NCAA Football Mac

OXFORD, Ohio -- As is the custom around here, new buildings are smothered with red brick and molded into a Georgian style. Just like that, they stand as gracefully ancient as Miami University, celebrating its 200th year.

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Last Saturday, Northern Illinois went into West Lafayette, Ind., and beat Purdue convincingly. (Don't let the 28-21 final score fool you: NIU dominated that game from the second quarter on.) It was the Huskies' first victory over a Big Ten squad in 21 years and an important milestone for a program which was once among college football's very worst. Second-year head coach Jerry Kill has now taken his team to a bowl and knocked off one of the big boys. On the road, no less.

You'd hardly know it, however. Big wins by underdogs usually lead to an avalanche of media coverage, but NIU's historic victory sank without a trace. Why?

Because it's not news anymore when a MAC team beats a Big Ten squad.

ORLANDO -- The longest bowl trip in college football history closed Saturday night when Buffalo took the field.

The players ambled out to midfield. One of them needed a cane. The rest just needed hair dye to look like they did when the bowl bid arrived.

It was 1958, and the Bulls promptly rejected it. They could have come to Orlando, but their African-American players would not have been allowed on the field.

Fifty-one years later, they were given a standing ovation.

Brandon Crawford doesn't have any special plans for his 33rd birthday. It falls on a Sunday, an off day. He'll attend church, have a nice dinner, and probably listen to some music before he calls it an early night. Work cranks again on Monday.

And Crawford needs to be rested and refreshed for Ball State football practice.

Crawford, who likes to say he has taken a different path to get where he's going, is a senior defensive end for the Cardinals. The old-young fella can play, too. Crawford started all 14 games to earn this third letter last season, and the former Marine would love nothing more than to end his collegiate career with -- pardon the pun -- a bang.

Hey, it's always football season at FanHouse. Welcome to "Greetings From Flyover Country," a new weekly feature that will keep you up to date on Big Ten, Big 12, and MAC football. We'll also cover any Midwestern stories which have national repercussions, along with rounding up the week's arrests and suspensions.

We start this week with a decision bound to have people from San Ysidro to Bangor scratching their heads. Please give a moment's thought to the worst aspect of the last postseason. While the Big 12 championship was settled on the field, the Big 12 South championship wasn't. Instead, the conference gave the division title to Oklahoma, because they use the BCS rankings as a tiebreaker.

You have to hand it to Howard Schnellenberger -- he may be really, really old but he also is really, really good at winning bowl games. We're talking historic good. In defeating Central Michigan to capture the bailout-free Motor City Bowl, the wannabe Captain Kangaroo pushed his bowl record to 6-0.

No, it didn't come with a national championship as happened with Miami in the 1983 Orange Bowl, a 31-30 classic over Nebraska. However, it did come with the sweet feeling of restoration as this moustachioed legend guided awkward sounding football novice Florida Atlantic to its second bowl victory in four years of D-I play. For reference, Notre Dame's second most recent bowl victory prior to this week's triumph over Hawaii was in January 1993.

Last night's victory came about with a little good luck and some questionable decisions by CMU.

Miami of Ohio -- not to be confused with Miami Florida, which also has a black head coach in Randy Shannon -- has hired Notre Dame "offensive coordinator" Mike Haywood to run its program. He succeeds Shane Montgomery, who stepped down after a 2-10 season.

Color us a little confused if encouraged by this hire. Just today we wrote about Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis' continued decision to call plays for his offense instead of his, you know, offensive coordinator, who just so happened to be Haywood. It's very likely that speaks to Weis' own massive control demands, but it may also speak to Haywood's abilities. Regardless it's nice to see another black head coach among the ranks.

For a while, the prospects for minority head coaches in D-I-please-don't-call-it-the-Football-Bowl-Subdivision looked grim, as their numbers shrank when Washington canned Tyrone Willingham, Kansas State parted ways with Ron Prince, and Sylvester Croom stepped down at Mississippi State.

