One thing that I was thinking about was what we had to overcome to put us into the position Friday of being able to clinch a BCS berth:

Fresno St had to lose once
Boise St had to lose TWICE ( a lot of pollsters had Boise over NIU with a loss)
BYU had to lose once
UCF had to lose once, and struggle recently to calm down voter retaliation
Louisville had to lose once
Utah St had to lose once
SJSU had to lose once (had preseason votes too)
NIU having to win 7 road games

If any one of those things above did not happen, NIU would not be in a position to automatically clinch next week. What that says is two things:

1) Clearly the MAC and our team is not yet on the level perception wise nationally of the non-AQs. We are better than all of those teams, but needed a loss from them to have us ranked higher. Obviously a BCS win would change that perception forever.

2) The Hard Way could not be more perfect for us. Everything was stacked against us this year and by winning we are making things happen.

I just keep envisioning the scenario of NIU finishing the fight and winning the MACC and Fiesta Bowl. It just seems like it is our destiny. I said it for a while, after last year I truly believe if given another chance we would win.

If we beat BGSU we will have won three very tough games headed into the Bowl game which will work to our advantage.

Obviously BG will be a very very tough game and no BCS berth has been clinched, but think back to the end of the Iowa game last year at SF when NIU started out 0-1 with a first year QB starter and a new offensive line. If Vegas offered such a bet after the 0-1 start last year, what do you think the odds would have been set of getting to two straight BCS bowls, a 1 in 5000 chance, 10000?

(11-30-2013 11:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Obviously BG will be a very very tough game and no BCS berth has been clinched, but think back to the end of the Iowa game last year at SF when NIU started out 0-1 with a first year QB starter and a new offensive line. If Vegas offered such a bet after the 0-1 start last year, what do you think the odds would have been set of getting to two straight BCS bowls, a 1 in 5000 chance, 10000?

1 in a million..

Go Huskies

(11-30-2013 11:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Obviously BG will be a very very tough game and no BCS berth has been clinched, but think back to the end of the Iowa game last year at SF when NIU started out 0-1 with a first year QB starter and a new offensive line. If Vegas offered such a bet after the 0-1 start last year, what do you think the odds would have been set of getting to two straight BCS bowls, a 1 in 5000 chance, 10000?

A one loss Mid Major with this new kid named Jordan Lynch playing QB? Long odds for sure.

(11-30-2013 12:18 PM)HuskieFanatic Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 11:51 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Obviously BG will be a very very tough game and no BCS berth has been clinched, but think back to the end of the Iowa game last year at SF when NIU started out 0-1 with a first year QB starter and a new offensive line. If Vegas offered such a bet after the 0-1 start last year, what do you think the odds would have been set of getting to two straight BCS bowls, a 1 in 5000 chance, 10000?

A one loss Mid Major with this new kid named Jordan Lynch playing QB? Long odds for sure.

Indeed, I think 1 million is probably closer than 10000

Yep if the Huskies take the MAC title game over BGSU, they will have overcome incredibly long odds for AQ qualification in back to back seasons; mind boggling that it is on the doorstep of happening again.

It takes billions of things going right for a team like NIU to get an opportunity like this. Hopefully on Friday they take advantage.

(11-30-2013 01:25 PM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  It takes billions of things going right for a team like NIU to get an opportunity like this. Hopefully on Friday they take advantage.

Only a fraction of which NIU has any hand in. The rest is basically luck.

BG will bring their best, no doubt.

(11-30-2013 02:42 PM)DogTracks Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 01:25 PM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  It takes billions of things going right for a team like NIU to get an opportunity like this. Hopefully on Friday they take advantage.

Only a fraction of which NIU has any hand in. The rest is basically luck.

BG will bring their best, no doubt.

EXACTLY. That's why taking advantage is so important and puts so much pressure on the guys. Big, rare, beautiful chance, take a good hack at it.

On the field, we had to overcome a few obstacles as well. The loss of Harris, Lemon, Daniels, Sebastiano and Loos were all significant, but this team has been able to fill those spots without missing a beat. To date, how JL was able to play earlier in the season, with an injury that would have sidelined most players, is the most important factor in this team's success.

Even if you are the favorite in every game you play, actually winning every game is still no small feat.

Sometimes teams have bad games, sometimes the ball does not bounce in your favor, and sometimes you get screwed by bad calls. The Huskies have had all that, but still managed to win them all.