OT: FSU vs Northern Illinois in Orange Bowl...

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

 

BREAKING: Northern Illinois vs Florida State is official in the Orange Bowl, according to a source.

 Retweeted by Mike Hart
 
Can't wait to see what the ratings for that classic will be.

robpollard

December 2nd, 2012 at 4:56 PM ^

I've always hated how bowl games went from exhibitions (e.g., before ~2005, stats didn't count towards all-time records) to now supposedly being the be-all, end-all for how good a team/conference is ("See? Our conference went 6-2 in bowl games - that means we're awesome!").

I doubt NIU is one of the ~10 best teams in the country, which is sort of what the BCS is for, but there aren't any great teams this year, so why not them getting in over, say, Oklahoma, who hasn't looked that impressive themselves?

The bowls can't go back to the backroom deals of old (under which NIU would have never gotten in) because they would be exposed for being the cartel that they are and face congressional action. So they're stuck in this current version where non-BCS schools get crumbs and sometimes it blows up in the bowls (and in this case, ESPN's) face. Fine by me.

I won't be happy until there is an eight-team playoff, with the first round at home campuses, and the big bowls (and their enablers) stand in the way. I could not care less what happens to the big bowls - they're fake "nonprofits" that are a pox on the college game.

bronxblue

December 3rd, 2012 at 3:54 PM ^

I was making a joke, but FSU is not going to fill that whole stadium with fans.  NIU has virtually no national following, and it doesn't sound like the fanbase is super-jazzed and will travel en masse.  So no, I'm not saying it will look like that picture, but there will definitely be open sections.

ILMichFan70

December 2nd, 2012 at 5:00 PM ^

It was the first game of the season. NIU is not even close to being the same team they were at the beginning of the year. Teams do in fact get better during a season and if you look at the team then and now there's no comparison.

I do agree though that this will have thousands of empty seats unless the FSU fans can buy them all up. Should be interesting to see what is announced tonight.

enlightenedbum

December 2nd, 2012 at 5:17 PM ^

NIU's non-conference results:

Iowa 18, Northern Illinois 17

Northern Illinois 35, Tennessee-Martin 7

Northern Illinois 41, Army 40  Army is 2-9

Northern Illinois 30, Kansas 23 Kansas is 1-11

Then they beat up a bunch of MAC schools and won the title game against a team that got blown out by Kentucky.

They're going to get slaughtered.

ak47

December 2nd, 2012 at 8:08 PM ^

Ok cool, lets just put Michigan with that schedule and go to the bcs every year, that schedule is a joke, the loss to iowa is a joke, their best win is over a team that lost to a terrible kentucky game.  When deciding who the best teams are in a division with 120 teams you can't look at just record.  Do you think w-l is a good stat for pitchers in baseball too?

Yeoman

December 2nd, 2012 at 8:35 PM ^

"their best win is over a team that lost to a terrible kentucky game"

a team that also handily whipped one of the Big East co-champions. You're cherry picking games off the schedule to make your argument.

Do I think NIU is one of the ten best teams in the country? Of course not. But they aren't the worst of the ten teams picked for a BCS bowl.

ak47

December 2nd, 2012 at 8:57 PM ^

First off the big east is a joke so I don't really care about a win over a co-champion, secondly elite teams don't lose to kentucky.  Third of all yes NIU is the worst team picked, when a team does nothing to earn a berth in the championship it should not be there.  There is no way NIU plays in a single bcs conference and comes away with a championship, I just don't believe that based off what they have shown they should be in the bcs.  Doesn't make other choices good or bad, but NIU is the worst.

Yeoman

December 2nd, 2012 at 10:08 PM ^

"the big east is a joke so I don't really care about a win over a co-champion"

"There is no way NIU plays in a single bcs conference and comes away with a championship"

Make up your mind. Are all the BCS conferences superior or is the Big East a joke?

ak47

December 3rd, 2012 at 12:26 AM ^

I stand by both comments.  I don't think the big east was a good conference so one win over a mediocre team is not that impressive.  However even given that, I still think if you put NIU in the big east over the course of the season they would have lost more than they won.  App state beat us, that doesn't mean they would have finished in the top half of the big ten that year.  Both statements can clearly co-exist.  Its like when the ncaa is doing tourny selection for basketball and a bad team from a bcs conference is listed as a good win for a mid major team and a bad loss for a bcs conference team.  Winning week in and week out against even mediocre competition is more difficult than playing two or three mediocre teams and a lot of really bad ones.

MGoStrength

December 2nd, 2012 at 4:53 PM ^

Poor Northern Ill.  What in Northern Illinois' performance makes anyone believe they can play with FSU?

In reply to by MGoStrength

ILMichFan70

December 2nd, 2012 at 5:06 PM ^

Or are you just basing this on them being a MAC team? If Georgia Tech can play with Florida State, NIU may have a chance. Probably not to win it but I would not expect a blow out. NIU is a very tough team. If Coach Doeren is not coaching that would further hurt their chances of competing though.

ILMichFan70

December 2nd, 2012 at 5:08 PM ^

but he is able to run and pass the ball very well and is a great leader of their team. Florida State sure looked like a powerful lineup against Georgia Tech yesterday didn't they. I'm not saying that NIU is going to win this game but what I am saying is that they are very solid and would make it a good game.

ChopBlock

December 2nd, 2012 at 8:18 PM ^

I completely understand where you're coming from (who likes to say that their team is doomed?), but predicting NIU will keep it close is akin to all of us who predicted that we'd beat (or at least challenge) Bama.

Belisarius

December 2nd, 2012 at 4:55 PM ^

Uhhhhh....

I wonder how the NIU players are feeling. Fantastic, I imagine...but you have to wonder if, when the high wears off, they start to think "Oh, hell..."