It’s back to Detroit for Northern Illinois and Bowling Green as the MAC’s top two teams kick off conference championship weekend on Friday night from Ford Field. This marks the third straight year that these two teams will meet for the conference title.
Bowling Green vs. NIU, 2015 MAC Championship: Time, TV schedule, live stream and 3 things to know
Here we go again!
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Falcons (9-3) roll in at 7-1 against MAC opponents and are the champions of the conference's East Division under second-year head coach Dino Babers, who may be coaching one of his final games with BGSU. Babers has brought Art Briles' high-powered passing game to the Falcons and the result has been a 17-9 record and some 12,000 yards of total offense in two seasons. This year, quarterback Matt Johnson leads the nation in passing yards with 4,465 yards and is in the top 10 in every other major statistic: yards per attempt, touchdowns, completion percentage and passer rating.
The Huskies (8-4) went 6-2 in conference and picked up the head-to-head tiebreaker with Western Michigan to win the West Division. NIU fought through a 2-3 start to rattle off six wins in a row in league play, averaging 42 points per game during that stretch. Junior running back Joel Bouagnon led the conference with 1,212 yards and 18 touchdowns. On defense, the Huskies had the league's top pass defense rating and led the MAC with 19 interceptions.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Radio: Northern Illinois, Bowling Green
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Bowling Green is favored by 8 points.
Make friends: Whether you’re a fan of the Falcons or the Huskies, Hustle Belt has all the MAC chat you can handle.
Three big things to know
1. MACtion
The Falcons are an 8-point favorite and S&P+ gives them a 65 percent win probability. Still, the old adage of offense versus defense applies, and while the Bowling Green offense is dynamic, a secondary with sticky fingers could make this into the kind of back-and-forth affair that we’ve come to love on Tuesday nights.
2. Shawun Lurry
Northern Illinois' sophomore cornerback leads the MAC and is tied for the national lead with eight interceptions. He's also recorded 22 total passes defended on the year. Lurry is a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and he'll match up with BGSU's productive receiving corps of Gehrig Dieter, Roger Lewis, Ronnie Moore and Ryan Burbrink, who have combined for 273 catches, 3,709 receiving yards and 32 touchdowns.
3. Part Three
These two teams have exchanged blowouts in the last two MAC title games, with Bowling Green winning 47-27 in 2013 followed by a 51-17 win by NIU last year. Will the rubber match be a little more competitive? This is the MAC. Expect the unexpected.
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