I'm hoping we win both, and believe we can, but which do you think is more important for the NIU brand/program moving forward: a MAC Football Championship, or a Bowl Victory this year against an OOC opponent?

Feel free to demand both - GO HUSKIES!

MACC. We can hang a banner and celebrate 10 years from now.

People don't remember who comes in 2nd most years for even the CFB let alone a bowl.

I rarely see people brag they won the whatchamacallit bowl.

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MACC is the cake, bowl is the icing.

I’d vote for the MACC every time. Although, there is always the prestige of wearing my 2019 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl Champions t-shirt.

MAC Championship.

Being competitive in a bowl, even if we lose, would be huge progress.

The MAC Championship of course, because (in my Hammock voice) it’s the next game.

Winning a conference title should ALWAYS be more important when you are a program that isn't an Alabama, Ohio St, etc that can make the playoff without winning their title game.

The reason there has been so much talk and emphasis on bowl games on this board isn't because we lost some bowl games, it is because we consistently went into bowl games with a team that had a good season and were not even in the ballpark of being competitive, not because the opponent was leagues ahead of NIU in talent or success, but simply because the team was completely unprepared and uninterested.

A MACC win will always be the precursor for an important BOWL year.

Given that, if we have 3 or less loss season we could be playing a High profile opponent and winning that in addition to the MACC may have more significance (only if we win) because we would have beat a team with a bigger national profile and shown the national audience that NIU can box with anyone.

Cincinnati has a chance to play in the playoff only because they had a pretty tough OOC schedule and are currently undefeated while the bigger name schools had some losses.

Can't wait for an 8 team playoff which would give a better competitive environment for college football instead of the oligopoly that the power 5 pretty much have.

(12-01-2021 08:04 PM)HUSKiESbelieve Wrote:  A MACC win will always be the precursor for an important BOWL year.

Given that, if we have 3 or less loss season we could be playing a High profile opponent and winning that in addition to the MACC may have more significance (only if we win) because we would have beat a team with a bigger national profile and shown the national audience that NIU can box with anyone.

Cincinnati has a chance to play in the playoff only because they had a pretty tough OOC schedule and are currently undefeated while the bigger name schools had some losses.

Can't wait for an 8 team playoff which would give a better competitive environment for college football instead of the oligopoly that the power 5 pretty much have.

I think the current attitude is no playoff change right now, or go right to 12 teams, no?

(12-01-2021 08:14 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(12-01-2021 08:04 PM)HUSKiESbelieve Wrote:  A MACC win will always be the precursor for an important BOWL year.

Given that, if we have 3 or less loss season we could be playing a High profile opponent and winning that in addition to the MACC may have more significance (only if we win) because we would have beat a team with a bigger national profile and shown the national audience that NIU can box with anyone.

Cincinnati has a chance to play in the playoff only because they had a pretty tough OOC schedule and are currently undefeated while the bigger name schools had some losses.

Can't wait for an 8 team playoff which would give a better competitive environment for college football instead of the oligopoly that the power 5 pretty much have.

I think the current attitude is no playoff change right now, or go right to 12 teams, no?

yeah no real talks of expansion currently but I hope there will be in the next few years... The group of 5 needs to put more pressure on playoff expansion talks because I believe this is one of the biggest reasons casual NIU football fans (and other group of 5 schools) are apathetic because there is no real pathway to get to the top in a given year.

anyone who voted for a bowl should be shot

What a bowl victory over a decent team is really worth is the next season’s pre-season ranking. NIU could go 12-1, maybe even 13-0, but if they start the season ranked 90th they’re not getting higher than 16. Cincy was 8 coming into 2021. That’s why theyre in a playoff position as a G5.

And any of it is really only relevant if the play off is expanded. Probably beyond 8 where NIU is concerned.

In some ways, I definitely know winning the MACC is top priority. But, I also believe that winning a bowl game is important as well. It is the last game of the year and will set us up for next year (and the players can break the string of Bowl loses). Of course, if I was a coach, I wouldn't put any stock in the past.

It really is about momentum for me. I believe we have a good chance at beating Kent State this weekend. It feels like the O is a little more balanced now then it was in the first meeting. It could be a very high scoring game. But, the best thing about it, that no matter what, no one thought this was possible before the season began. Hammock and his staff and this team earned it and I hope it is a sign of things yet to come.

(12-01-2021 09:18 PM)7 Wrote:  anyone who voted for a bowl should be shot

(12-02-2021 09:38 AM)NIUHuskie4life Wrote:  

(12-01-2021 09:18 PM)7 Wrote:  anyone who voted for a bowl should be shot

3 people voted bowl game

(12-01-2021 06:34 PM)Max Power Wrote:  MACC is the cake, bowl is the icing.

This is confusing to those of us who scrape the icing off and leave the cake behind!

What if the bowl win was a boneyard victory against a major P5 team?

(12-02-2021 11:17 AM)The Huskie Wrote:  What if the bowl win was a boneyard victory against a major P5 team?

No

(12-02-2021 11:17 AM)The Huskie Wrote:  What if the bowl win was a boneyard victory against a major P5 team?

Wouldn’t change my opinion at all. Our first priority every year should be to become conference champions. Far more meaningful than winning a bowl game.

MAC Championship is more impactful than winning a second, third or fourth tier Bowl game and it is not even close.