Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl

[BigDofBA]

Listening to the ESPN talking heads about NIU takes me back to when everyone was in an uproar about VCU getting into the NCAA backetball tourney a few years back. VCU made the Final Four..... Hope NIU beats FSU outright.

In basketball you only need two good players to have a chance. Football you need 11 guys on each side.

[meader99]

In basketball you only need two good players to have a chance. Football you need 11 guys on each side.

I don't buy that.

[InTheDrink]

I don't buy that.

how about a head coach?

[itchypickle]

Total shame. It's like a home school league in high school playing in the 5A title game.

Ok, they are a decent team for their level but no way should they even be in the conversation for a BCS bowl.

[PAULYPOKER]

What will the spread be???

FSU -14?

I hope so, the ACC is the most overrated division in NCAAF,


I will pound NIU @ +14 all day long!

[stealthyburrito]

They should get rid of that rule that puts a cap on how many teams a conference can send to the BCS. but then again, we'd probably be watching an all sec BCS series.

having said that, I will return to this thread and laugh at the people who think niu is gonna get smoked. they will win outright. FSU is vastly overrated and has absolutely no reason to show up to this game.

[MoneyLineDawg]

Northern Illinois deserves it about as much as Florida State anyway.....Much better bowl matchups out there than most of the BcS bowls as usual

[Trident]

Purdue vs Oklahoma State
Northwestern vs Mississippi St
Michigan vs South Carolina
Nebraska vs Georgia
Wisconsin vs Stanford
N Illinois vs Florida State

Might go down as the ugliest lineup of New Years Day Bowl games I have ever seen.

[CanuckG]

Would not surprise me to see F State lose

[Mac4Lyfe]

I think both UF and FSU savagely ass rape both UL and NIU. A lot of assholes will be left on the field after these games. PETA will be on call for these games.

[MoneyLineDawg]

Purdue vs Oklahoma State
Northwestern vs Mississippi St
Michigan vs South Carolina
Nebraska vs Georgia
Wisconsin vs Stanford
N Illinois vs Florida State

Might go down as the ugliest lineup of New Years Day Bowl games I have ever seen.

I know I'm an SC fan, but Michigan vs South Carolina should be a solid game.......Northern Illinois/FSU is a game I'm interested in as well

Rose Bowl matchup seems to suck on the surface but it could be a good game if Wisky plays like they did the other night

Your main point is correct though.....Really shitty lineup on the surface

[jakeloftin2186]

espn put up the opening spreads FSU was -7

[Trident]

5Dimes has a few Bowls up.

[Trident]

I know I'm an SC fan, but Michigan vs South Carolina should be a solid game.......Northern Illinois/FSU is a game I'm interested in as well

Rose Bowl matchup seems to suck on the surface but it could be a good game if Wisky plays like they did the other night

Your main point is correct though.....Really shitty lineup on the surface

I think Michigan vs South Carolina will be best game as well, not a fan of laying big points but think Oklahoma St will bury Purdue.

[visualrealism]

Think Hawaii 2008 Sugar bowl.

NIU is not Utah,TCU,or Boise St bcs buster material..

[meader99]

how about a head coach?

Always nice to have a good one of those.

[meader99]

espn put up the opening spreads FSU was -7

I saw that too. Guys couldn't believe it and said right away that number would be a lot higher come kickoff. Not sure where they got that info from though.. They also had Florida as about a -16.5 favorite. I would think that 14 would be right around the opener of FSU/NIU.

[CollegeOverUnder]

Northern Illinois made it fair and square fking people need to quit bitching and whining especially the ESPN Analyst. NIU made it in and now they are gonna cover +14 against FSU

[milwaukee mike]

Not sure why so many think it's embarassing to have niu in the bcs, when a pretty bad louisville team and a 5-loss wisconsin team are in.

Both of those are WAY more embarassing

[LT Profits]

NIU is a smaller dog than Louisvile. FSU -13.5, Florida -14.5

[ndirishfan]

Big east is terrible...but think of this....if west Virginia was still in the big east it would be a west Virginia notre dame national championship and gino smith would raise the heisman trophy and the irish would role them 20 and make the big east look even weaker. Just some food for thought.

[doublej95]

Unreal...i love this team, but come on. BCS bowls should NEVER accept MAC teams its embarrassing.

Doeren left them too early it seems!

Jordan Lynch the best QB nobody knows...

That said, FSU should curb stomp them

Coaching at NIU $420,00
Coaching at NCSU $1,800,000

Doeren probably doesn't think so.

