(08-07-2019 08:14 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 07:21 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 05:55 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 09:26 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 07:51 AM)RedandBlackAttack Wrote:  And don't be shocked to be completely wrong.

The new coach is addition by subtraction. Oh, and there is a new QB transfer from Cal that will be starting.

If NIU goes 1-3 OOC and wins the West I will be embarrassed. If you beat Vandy I'll be relieved and accept a top 2 finish.

Every team in the MAC would likely go 1-3 with our non-conference schedule and all three P5 games are on the road.

Right. I hate your schedule because even if you run through the MAC unscathed our Champ will be 10-3 (unlikely). Having a doable OOC is key to success and perception of the league.

When our champion is 8-5 that looks bad on the national stage, and NIU loves to do that.

Unfortunately, the huge decline in student population at NIU (8k less than when I went to NIU) has meant a $4 million loss per year in student fees so now we end up finding ourselves having to play all these road money games. Plus the added cost of attendance mandate.

It's even worse when the big dogs won't play you in fear of losing. So take this schedule when you have it and win a couple. None of the teams on your schedule are playoff contenders (I will believe it when I see it Utah).

(08-07-2019 08:14 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 07:21 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 05:55 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 09:26 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 07:51 AM)RedandBlackAttack Wrote:  And don't be shocked to be completely wrong.

The new coach is addition by subtraction. Oh, and there is a new QB transfer from Cal that will be starting.

If NIU goes 1-3 OOC and wins the West I will be embarrassed. If you beat Vandy I'll be relieved and accept a top 2 finish.

Every team in the MAC would likely go 1-3 with our non-conference schedule and all three P5 games are on the road.

Right. I hate your schedule because even if you run through the MAC unscathed our Champ will be 10-3 (unlikely). Having a doable OOC is key to success and perception of the league.

When our champion is 8-5 that looks bad on the national stage, and NIU loves to do that.

Unfortunately, the huge decline in student population at NIU (8k less than when I went to NIU) has meant a $4 million loss per year in student fees so now we end up finding ourselves having to play all these road money games. Plus the added cost of attendance mandate.

Some of the reason I picked NIU 4th is just hearing from their fans on here how much their team has declined over the past few years. Doesn't inspire much confidence in them from me and other posters on here. Add a new coach, and it's a 'if they win a West Title, it'll be because they win the tiebreakers again.'

(08-11-2019 12:12 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 08:14 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 07:21 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-07-2019 05:55 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 09:26 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  If NIU goes 1-3 OOC and wins the West I will be embarrassed. If you beat Vandy I'll be relieved and accept a top 2 finish.

Every team in the MAC would likely go 1-3 with our non-conference schedule and all three P5 games are on the road.

Right. I hate your schedule because even if you run through the MAC unscathed our Champ will be 10-3 (unlikely). Having a doable OOC is key to success and perception of the league.

When our champion is 8-5 that looks bad on the national stage, and NIU loves to do that.

Unfortunately, the huge decline in student population at NIU (8k less than when I went to NIU) has meant a $4 million loss per year in student fees so now we end up finding ourselves having to play all these road money games. Plus the added cost of attendance mandate.

Some of the reason I picked NIU 4th is just hearing from their fans on here how much their team has declined over the past few years. Doesn't inspire much confidence in them from me and other posters on here. Add a new coach, and it's a 'if they win a West Title, it'll be because they win the tiebreakers again.'

There is one poster on here who claims to be an NIU fan that somehow thinks the team has declined....we all know who it is. Other than him, pretty much everyone else is ecstatic and VERY intrigued for what is to come with Hammock at the helm.

MAC East
1. Ohio
2. Buffalo
3. Miami
4. Akron
5. Kent State
6. BGSU

MAC West
1. NIU
2. Toledo
3. EMU
4. WMU
5. Ball State
6. CMU

Champion: Ohio

Sleeper team: EMU

In defense of our "bad QB", he's the reigning MACC MVP. And he'll probably be the backup.

