't remember us being ranked in 1994, but I could be wrong.

The perceived BCS / non-BCS divide is much greater than the actual one, and it does BG and all other good non-BCS teams a disservice to automatically degrade a team for it's "weak" schedule or the conference it is in.

[bgmaggot00]

How many MAC teams have been ranked in the past few years? is it only 4 (Miami, Toledo, NIU and BGSU)?

Marshall has been ranked in the past few years, haven't they? If you're talking about the past, you shouldn't automatically discount them because they're not in the conference anymore. Sometime in the Leftwich/Pennington/Watts/Moss regimes one of them had to be in the Top 25. Jeff

[NWLB]

I'll discount them exactly because they aren't in the conference anymore.

They are a footnote in the conference's history now, they made it clear they didn't want to be here when they were, so to heck with them.

Besides, for all the records they broke, Omar and BG have broken in turn during the last year or so.

In the end, the 1991 and 1992 teams won titles, something the Falcons have failed to do as good as they may be. The conference is a different animal to be sure, but to be a championship team they have to climb on top of whatever the league puts against them. If they do that this year, you can make a serious claim to the last five years being the best in the last 30 years. If not, they are simply a really good team that has been about as much fun as any we have had to watch.

[tekekini]

if you discount marshall then you cant count pennington and leftwhich has MAC qb's starting in the NFL...the only MAC qb is big ben if you discount marshall

[Schadenfreude]

How many MAC teams have been ranked in the past few years? is it only 4 (Miami, Toledo, NIU and BGSU)?

Marshall has been ranked in the past few years, haven't they? If you're talking about the past, you shouldn't automatically discount them because they're not in the conference anymore. Sometime in the Leftwich/Pennington/Watts/Moss regimes one of them had to be in the Top 25. Jeff

He's talking about a different era. Marshall didn't arrive until 1997.

In 1994, Bowling Green opened up with a close loss at North Carolina State, 20-15. North Carolina State turned out to be a Top 25 team, but nobody realized how good the Wolfpack was going to be just yet.

Bowling Green then reeled off nine straight wins. Had the Falcons beaten Central Michigan in the season finale, they would have joined N.C. State in the Top 25. The Falcons were only a spot or two out of the poll headed into that game.

The next season, Toledo rolled up an 11-0-1 record and finished No. 24 in both polls. It was the first time in 20 years that a MAC team finished in the polls (Miami, 1975), and it was probably the first time in ten years that any MAC team had been ranked, period. (At 11-0, Bowling Green edged into Top 20 in the weeks preceeding the California Bowl).

Falcon30, your post is a good one, because it reminds us how far we've come. As big as the perception is of the gap between the top conferences and the MAC, it was much, much worse 15 years ago.

[Falconfreak90]

The MAC is so different today than it was just 10-15 years ago. 91-92 teams were very solid but the league wasn't nearly as good as it is today.

Up until 2002, the only other time BG was ranked in the Top 20 (25 now) was 1985...11-0 and ranked, I believe, #19. Until the debacle in Fresno.

The 1994 team may have been BG's best ever...that team steamrolled thru most teams. It had a powerful offense and a bone crushing D.
Damn that fat punter from CMU. As Schade pointed out, BG lost a close one to NC State to start the year.

ESPN, IMO, has helped the MAC get noticed. The more we get noticed, the more we have a chance of getting ranked. 10-15 years ago, a MAC team had to go thru the regular season unbeated just to get ranked. The last 3 years we've finished with 3 losses each year and we've been ranked at some point in the season...2003 we finished #23.

Progress, for sure....still a ways to go.

GO FALCONS!!! 89 days.