After a 7-5 finish, Ball State University football fans are excited for a possible bowl invitation. Each day, new speculation about which game the Cardinals are headed for pops up on Internet message boards. However, confusion reigns as to which game Ball State will be invited to, or even whether it will be invited.
This mess was created by the Mid-American Conference, which was so excited to have a wonderful program of the caliber of Temple University join that it decided to alter the league schedule. Temple then proceeded to go 4-4 in the MAC, which, given its previous ineptitude, has probably destroyed any chance the league had to be taken seriously on a national scale in the near future.
Most East Division teams this season played eight league games, but most West Division teams were forced to play only seven league games. This resulted in unbalanced standings and an odd scenario by which Miami University will play in the MAC championship on Saturday with a 5-2 league record while Bowling Green State University, which is in the same division, stays home with a 6-2 league record. This is because the MAC determined its title game participants by divisional record rather than the conference record as a whole, reducing interdivisional games to nothing more than tiebreakers. Miami and Bowling Green both finished 4-2 in divisional games, with Miami's head-to-head victory over the Falcons providing them the championship bid.
The mess becomes even dirtier when the league attempts to divine who will play in its bowl games this year. The MAC has three bowl tie-ins: the Motor City Bowl, the GMAC Bowl and the International Bowl. Now, if Central Michigan University takes care of business and beats an inferior RedHawks team, there will be no issues. Central Michigan, Bowling Green and Ball State will be the only three teams with winning records in the MAC and will punch their bowl game tickets. However, if Central loses on Saturday, it opens up a large can of worms. Four teams will have seven wins, with Miami joining the party.
Had the MAC played a sensible league schedule this year, the picture would be clearer. Ball State would have played an East Division team instead of the University of Illinois, possibly trading a win, and an 8-4 record, for a loss. Central Michigan would've gotten another chance to pick up a win against an East Division team. Or, to look at it an optimistic way, another chance to pick up a loss, which would've sent Ball State to the MAC title game. Miami would've played another West Division team, and in the event of a loss there, would have been watching Bowling Green play CMU on Saturday, with no hope of receiving a MAC bowl tie-in.
What the whole situation boils down to for the Cardinals is that a Central Michigan win in the league title game is almost a prerequisite for Ball State to gain a bowl invitation. A bowl is still possible if Miami wins, but it would not be a MAC-affiliated game. The Cardinals would have to sit and root for other teams to give them some help.
One bit of aid the Cardinals could receive would be a University of Oklahoma victory over the University of Missouri in the Big 12 championship on Saturday. This would likely knock Ohio State University into the national title game and Illinois into the Rose Bowl. That sequence of events would slot all eight Big Ten teams with seven wins or more into bowl games. This would leave Texas Christian University and Ball State as the two seven-win teams not slotted into bowls. Since there currently are two unfilled bowl bids left by other conferences, the Cardinals would then be able to receive an at-large bid.
Either way, the Cardinals need help.
If any of that confused you, and, barring an invitation to Mensa, it probably did, call up the MAC offices and ask for clarification.
You won't be the only one in need of it.
Write to Andy at ndistops@hotmail.com
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