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Akron (6-5, 5-3 Mid American) vs. Northern Illinois (7-4, 6-2 Mid American)

MAC Championship

Thursday, December 1st at 8:00 PM

TV: ESPN

Stadium: Ford Field, Detroit Michigan (Astroplay)

Line: Northern Illinois -13.5

September 1^st doesn’t really seem that long ago. That was the day of the first Thursday night play of the week for this 2005 season. Of course, now we’re sitting here on December 1^st and the entire college regular season is just about wrapped up. Time certainly does fly.

As you may remember, on that first Thursday in September we focused on Eastern Michigan at Cincinnati. That night the Eagles gave Cincy all they could handle, easily cashing a winner as 12-point dog and signaling to the rest of the college football world that even the cellar dwellers from the MAC could hang with teams from BCS conferences.

Who would have guessed at that time what a wild and wacky MAC season it would be. Furthermore, who could have predicted that Akron and Northern Illinois would land in the MAC Championship game???

That’s right. No Toledo, no Bowling Green and no Miami of Ohio this year in Detroit – and don’t forget Marshall is now part on Conference USA. I think it’s safe to say that Huskies and the Zips, especially the Zips, are surprise entrants in this year’s title game.

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It took quite a series for events for those two teams to land in this game. When both the East and West divisions of the MAC ended in ties (a 3-way in the East), the folks at the league office had to start thumbing through the manuals, no doubt doing some heavy reading in the “Conference Championship Tiebreakers” section.

When all the dust settled, Akron and Northern Illinois were headed to Ford Field based on having a better winning percentage against inter-division opponents this year.

For those out there that are possibly worried we won’t see an interesting game from these two title game newbie’s, (neither program has ever played in the MAC title game) rest assured if its anything like their September 24^th slugfest, we are in for something special.

On that Saturday in late September, the Zips fell behind by two touchdowns early only to score 28 unanswered to take the lead at half. That lead ballooned to 21 in the 4^th quarter before the Huskies did some serious rallying to send the game into overtime. In OT, the Zips delighted the home crowd by intercepting Northern Illinois QB Phil Horvath and then punching it into the endzone on offense to seal the victory.

Like I said, we get a repeat performance of that and you’ll get no one asking for a refund. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that Ford Field, home of the NFL’s Detroit Lions, has a chance to see a whole lot more exciting football this Thursday than has been played there in quite a while!

Keep an eye open in this one for two very talented backs in Northern Illinois tailback Garrett Wolfe and Akron’s senior running back Brett Biggs. Those two will likely have a large say in the outcome of this championship game although a pair of stout defenses will of course play a huge role as well.

Thanks again for another great Thursday season on VegasInsider.com and I hope everyone will join me for what should be a very exciting bowl season.

Best of luck and happy holidays!

Christian Alexander