[Brock Landers]

Coaching at NIU $420,00
Coaching at NCSU $1,800,000

Doeren probably doesn't think so.

he could have gone to the Bowl game and STILL gotten that NC St job

[Cuse0323]

Pounding NIU, was hoping to get more points but 14 will be enough.

[doublej95]

he could have gone to the Bowl game and STILL gotten that NC St job

Yow is like every other woman, impatient. She wanted a coach asap.

[tblues2005]

This game between N. Illinois and FSU could come out like Georgia and Hawaii in the Orange Bowl which is a mismatch. These BCS bowls are real bad this year.

[surffreak]

yes....stupid rule

funny thing is that no one really benefits except one small school....fans suffer, bowl suffers, tv suffers, etc

Are you kidding me? Every non bcs conference benefits for this. The game has been hyped up because of kirk herdstreit.

GOD FORBID POOR OAKLAHOMA FANS MISS THE BCS ONE YEAR..... and for one year a non bcs school gets into a bcs bowl game...

LOUISVILLE AND WISCONSIN ARE IN BCS BOWL GAMES.... no one is talking about that? NIU got in far and square, blame the shitty big least and big 12

everyone remember BGSU vs florida in week one..... i hope NIU rapes FSU and shuts everyone up

[BlacK_HazE]

What an f'n joke. Florida State makes the Orange Bowl and we get rewarded by being matched up with a scrub a$$ team like NIU. I almost don't even want to watch the game I'm that disgusted. To those of you who are taking NIU your throwing money down the drain. I know FSU had an easy schedule compared to most BCS caliber teams but who the hell has NIU beat that they deserve to be in a BCS game? Kansas? UMass? Central Michigan? lol gtfoh. In fact the only top 50 defense NIU has faced this season was Iowa in which they lost 18-17. They were only able to put up a total of 201 yards in that game (73 yards coming from a Lynch TD rush). FSU ranks #2 in total defense & #4 against the run, I know the ACC is bad but come on guys were comparing them to the MAC. The only way FSU doesn't cover is if Manuel turns the ball over, but with how our o-line stacks up I imagine FSU's just going to come out with the ground attack and gash them every play.

Interesting Fact:
FSU's average O-line weight: 320 lbs
NIU's average D-line weight: 267 lbs

NIU is just happy to be in a BCS bowl, don't be fooled..

Final Score
FSU 35
NIU 14

[InTheDrink]

Are you kidding me? Every non bcs conference benefits for this. The game has been hyped up because of kirk herdstreit.

GOD FORBID POOR OAKLAHOMA FANS MISS THE BCS ONE YEAR..... and for one year a non bcs school gets into a bcs bowl game...

LOUISVILLE AND WISCONSIN ARE IN BCS BOWL GAMES.... no one is talking about that? NIU got in far and square, blame the shitty big least and big 12

everyone remember BGSU vs florida in week one..... i hope NIU rapes FSU and shuts everyone up

i was corrected earlier that it benefits the entire mac so it's fitting that a mac guy would come in here to blast my otherwise 100% accurate statement

dont worry....we've made threads about louisville being a joke too

[eeezzzz]

What an f'n joke. Florida State makes the Orange Bowl and we get rewarded by being matched up with a scrub a$$ team like NIU. I almost don't even want to watch the game I'm that disgusted. To those of you who are taking NIU your throwing money down the drain. I know FSU had an easy schedule compared to most BCS caliber teams but who the hell has NIU beat that they deserve to be in a BCS game? Kansas? UMass? Central Michigan? lol gtfoh. In fact the only top 50 defense NIU has faced this season was Iowa in which they lost 18-17. They were only able to put up a total of 201 yards in that game (73 yards coming from a Lynch TD rush). FSU ranks #2 in total defense & #4 against the run, I know the ACC is bad but come on guys were comparing them to the MAC. The only way FSU doesn't cover is if Manuel turns the ball over, but with how our o-line stacks up I imagine FSU's just going to come out with the ground attack and gash them every play.

Interesting Fact:
FSU's average O-line weight: 320 lbs
NIU's average D-line weight: 267 lbs

NIU is just happy to be in a BCS bowl, don't be fooled..

Final Score
FSU 35
NIU 14

Would you rather play and get raped by an SEC team again? EJ Manuel might not even throw a pic this game!

[BlacK_HazE]

Losing by 11 points is getting raped? Not to mention we had the lead going into the 4th quarter.. If FSU didn't commit those 5 turnovers (including that helmet to helmet hit that forced EJ to fumble that lead to a gator td) that would've been a completely different ball game