Eastern Michigan does not have a history of winning football games.
It holds a record of 138-321-7 from 1975 to the present.
The Eagles have not won more than two games in a season since 2011. They have not been bowl eligible since 1995, and have only been to one bowl game, the 1987 California Bowl, which they won over San Jose State.
Eastern is showing some progress this season, however.
More of the same was expected this season, as they were picked to finish last in the Mid-American Conference.
This year, however, Eastern has started 4-2.
If the Eagles win two more games this year, they will become bowl eligible for the first time in 11 years. The problem, though, is winning those two more games.
“We’re 4-2, but we could be 4-8,” coach Eastern Chris Creighton said.
But their history of being unsuccessful led some to question if the university should support a football team.
The faculty union and student government had requested that the university drop its Division I football team either to Division II or Division III level. They suggested that Eastern Michigan should join the Horizon League for all other sports, but drop its football program out of Division I all together.
One reason for the request to drop the Division I program was low attendance. The game Saturday against Toledo drew the 10th largest crowd in Rynearson Stadium history, but the largest attendance number in stadium history was still not a sellout.
“Culturally and geographically, EMU football will simply never succeed from an attendance and financial standpoint,” EMU faculty member Howard Bunsis said in a presentation to the Board of Regents in April, a statement originally reported by the Detroit Free Press.
Athletic spending at EMU had risen 65 percent from 2005 to 2015, but revenue declined 30 percent in that same time span.
Eastern Michigan is a lot better than in years past, outscoring opponents so far 194-178, as opposed to being outscored 505-305 in 2015.
“We’re good enough that if we play really well, we can win games,” Creighton said.
Is Eastern Michigan good enough to win those last two games to reach bowl eligibility and potentially go to its first bowl game in 29 years? Will the university continue to support the football program at the Division I level, or will they drop down to a lower level?
