Ball State vs Buffalo MAC Champs

Ball State loses to Buffalo

Interesting situation…and how things seem to change just when you think you have figured it out.

Going into the MAC Championship, it seemed all to easy to think that Ball State would go undefeated. There were very high dreams for this team only a couple of weeks ago. And nobody thought much about Buffalo, so it would have been easy to just write off the game and assume that Ball State was going to win, and go 13-0.

At least that seemed the idea about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Consider how things have changed:

In early November Ball State faced and defeated Miami OH and there was talk that IF this team goes undefeated, should they be considered for a BCS Bowl or National Championship. I blogged on these thoughts before, and I felt that even undefeated, they did not deserve a National Title shot, but a BCS…maybe, but only if Utah and Boise State fell off.

Ball State then plays arguably the two best teams in the MAC, in Central Michigan and Western Michigan, and beats them both. So with a trip to the MAC Championship, there was talk about whether they would play Boise State in the Humanitarian Bowl, which was wisely declined.

I mean, come on, I ain’t taking MY team to YOUR house to play ball, especially if you almost never lose there.

But in early October, Buffalo was going through some very tough times. Sure, they had not had a winning season EVER in Division I, but there was some talk that possibly, just possibly, the head coach might be on the verge of losing his job. Foolish talk for a team that had never seen a better than .500 record, but there it was.

Also consider as well that the head coach was one of rapidly declining African American coaches in Division I, thus continuing to prove that sadly college football in division I is run by people who have ethical issues that perhaps they need to get over.

Still, Buffalo was 1-5, and not looking too good. Yet they pulled together a string of wins, FIVE to be exact, to win their division. Yet the argument was that maybe they still didn’t deserve to play in the MAC Championship…because the other division, the West Division, was clearly better. Some even said on ESPN that they ought to change the rules to allow the best two teams in the championship…regardless of which division they are in.

I even agreed as well, to my discredit.

So today Ball State puts their perfect record on the line, against a Buffalo team that seems quite unworthy. And yet…the final score, 42-24...Buffalo wins.

MAJOR congrats to you guys in Buffalo…I bow deeply to your success.

And I also applaud Ball State for their season, and I hope they do not forget that they did in fact have a perfect season by the end of the regular season. Few teams get that high mark.

But could this have been forseen? Maybe, even though I didn’t look at the signs.

Signs?

Well yeah. Two things happened that could have made some impact on this game. We like to think that all things are settled on the field of battle… not always so. Sometimes the battle begins before the men take the field. How so?

One half is on Ball State. This team went from one of the darlings of the NCAA to being kicked out of the BCS…or rather, just denied. I won’t argue that they deserved to be overlooked with teams like Utah and Boise State, but what may have happened here is the team may have felt the bitter sting of rejection. No longer was there a BCS reward, no matter how well they played. The MAC had affiliations and it seemed that Ball State was…sentenced… to a lesser bowl. Perhaps the team had a let down once they realized that for all they did, it was in the NCAA’s eyes, just an average season.

On the other end, did anybody ever look at who Buffalo played? It is true they were 1-5 at one point, but look who they played. Losing to Pittsburgh 27-16 at Pittsburgh, losing AT Missouri 42-21, losing AT Central Michigan 27-25. These are very credible games, and masked the true team that would play tonight.

An overtime loss to Western Michigan in OVERTIME made it look like this team was a failure. And when Buffalo started winning, many argued that it was against teams that were under .500 anyway. So how good was this team if they lost to good teams, and beat poor teams?

Was it possible that they were building some strength. Is it possible that maybe Buffalo had to be tested by the good teams to be prepared for the best of the MAC? And, at the same time, was it possible that Ball State underestimated Buffalo, or maybe, just maybe, lost the edge they had when they realized that no matter what happened, they were not invited to a major bowl?

Who am I to make such guesses, but if those two elements came together, it could have created the result we now have. Buffalo has their best season ever…while ironically so has Ball State. Odd, because didn’t they both start out in 1999 with the worst records they ever had?

At any rate, I enjoyed watching it, and although there is rumors of Ball State playing Notre Dame, and that Buffalo may well go to the International Bowl, I wish them both success. I know the MAC didn’t get as much attention as the WAC or MWC, but to be sure, they gave their fans a great season.

Congrats Buffalo, the new MAC Champions.

Congrats Ball State, for your undefeated regular season.