I think it's a bit of revisionist history to say the West was a "dogfight" last year. NIU clinched the West with 2 games to go and dropped those last 2 meaningless games. It's unfortunate but that's Carey for you.

(08-13-2019 09:44 AM)Max Power Wrote:  In defense of our "bad QB", he's the reigning MACC MVP. And he'll probably be the backup.

I think it's a bit of revisionist history to say the West was a "dogfight" last year. NIU clinched the West with 2 games to go and dropped those last 2 meaningless games. It's unfortunate but that's Carey for you.

EMU was in it with everyone. Toledo drew UB as a crossover which led to the extra loss. And WMU who got smoked by Toledo took down the division champs.
Toledo was a 2 point conversion away against EMU from being tied for the division and losing the tie breaker to NIU (again).

It wasn't the MAC East... UB ran away with the division. NIU? Although clinching early, lost to teams they should not have, showing their vulnerability, and dogfightyness of the conference.

(08-13-2019 10:40 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 09:44 AM)Max Power Wrote:  In defense of our "bad QB", he's the reigning MACC MVP. And he'll probably be the backup.

I think it's a bit of revisionist history to say the West was a "dogfight" last year. NIU clinched the West with 2 games to go and dropped those last 2 meaningless games. It's unfortunate but that's Carey for you.

EMU was in it with everyone. Toledo drew UB as a crossover which led to the extra loss. And WMU who got smoked by Toledo took down the division champs.
Toledo was a 2 point conversion away against EMU from being tied for the division and losing the tie breaker to NIU (again).

It wasn't the MAC East... UB ran away with the division. NIU? Although clinching early, lost to teams they should not have, showing their vulnerability, and dogfightyness of the conference.

We must have thought they were bowl games.

(08-13-2019 10:40 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 09:44 AM)Max Power Wrote:  In defense of our "bad QB", he's the reigning MACC MVP. And he'll probably be the backup.

I think it's a bit of revisionist history to say the West was a "dogfight" last year. NIU clinched the West with 2 games to go and dropped those last 2 meaningless games. It's unfortunate but that's Carey for you.

EMU was in it with everyone. Toledo drew UB as a crossover which led to the extra loss. And WMU who got smoked by Toledo took down the division champs.
Toledo was a 2 point conversion away against EMU from being tied for the division and losing the tie breaker to NIU (again).

It wasn't the MAC East... UB ran away with the division. NIU? Although clinching early, lost to teams they should not have, showing their vulnerability, and dogfightyness of the conference.

So what you're saying is the fact NIU clinched the division with 2 games to go shouldn't be considered at all?

I mean, ideally every player and coach should fight just as hard every game for pride but there is definitely an emotional let down when a team clinches its goals and has to play games with no championship implications. NIU last year was 7-0 in MAC games with championship implications, 0-2 without. And the teams they lost to were playing for their bowl lives. And I don't think it's a coincidence that same coach went 0-6 in bowl games, which are considered by many to be exhibitions. I do think and hope Hammock as an alum will not allow this type of let down in the future and prioritize pride if you were.

Miami beating my Huskies last year was a big confidence booster. I believe they have made the turn, Ohio will be hard pressed to hold them off.

(08-13-2019 06:03 PM)Max Power Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 10:40 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 09:44 AM)Max Power Wrote:  In defense of our "bad QB", he's the reigning MACC MVP. And he'll probably be the backup.

I think it's a bit of revisionist history to say the West was a "dogfight" last year. NIU clinched the West with 2 games to go and dropped those last 2 meaningless games. It's unfortunate but that's Carey for you.

EMU was in it with everyone. Toledo drew UB as a crossover which led to the extra loss. And WMU who got smoked by Toledo took down the division champs.
Toledo was a 2 point conversion away against EMU from being tied for the division and losing the tie breaker to NIU (again).

It wasn't the MAC East... UB ran away with the division. NIU? Although clinching early, lost to teams they should not have, showing their vulnerability, and dogfightyness of the conference.

So what you're saying is the fact NIU clinched the division with 2 games to go shouldn't be considered at all?

I mean, ideally every player and coach should fight just as hard every game for pride but there is definitely an emotional let down when a team clinches its goals and has to play games with no championship implications. NIU last year was 7-0 in MAC games with championship implications, 0-2 without. And the teams they lost to were playing for their bowl lives. And I don't think it's a coincidence that same coach went 0-6 in bowl games, which are considered by many to be exhibitions. I do think and hope Hammock as an alum will not allow this type of let down in the future and prioritize pride if you were.

Consider what you want to but NIU won the division by a single game in the end and 4 teams round robined each other to death.
NIU 2-1
EMU 1-2
WMU 2-1
Toledo 1-2

#dogfight

(08-07-2019 05:55 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 09:26 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 07:51 AM)RedandBlackAttack Wrote:  

(08-06-2019 06:16 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-05-2019 11:51 PM)7 Wrote:  imagine learning nothing from the last decade and picking NIU 4th in their division lol

New coach... bad QB....Ohio and Miami as crossovers... 3 road P5 OOC games... And one team int he division hosts the other three... Don't be shocked to see at least 3rd

And don't be shocked to be completely wrong.

The new coach is addition by subtraction. Oh, and there is a new QB transfer from Cal that will be starting.

If NIU goes 1-3 OOC and wins the West I will be embarrassed. If you beat Vandy I'll be relieved and accept a top 2 finish.

Every team in the MAC would likely go 1-3 with our non-conference schedule and all three P5 games are on the road.

NIU could very well go 0-4, I think at least half the teams in the MAC would go 0-4 with NIU's non-conf schedule. Illinois State this year is statistically equivalent to a mid to upper level MAC team

WMU was one point away in OT from beating Ball State which would have made the WMU-NIU game the Battle for the West. Don't know if we would have still won under those circumstances, but I think it's safe to say that there were several teams in contention for the MACW, just a play or two away...

(08-13-2019 07:58 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 06:03 PM)Max Power Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 10:40 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 09:44 AM)Max Power Wrote:  In defense of our "bad QB", he's the reigning MACC MVP. And he'll probably be the backup.

I think it's a bit of revisionist history to say the West was a "dogfight" last year. NIU clinched the West with 2 games to go and dropped those last 2 meaningless games. It's unfortunate but that's Carey for you.

EMU was in it with everyone. Toledo drew UB as a crossover which led to the extra loss. And WMU who got smoked by Toledo took down the division champs.
Toledo was a 2 point conversion away against EMU from being tied for the division and losing the tie breaker to NIU (again).

It wasn't the MAC East... UB ran away with the division. NIU? Although clinching early, lost to teams they should not have, showing their vulnerability, and dogfightyness of the conference.

So what you're saying is the fact NIU clinched the division with 2 games to go shouldn't be considered at all?

I mean, ideally every player and coach should fight just as hard every game for pride but there is definitely an emotional let down when a team clinches its goals and has to play games with no championship implications. NIU last year was 7-0 in MAC games with championship implications, 0-2 without. And the teams they lost to were playing for their bowl lives. And I don't think it's a coincidence that same coach went 0-6 in bowl games, which are considered by many to be exhibitions. I do think and hope Hammock as an alum will not allow this type of let down in the future and prioritize pride if you were.

Consider what you want to but NIU won the division by a single game in the end and 4 teams round robined each other to death.
NIU 2-1
EMU 1-2
WMU 2-1
Toledo 1-2

#dogfight

SMH

This is ridiculous. The race is over once a team clinches it. The games after that don’t matter to that race. When you win it with 2 games to go in a 9 game season, that is not a close race. A close race means that more than one team has a chance going into the final games. Who know how NIU would have played if their ticket to Detroit hadn’t already been punched? Looking at the final standings can be deceiving (as it apparently is to some people.)

I enjoyed our upset of NIU on that final game. It was the one lone bright spot in a bad November (and December, if you want to throw in the ugly bowl game).

