A variety of circumstances might have Ohio seeing — and playing on — a lot of blue when the Bobcats go bowling.
With a 9-3 regular season and a Mid-American Conference East Division title, Ohio is a strong candidate for a bowl bid to one of the three games with which the MAC has an agreement. Those contests are the GoDaddy.com Bowl (Jan. 8; Mobile, Ala.), the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (Dec. 27; Detroit, Mich.) and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 17; Boise, Idaho).
Each bowl has representatives tasked with inviting schools that create the best matchup in terms of on-field performance and fan attendance. GoDaddy.com gets the first selection of MAC schools, followed by the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and then the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
It might seem that committees would select teams according to their conference finish, but sometimes a single player or fanbase can override the regular season to some extent. If two teams have similar chances to compete well against the same opponent, the team closer to the host site is more likely to be invited.
Northern Illinois (9-3, 7-1 MAC) and Ohio (9-3, 6-2) are the only schools in the conference with a chance to hit double digits in the win column this season. They will face off Friday night in the MAC championship game at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
Northern Illinois is considered a slight favorite in the game, and most college football analysts have the Huskies facing Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. The Red Wolves have already accepted a bid to the game.
If Ohio loses, a trip to Boise seems more likely. Toledo (8-4, 7-1 MAC) has an explosive offense that might be attractive to the Little Caesars representatives, and the team almost upset Ohio State earlier this season. Though a rematch between the Rockets and Buckeyes might be a good game, Ohio State is expected to play in the Gator Bowl against Urban Meyer's former team, Florida.
Of the top three schools in the MAC, Toledo is by far the closest to Detroit and likely would bring the most fans to the Motor City. Toledo is home to many Lions, Tigers and Red Wings fans, and the city's minor-league baseball and hockey teams have ties to the Detroit franchises.
That would leave the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl berth for the Bobcats. Temple, Western Michigan and Ball State are other bowl candidates, but their best shots at a berth would be if other conferences cannot fill their bowl obligations.
Because no MAC schools are even remotely close to Boise, geography might play less of a role in the bowl representatives' selection of a school. Toledo might be the best fit for this game as well, but Little Caesars has the first pick. Ohio might find itself as the MAC team playing on the blue turf at Bronco Stadium.
Of course, that might change if the Bobcats win. A GoDaddy.com invite seems logical, but Ohio could find itself playing in either of the other two bowl games if Northern Illinois quarterback Chadler Harnish has an outstanding game and the Huskies lose by a small margin.
The Bobcats will be playing for the a MAC championship, but a loss could bump the team to third on the bowl game food chain. Ohio has not won a bowl game or conference championship in seven postseason contests.
ms229908@ohiou.edu
