I thought the 7 1/2 point line was an "insult" to the great gridiron tradition at Illinois?

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I agree with you.

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You know me like that.

never bet on Ron Zook.

Found out the hard way when I took Illinois and the points in the Rose Bowl a couple years back.

My favorite part of the broadcast was when they put up the stats comparing NIU and UofI's stats in the past 8 years or so, highlighting NIU's 5 wins versus out-of-conference BCS team versus only 3 for Illinois.

Interesting perspective as they seem to discount that Illinois actually plays in a BCS Conference and Illinois' other 27 wins or whatever it was in the Big Ten puts the actual BCS victory tally at about 30 to 5 in Illinois favor. But, that's probably just my Orange-tinted glasses not enjoying an apples to bricks comparison.

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You know me like that.

Correct.

Which change can be made so that you can approve future comparisons?

A). NIU should immediately join a BCS conference, that way conference play can be compared (hmmmmm, probably not gonna happen - don't see any BCS conference sharing their free money with a directional school).
B). Illinois can schedule more BCS non-conference games in order to be taken seriously and possibly win more BCS games out of conference (more realistic).

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No matter the kind of glasses you're wearing, Ron Zook is still a boob.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

There can be no comparison. That's the point and the point I tried to make last year. Illinois plays 1 non-conference BCS game per year (when they don't go to the Rose Bowl or the Sugar Bowl) like most BCS teams do. I'm guessing NIU plays 2 per year on average.

Illinois is taken seriously, when they are good, because they play in the Big Ten. They don't need to schedule out of conference to be taken seriously.

Right now, or recently, when Illinois is below average, NIU can be comptetitive in a game with them. But, at no point in NIU's history, have they been good enough to win the Big Ten conference like Illinois has (twice) during the period that they were comparing them.

So, no, I see no point in comparing the programs because they are not comparable.

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You know me like that.

NIU plays three this year.

So the comparison can't just be exactly what they presented: a comparison of the non-conference results in recent years?

I also don't believe that most BCS teams only play one BCS non-conference games per year either. Just off the top of my head - USC, Washington, Iowa, Michigan and Alabama have played more than one in the last few weeks.

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Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure that Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Texas, and Florida all played 1 this year.

But that doesn't even matter.

The programs are just different levels of programs no matter if people want to pretend that they are or not. It's a great story that NIU has solid teams and I have nothing against them but they just aren't the same type of program.

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You know me like that.

Alabama = Duke and Penn State
Michigan = ND and Connecticut
Florida = South Florida and Florida State

edit: just to add, yes I agree - NIU and a Big Ten school are on a diffferent level. But that doesn't mean a comparison of non-conference records is void as a result. In fact, it's the only way you can compare the two.

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Michigan and Florida get a push on those to non-conference matchups.

Bama? Duke sucks and Penn State is over-rated.

But Bama's in the SEC, so it doesn't matter.

Since Illinois is the school being discussed, we'll leave the "quality factor" within the BCS schools out of the discussion.

Simply put:
BCS school = BCS school

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OK. Then mention how many games each team played then and let's see what we are talking about.

You said NIU played 3 this year. I'll bet Illinois has never played 3 in one year ever. That's all I ask.

I'm not going to look it up. Maybe I'm wrong.

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You know me like that.

But that's exactly what I'm saying: Illinois should schedule better. It was a simple 10 second graphic comparing the non-conference results of both schools. If they would have included the fact that Illinois has beaten twice as many 1-AA schools in the same time frame, would that make you feel better about the comparison? I'm hoping not. The schedules are what they are - by the choice of the schools.

If you are saying that in most years, NIU and Illinois only schedule 1 BCS team, then that supports the graphic they showed even more. NIU has more wins. You are right: NIU plays 3 this year, which is a high number. But they've won zero so far, so that doesn't help the record.

In my "perfect world" - no BCS team should ever play a 1-AA school. I don't care of they schedule all of the BCS schools like Duke, Iowa State and most of the Big East schools. That's fine - they are still "quality competition" by most standards.

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Schedule better? What are you talking about? Illinois plays, at minimum, 9 BCS schools every year.

I was just saying why are they differentiating non-conference BCS wins with all-BCS wins. They were doing it to try to make NIU look good in comparison. I disagree with the logic.

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You know me like that.

There are plenty of ways you can compare them. You can compare winning percentage vs. that conference opponent which I can assure you that Illinois would have a higher winning percentage against Big Ten opponents than any mac school over the past 10 years. You can compare Illinois vs. all BCS schools. This number is much more accurate for Illinois with a higher number of games played. You could even compare the winning percentage of Illinois vs. the MAC which is likely above 80%. Percentages are your friend in this. Total wins is a stat that is too easily skewed.

I don't know this for a fact, but I would guess that if you take the conference record over the past 10 years of NIU, and the record of Illinois vs. mac teams, that Illinois would have a much higher winning percentage. I know this is true for the record against Big Ten opponents(only one for NIU). Now, if you were to take "total wins" NIU would clearly be stronger against the mac and Illinois would clearly be stronger vs. the Big Ten. That shows how total wins is a very poor way to judge it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think it is ironic to criticize Illinois for not "scheduling better" when I thought the argument was always that the BCS-types avoided the NIUs of the world because the NIUs were the dangerous types that BCS teams wanted no part of while padding their schedule with teams like Duke and Vanderbilt.

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You know me like that.

Who said that? I never was trying to suggest that BCS teams are "afraid" to schedule NIU.

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I often get you confused with NIU Huskie. I wish all his posts weren't deleted.

In any case, I've heard the argument from mid-major football programs before. I'm doing my best Bernstein strawman impersonation.

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You know me like that.

I see what you did there.

Understandable. I cherish NIU_Huskie's NASCAR thoughts.

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Your out-of-conference BCS record on the first Saturdays in months starting with the letter "S" is on par with NIU's.

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You know me like that.

Your Big 10 record this decade in years that don't end with "7" is on par with Indiana's.

Play nice.... some of those CMU tix are courtesy of a donation from Dr. Ken.

I don't want those. I want Agg Sox fan Bob's.

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Yes, Pip, dear boy, I've made a gentleman on you! It's me wot has
done it! I swore that time, sure as ever I earned a guinea, that
guinea should go to you. I swore arterwards, sure as ever I
spec'lated and got rich, you should get rich. I lived rough, that
you should live smooth; I worked hard, that you should be above
work. What odds, dear boy? Do I tell it, fur you to feel a
obligation? Not a bit. I tell it, fur you to know as that there
hunted dunghill dog wot you kep life in, got his head so high that
he could make a gentleman - and, Pip, you're him!

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You know me like that.

I think they did what they were supposed to do. MSU is beatable. So is PSU. Win one and you got a shot to go to Detroit!

Nobody is a big fan of Great Expectations, I see.

READ A BOOK EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE!!!!

So, after watching both Illinois and Ohio State, I can say confidently that Illinois will win this game and quite handily I might add.

Illinois' potent running attack (18th ranked nationally) will be too much for Ohio State to handle, combined with turnover-prone Terrelle Pryor shooting themselves in the foot.

I see the game -
Illinois 30
OSU 17

Illinois has always played OSU tough, hell even Jon Beutjer was a bad call away from beating the No.2 ranked Buckeyes.

The fan base is energized. A new day in Illinois football history will be dawning on October 2.

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You know me like that.

I googled it... didn't get much readin' and writin' and numbers learnin' up in Evanston.

FWIW, Mikel is living up to expectations. Wish we had a running game. Unfortunately our QB is our best ground game option.

Doc following up his quote of Great Expectations with his own sports themed masterpiece; Monumental Delusions

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer