Vikings Message Board.Com

http://www.niuhuskies.com/sports/m-foot ... 12aaa.html

It's possible that nobody around here cares but me but I'm excited about it! The Huskies won their second straight conference championship by beating 17th-ranked Kent State in double overtime yesterday. It was a thriller and it's good to see my old school dominating their conference and winning it all.

I care a bit. They're going to lose to Utah State here I think if the matchup happens

Crax wrote:I care a bit. They're going to lose to Utah State here I think if the matchup happens

Hey! You take that back!

Wow! Kent State had been playing really well lately and I really thought they would steamroll through NIU. Congrats to NIU!

BGM wrote:Wow! Kent State had been playing really well lately and I really thought they would steamroll through NIU. Congrats to NIU!

If I'm not mistaken, NIU hasn't lost to a MAC team in two years so I knew they'd give Kent State all they could handle. I'm just glad they won. Unfortunately, that good news was followed yesterday by the news that head coach Dave Doeren is already leaving for a job with a BCS school (NC State). I knew that was inevitable but I was hoping he'd coach the Huskies for more than two seasons.

Now I'm waiting to see which bowl game NIU will play in and who will be coaching them!

NIU is going to the Orange Bowl! They'll play Florida State, which could get ugly, but it's a huge honor for the Huskies football program.

Mothman wrote:NIU is going to the Orange Bowl! They'll play Florida State, which could get ugly, but it's a huge honor for the Huskies football program.

With all due respect to NIU, I can't believe a team like NIU and Louisville are going to play the likes of Florida dna Florida State. Those have the potential to be UGLY games and I can't imagine the ratings will be as good as, say, if Oklahoma would play in those games.

80 PurplePride 84 wrote:NIU going to the Orange Bowl cause 9-3 and LA Tech from missing out on a bowl altogether somehow apparently.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... -bowl-game
Well how stupid is this University? They are LOUISIANA TECH, they should be happy to be invited to any Bowl game. What were they waiting for, the Orange Bowl to change their mind? Incredible.

PurpleMustReign wrote:With all due respect to NIU, I can't believe a team like NIU and Louisville are going to play the likes of Florida dna Florida State. Those have the potential to be UGLY games and I can't imagine the ratings will be as good as, say, if Oklahoma would play in those games.

I'm sure Florida State vs. Oklahoma would yield better ratings but in this case, NIU benefits from the BCS system:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1430 ... ce-to-bump

A lot of Big 12 fans are asking themselves how No. 15 Northern Illinois got in a BCS Bowl and No. 11 Oklahoma didn't. Your frustration is understandable, but don't blame Northern Illinois—blame the damn system.

The Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois Huskies (12-1) ended up No. 15 in the final BCS standings and went to a BCS Bowl because of the BCS' own selection rules.

The champion of Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, the Sun Belt Conference, or the Western Athletic Conference will earn an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game if either:

A. Such team is ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS Standings, or,

B. Such team is ranked in the top 16 of the final BCS Standings and its ranking in the final BCS Standings is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls.

It could definitely be an ugly game but hopefully, NIU will play well and make it interesting. For the big-time college football fan, I'm sure it's not an appealing matchup but for us lowly MAC fans, It's pretty exciting. NIU has been steadily building it's program for years and an opportunity like this should only help them with that process.

I have 3 players headed to NIU so I am officially on board with the HUSKIES! Beat FSU!

GoldenBear91 wrote:I have 3 players headed to NIU so I am officially on board with the HUSKIES! Beat FSU!

Cool! I hope they do well. I think they're joining a good program.

I don't know if you can give their names out but I'd love to know who they are so I can pay extra attention to them as I follow the Huskies over the next few seasons.

Jim

Well, with the head coach leaving I'm not sure what will happen, but I think all three are planning on staying even with the head coach moving up to NC State.