Good news, bad news about BGSU’s bowl projections
Written by Matt Sussman | | news@toledofreepress.comFinishing October with a 3-5 record is no way for a MAC team to win over the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of the high chieftains who decide which teams play in bowl games. But strutting through November with four straight wins usually helps.
So the Falcons finished their season at 7-5 after an unusual 38-24 win over UT. With 71 to 73 teams vying for 68 spots, this tells you a couple things:
- Having that extra win will definitely help the Falcons over some of the 6-6 teams.
- My word, that’s a lot of bowls.
The good news is that both bowl projection websites I frequent, CFN’s and ESPN’s, expect BGSU to be selected for a bowl game. The bad news is they all predict the same outcome: Bowling Green vs. Marshall in the EagleBank Bowl.
Yikes.
In a warranted case of looking a gift horse in the mouth and acting confused, it’s not so much that the EagleBank Bowl is not a very hallowed game. (It’s not, but any bowl game can help Freddie Barnes break the NCAA Division I record for receptions in a season.) It’s more that BGSU already played the Thundering Herd earlier this season in a 17-10 loss. Rematches are no fun.
It’s better than nothing, I suppose. For what it’s worth, both sites have Northern Illinois playing Idaho in the Humanitarian Bowl, which is another rematch. So what’s the better locale in late December: Boise or Washington, DC?
This is all speculation, of course. If Army beats Navy, an unlikely albeit very real outcome, the Black Knights would become 6-6 and qualify for the EagleBank Bowl. This would probably bump Marshall, also 6-6, out of the bowl, but it could also move the Falcons to an even more depressing location in late December: Bowling Green, Ohio.
See? Speculation is fun!
Army can’t bump Bowling Green. The Eagle Bank Bowl is set up as the ACC vs. Army or a C-USA team if Army is ineligible. Army would bump Marshall, and the ACC spot would be available to an at-large 7-5 team, of which there are exactly three — BGSU, NIU and Middle Tennessee. Two of the other three at-large spots are in bowls (Detroit and Mobile) that already have a MAC team. The third is the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, which was set up as a Mountain West vs. WAC game. The Mountain West spot is now available for an at-large team. So BGSU and NIU go to Washington and Boise (unless the MAC works out a deal to send Temple to the game in DC). Bottom line — all five MAC teams with 7 or more wins are locks for bowl games.
This comment was posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 12:20 amMarshall could also be an at-large berth and I believe that Marshall would be selected before BGSU. BGSU doesn’t draw well at home, doesn’t travel well, didn’t play well in their last bowl game and is no lock to make a bowl game.
This comment was posted on December 3rd, 2009 at 10:18 pm