North Texas vs Ball State

North Texas vs. Ball State

What HAPPENED???

I was ready to watch a full plate of college football, with the South Carolina vs. NC State, then the Oregon vs. Boise State, but there was another game that I had a chance to watch, that being North Texas vs. Ball State.

And I was quite amazed to see that a team that was 1-11 last year, that being North Texas, could go up to Ball State and beat them…in their own house, after the amazing season that the Cardinals had last year.

To refresh your memory, Ball State was actually ranked near the end of the season last year, and had a perfect record to finish the regular season. A perfect 12-0 While at the same time, North Texas wins only ONE game last year, and that game was to Western Kentucky, a team that was in their first year in Division IA (or FCS or whatever the call it). And even then, they still gave up 40 points, winning 51-40.

This matchup folks, should not have been nearly as entertaining as it turned out to be. And the stats may well show that the North Texas Mean Green had the advantage in time of possession (30 minutes to 13), and offensive yards (512 to 309), but you just have to wonder if something else was going on…mentally.

I know Ball State is a better team than that, we saw that last year, but I gotta tell ya, since they finished the season 12-0, they have gone 0-3 since then, almost as if winning isn’t as important as it used to be… or maybe the Cardinals believe that going perfect has no real reward.

Disagree? Back up to last year and follow me.

Coming out of the Mid-American Conference, they started out beating Northeastern but got their first good win by beating Navy 35-23. Now I know Navy isn’t a top 25 caliber team, but they are better than average, so this win was indeed a strong step for Ball State. They would score 40+ points the next 3 games, including a win over Big 10 member Indiana, and then shut out Toledo 31-0.

At this point the nation was slowly taking notice of Ball State, and the slight possibility of them being a “BCS buster”, a term I hardly agree with, since the current BCS bowls actually ALLOW a non power conference school with a great record in…. hardly BUSTING in if you are allowed…but that is another story.

Anyway, Ball State is 6-0 before running off 5 more wins in a row, and nobody is even close to touching them. Now the talks were about how teams like Boise State, Utah and now Ball State should be included in the BCS bowls. But others argued that the soft conference and weak strength of schedule would never allow Ball State to play in a BCS, no matter how they fared.

Their last regular season game was against Western Michigan, a game they win easily to go to their conference championship. By beating Western Michigan 45-22, they proved that they were indeed one of the best teams in the nation, clearly the best in their conference. I mean, how many other teams can claim they have gone perfect in the season? Not a very long list of teams, to be sure.

But here is where the problems may have started for Ball State. Last year I remember reading that no matter how good Ball State finished, they were contractually obligated to certain bowls, none being the BCS or the high dollar bowls. Whether they were 12-0 or 7-5, as the conference champion they had no choice but to go to one of the bowls designated for the Mid-American Conference.

Consider what that must have meant to those guys playing for Ball State.

The reward for perfection, is literally nothing. You play the schedule in front of you, you win all the games, you go perfect, and in the end, you go to a lesser bowl than maybe you should have. It seemed to imply that nothing Ball State could do is worth a real reward. Call it a glass ceiling if you will.

Now I won’t argue it because personally I felt that Ball State didn’t play a tough enough schedule to be considered into any BCS formula. And with Utah and Boise State also then undefeated, how could anybody consider Ball State? No doubt, an awesome season, but in the end, it was not considering of greater rewards.

Imagine how a team that worked so hard would feel if their best efforts resulted in them going to a bowl that is hardly a reward for a perfect team. Is it possible that the morale and drive for perfection tapped off with Ball State when they realized that their post season was pre-determined? How would YOU feel?

If there is any truth to this, it might explain what happened when Ball State played Buffalo in the conference championships. To Ball State, there really was nothing to play for, to Buffalo, there was everything to play for, and it showed. Buffalo crushed Ball State 42-24 to win the conference championship.

But it went further than that.

Ball State played Tulsa in the post season, losing 45-13. The team that was swatting every opponent in front of them like flies was now hardly putting up a fight. It almost seemed like they were still shocked that their 12-0 perfect season meant nothing to anybody outside Ball State University. Something mentally had to have happened for this team to have done so well, to have fallen so fast.

So fast forward to last night, playing North Texas.

Is it conceivable that Ball State still felt that going perfect has no reward, that all you really have to do is win your conference to go to a pre-determined bowl? Is it also possible that they saw a 1-11 team and assumed that they could win this game without a great effort, and on THEIR home field.

I won’t doubt for a second that there was some overconfidence, I mean, you don’t get afraid of a 1-11 team that comes in your home town, especially when you were 12-0. It had all the makings of a 56-3 beat down…but something else was going on, and I believe some of it might be in the heads of the Ball State Cardinals.

Could they be wondering, “what’s the point of going perfect”?

And in so, could they have lost that edge that gave them such a great year last year? In the regular season last year, the FEWEST points the Cardinals scored was 24, against Western Kentucky (ironic….). Yet in the post season, this same team scored only 24 points, then 13 points…last night they scored 10.

And let’s not forget that North Texas still had to show up to win, and a great win it was, no doubt. But now you wonder, what will Ball State do the rest of the season… with Army and Auburn on the schedule, they need to figure out if they are committed to winning, or still sulking from being dissed in a perfect season.

Only time will tell….