That said, I think the chance of NIU going 0-2 against Miami and WMU to close out the regular season gets a lot slimmer if they hadn't already clinched. In our specific game, we were desperate for that 7th win, 6-6 was likely not going to be good enough for a bowl. Meanwhile the Huskies were probably on mental cruise control.

I wonder if coaches tell their players not to play hard and that losing is okay, as long as you've already clinched the division.

(08-13-2019 07:58 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 06:03 PM)Max Power Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 10:40 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(08-13-2019 09:44 AM)Max Power Wrote:  In defense of our "bad QB", he's the reigning MACC MVP. And he'll probably be the backup.

I think it's a bit of revisionist history to say the West was a "dogfight" last year. NIU clinched the West with 2 games to go and dropped those last 2 meaningless games. It's unfortunate but that's Carey for you.

EMU was in it with everyone. Toledo drew UB as a crossover which led to the extra loss. And WMU who got smoked by Toledo took down the division champs.
Toledo was a 2 point conversion away against EMU from being tied for the division and losing the tie breaker to NIU (again).

It wasn't the MAC East... UB ran away with the division. NIU? Although clinching early, lost to teams they should not have, showing their vulnerability, and dogfightyness of the conference.

So what you're saying is the fact NIU clinched the division with 2 games to go shouldn't be considered at all?

I mean, ideally every player and coach should fight just as hard every game for pride but there is definitely an emotional let down when a team clinches its goals and has to play games with no championship implications. NIU last year was 7-0 in MAC games with championship implications, 0-2 without. And the teams they lost to were playing for their bowl lives. And I don't think it's a coincidence that same coach went 0-6 in bowl games, which are considered by many to be exhibitions. I do think and hope Hammock as an alum will not allow this type of let down in the future and prioritize pride if you were.

Consider what you want to but NIU won the division by a single game in the end and 4 teams round robined each other to death.
NIU 2-1
EMU 1-2
WMU 2-1
Toledo 1-2

#dogfight

And had Easterns freshman kicker not missed a 38 yard field goal in the second overtime against NIU then Eastern would have won the West.

If NIU was on cruise control, you're saying the best team in the West by a runaway went 1-3 OOC... That means the West was absolutely an attrocity, which I disagree with. The entire season matters. No team controls when they draw another division foe. NIU lost 2 games that mattered as much as the first two... But they won the division because they had one more win than any other team in the West... Fact. Talk about bowls and not getting up, but that's just a poor excuse if you ask me.

EMU lost to NIU by 3, lost to WMU by 3, beat Toledo by 2.

Toledo lost to NIU by 23, beat WMU by 27, and lost to EMU by 2.

WMU beat EMU by 3, lost to Toledo by 27, and beat NIU by 7.

The West Champion NIU huskies who ran away with the league, beat EMU by 3, Toledo by 15 and lost to WMU by 7.p

(08-14-2019 03:34 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  If NIU was on cruise control, you're saying the best team in the West by a runaway went 1-3 OOC... That means the West was absolutely an attrocity, which I disagree with. The entire season matters. No team controls when they draw another division foe. NIU lost 2 games that mattered as much as the first two... But they won the division because they had one more win than any other team in the West... Fact. Talk about bowls and not getting up, but that's just a poor excuse if you ask me.

EMU lost to NIU by 3, lost to WMU by 3, beat Toledo by 2.

Toledo lost to NIU by 23, beat WMU by 27, and lost to EMU by 2.

WMU beat EMU by 3, lost to Toledo by 27, and beat NIU by 7.

The West Champion NIU huskies who ran away with the league, beat EMU by 3, Toledo by 15 and lost to WMU by 7.p

Sounds like total domination to me.

(08-13-2019 07:40 PM)NIU05 Wrote:  Miami beating my Huskies last year was a big confidence booster. I believe they have made the turn, Ohio will be hard pressed to hold them off.

We'll go as far as our QB take us. It's a crapshoot who starts at this point, but no matter what we'll have someone with basically zero experience. If it goes over well then we could rise up, otherwise it'll probably be another meh season.