What has happened since has been a needed surge of black /minority coaching hires.

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the GMAC Bowl (Mobile, Alabama), which pits Tulsa against Ball State.

Overview/Matchup: If you're Ball State, you are most likely doing your best David Byrne impression and wondering, "How did I get here?" This is not my undefeated season. This is not my BCS bowl. And so on. After Nate Davis and crew coughed up a horrid MAC Championship loss to Buffalo, they crushed any argument they had to go anywhere but Mobile. And waiting for them, in the next to last bowl of the year, is Tulsa, who just lost to East Carolina in the championship game. Third place is the second loser!

Hotels: Already one of the finest hotels in Mobile, the Renaissance Riverview Plaza is almost finished with a US$60 million overhaul that will make it one of the finest hotels in southern Alabama. Bowl travelers will also be happy with the hotel's proximity to the stadium; Ladd-Peebles Stadium is just minutes away.

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the International Bowl (Toronto, Canada), which pits Buffalo against Connecticut

Overview/Matchup: Buffalo registered a completely inexplicable win over Ball State in the MAC Championship to find itself in the school's first bowl game. Ever. Given that Connecticut is actually a decent squad -- with a strong rushing attack -- things could get awkward if the Buffs don't play like they did against Ball State on national television this time around.

Hotels: One of Toronto's newer hotels, the InterContinental Toronto Centre offers stylish design, luxurious guest rooms and great starting rates for the quality. The Metropolitan Hotel Toronto offers excellent service and surprisingly posh accommodation for the rates. If you're looking for a midrange room and you can't get booked at the InterContinental, The Metropolitan is a more than worthy alternative. Budget travelers should stay at the Alexandra Hotel. Although accommodations are meager, it has good proximity to the stadium and rooms for less than US$100.

Restaurants: When it comes to dining, downtown Toronto is packed. There are more than 150 restaurants, clubs and bars within three blocks of the InterContinental, so you'll have plenty of options if you stay anywhere downtown. For a delicious steak try the Harbour Sixty Steakhouse. This family-owned restaurant is putting Canada on the international beefeater's map. Mandarin is a great mid-priced Chinese buffet with honey-garlic ribs that are out of this world. If you need a late night snack look no further than Fran's. Depending on what time you go you may see blue-haired seniors or green-haired punks, but this Toronto institution serves a good bacon-and-eggs breakfast around the clock.

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Independence Bowl (Shreveport, Louisiana), which pits Louisiana Tech against Northern Illinois.

Overview/Matchup: If the city of Shreveport was hoping for a tourism boost this bowl season, well ... they're not going to get it. Unless Northern Illinois can drag 40,000 or so fans to this game. Which they can't. The Huskies closed out the season with a 16-0 skunking at the hands of Navy, giving them a sweet 6-6 and barely eligible bowl record. Only poor showings by the East Division of the MAC allowed them to sneak into a bowl and they were rewarded with a WAC matchup against the Bulldogs thanks to Boise St.'s perfect record. Yes, it is a scorcher.

Hotels: Shreveport is an odd town. Since it's located on the north side of Louisiana, you would think that it would qualify as a fairly conservative city. While that's accurate to a certain extent, Shreveport's main tourism draw is gambling. The southern city boasts several casinos and a racetrack, Louisiana Downs.

The Remingtion Suite Hotel is the highest end option available to travelers to Shreveport, but remember that while the city is a preferable stop along I-20, the number of elite hotels is few and far between. For a football weekend though, that's no huge problem. In fact, it's secretly kind of a bonus. It also means you can "go big" here or simply keep your budget down for other nightlife options. The Holiday Inn Shreveport West offers reasonable rates and easy access to the airport and stadium. For travelers on a tight budget, we recommend the Tajun Inn. Accommodations are meager, but they offer a convenient location and rooms for less than US$100 per night.