Toledo hosts Northern Illinois in MAC Conference Showdown

The MAC conference isn’t filled with schools that are readily recognized by the average college football fan, but many of these teams have produced NFL caliber players that can be seen every Sunday. Big Ben Roethlisberger went to Miami of Ohio and star wide receiver Greg Jennings was a product of Western Michigan. Overall the level of competition clearly isn’t on the same level as a match-up between Alabama and LSU, but there are players for both the Toledo Rockets and Northern Illinois Huskies that are capable of playing and being successful for a BCS conference program.

Both teams come into this game with a solid 5-3 record. However, if you take a look at their schedules you’ll see that they are clearly better than their records indicate. As expected by college football handicappers Toledo failed to get a win against all three of the big conference schools they played, but they performed better than anticipated as they took Ohio St down to the wire and lost to a much improved Syracuse team by a field goal. The Rockets have displayed how good they are playing on a level playing field as they demolished all 4 teams they’ve faced in conference play. Their most impressive win came against a solid Temple defense as they hung 36 on the board in a 23 point route as 8.5 point underdogs. Tuesday’s battle with a very good Huskies team will be their toughest challenge in almost a month.

Northern Illinois has done a 180 degree turnaround in just 3 short years under Jerry Kill. Kill has left the program for greener pastures in Minnesota after leading the Huskies to a school record 11 wins in 2010. Former Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren has stepped in as HC, but ironically it’s NIU’s offense that is its best asset. The Huskies rank 11th in division 1 football in rushing yards, and are averaging close to 40 points per game. Senior quarterback Chandler Harnish is coming off of his best season as a starter, but his numbers have slipped a little this year. He still has a respectable 143 QB rating, but needs to start utilizing his talented receiving group more often.

This isn’t expected to be too close of a game as NCAA football handicappers have listed Toledo as healthy 8.5 point home favorites, but NIU has the personnel and talent to keep this one much closer than expected. Tune in Tuesday night!

 

Related posts:

1. Northern Illinois hosts Ball St in MAC Battle
2. N. Illinois & Toledo Fight for MAC West Title
3. Huskies take on the Falcons in MAC Conference Battle
4. MAC Conference Championship: Huskies vs. Redhawks
5. Bobcats host Redhawks in MAC Conference Showdown

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