Northern Illinois unable to secure Top-25 Ranking despite 11-3 record
by Mike Breese on Jan 10, 2012 2:23 AM CST
in Football
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PrintNIU has the longest winning streak in the nation at 9 games. They just destroyed the Sun Bel Champions Arkansas State. But they aren't a Top-25 team? Does that make any sense? Let's look at who beat the Huskies out:
The polls are in and NIU ranks #28 in the AP poll with 33 pts, behind
#27 8-5 Auburn (40 pts)
#26 10-3 BYU (51 pts)
#25 10-3 Cincinnati (103 pts)
#24 9-4 Nebraska (143 pts)
In the USA Today/Coaches Poll the NIU Huskies rank #26 with 36 pts, behind
#25 10-3 BYU (79 pts)
#24 9-4 Nebraska (144 pts)
BYU beat 8-5 Tulsa, a team that didn't even make it's own championship game 24-21. What a joke. They stayed in on name-recognition only. Nebraska lossed to a higher-ranked South Carolina team, so I guess you can cut them some slack.
It was one of those rare seasons where there weren't too many upsets this season regarding teams in the fringe part of the Top-25.
THIS NIU squad could beat anybody. The NIU team at the beginning of the season couldn't stop anybody. The Kansas and Central Michigan losses may have been good motivation early on, but they look horrible on a resume. Not to mention not even being competitive against a Wisconsin squad that finished 10th in the nation.
Yes, the Huskies deserve to be in the Top-25 and were only two inexplicable losses away from doing so. Central Michigan didn't make the Top-25 until the last week in 2009, but they were 12-2 and were undefeated in conference play. They also beat Michigan State, a BCS victory the Huskies didn't have on their resume this year.
It's disappointing, but what are you going to do? Coach Doeren helped this team improve immensely as the season wore on. We on the MAC Championship and the Bowl game.
It's never too early to start setting goals for next year...
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The losses against CMU and Kansas doomed us. The top 25 would have been nice, but I’ll take what we achieved this year.
I remember the Sadler days and the first part of Joe Novak’s tenure in the 90’s. That was rough.
It’s been over 10 years since Novak turned the corner and turned NIU into one of the winningest programs in football. We have something to build on, and I hope we continue.
"the Sadler days and the first part of Joe Novak's tenure in the 90's."
Yup. That was the “era” when I was going to NIU.
Pretty lean times. But, it ended with this….
This life's hard, man, but it's harder if you're stupid.
- Jackie Brown
LOL. Wasn’t that CMU we beat to end a 26 game losing streak? That was pre-internet/NIU on TV days so my info was limited.
I don't think that is Doeren in the 1st picture
Are you sure it’s not the OL coach? Or did Doeren change shirts before the bucket dump?
2011 MAC Champions, 'nuff said.
The last nine seasons for the Huskies have been an epic adventure full of upsets, miracles, coaching changes, future NFL talent, short-lived rankings, and two devastating MAC Championship losses. Through the midst of it all, the program has gotten better and better and changed a lot of people’s perspective of the entire MAC Conference.
After last year’s whirlwind season and gut-wrenching championship loss, this season presented the ultimate opportunity for the Huskies to demonstrate perseverance and redeem themselves. Under the leadership of a new coach and the unstoppable Chandler Harnish, they did it. And they did it the hard way, many times coming from behind to win those nine games in a row. Of course, this was demonstrated in the most climactic fashion with the comeback from 20-0 to win the MAC Championship against a tenacious & tough Ohio squad.
Ultimately, will the Huskies be the next Boise State? That remains to be seen. Regardless, the last decade (especially the last two seasons) has been one wild ride that this Huskie fan will always cherish.
Go Huskies.
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