Bowl Options and Opposition

So, we’ve done it. We’re Bowl Eligible. This is, of course, huge for Hoosier fans, especially the Hoeppner family who were on hand to celebrate with the team after our victory over Ball State. This has been a major focus. Mike mentioned already that we probably are going to need 7 wins on the regular season to truly end up “Playing 13”, which is this season’s ultimate goal. I believe we can win out the season, giving us 8 wins, but let’s look at our bowl options now.
My heart is pulling us north to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl on December 26th. I like this one for a couple of reasons- one, it’s proximity to the area, hopefully resulting in a strong showing of fan support (other options are Fl, Az, and Tx!), the other is the competition we’re likely to face.
It should take a soul about 6 hours (per Google Maps. I drive faster than they do.) to get from Bloomington to Detroit. Downside is it’s the day after Christmas, but kick-off isn’t until 7:30 pm, so you could still head north by mid-morning and realistically make the trip comfortably. Note to fans- prepare to spend the night! A number of hotels are listed on the bowl website at www.MotorCityBowl.com, and it looks like the rates are pretty reasonable. You do not want to try to drive home- you want to get to stay and celebrate with your fellow fans. Trust me on this.
Now, the competition. The Motor City Bowl pits us against the Mid-America Conference. These are teams like Central Michigan and Ball State. Call me a weenie, I want us to go in and win, and I have a stronger confidence with us against a MAC team than, for example, an SEC team. Obviously, I’d love to see us kick the crap out of, say, LSU, in the Outback Bowl, but I’m a bit more of a realist than that. Not just yet. Give us another year or two!
This is NOT to discredit the teams of the MAC. These kids are fighters, scrappers. They are used to being underrated, and come out with a fire, especially in a situation where they have a national audience. (ESPN carries the Motor City Bowl.) But, we’ve spent the entire season proving that we’re fighters, too. I have every anticipation that we will have the opportunity to be in the national spotlight, and come out on top.
The MAC’s current standings make it difficult to identify who we could go up against at this point. They will hold their championship game on Dec. 1, identifying the team that’s coming our way. (Mental note- pay attention to the MAC! www.MAC-Sports.com)
So, let’s look at the next 2 weeks for our Hoosiers. Northwestern, as Mike mentioned in an earlier post, is fighting for their chance to be bowl eligible. Don’t forget, we also have to play this game in their house. They beat us the last time we played, in 2004, in a huge double overtime game. This is going to be a very driven team, and will be tougher to beat than we may initially anticipate. If we continue to turn over the ball as we have the last few weeks, we WILL lose this game. Protect our QB, protect the ball, stop their passing game, and we can tie this up here and now. Note that NW is 10th in the nation with their passing game, averaging over 300 passing yards per game. (Just ahead of own 13th ranked air offense. I’d love to see some strong defensive plays – picks and sacks would make Megan a happy girl!)
Then we work to bring home the Bucket. This game is always a challenge for us, strictly as a function of the emotion and passion a good rivalry game brings. I want to see how their weekend goes with Michigan State, and get through our own battle with Northwestern before I even begin to evaluate the Bucket game, but I want the Bucket game more than pretty well anything. Defeating Purdue will rank right up there with playing 13 for me. It’s “The Other School”, for crying out loud!
At any rate, that’s probably good for now, but I’d be interested in hearing from some of you as to your thoughts on A) Which Bowl and B) Who we’ll face! Comment us and we’ll take a look at your insights!