Visions of Cotton Bowl dance in Broncos’ heads
Detroit — The Cotton Bowl was among several bowls scheduled to have representatives in attendance for Friday night’s Mid-American Conference championship game at Ford Field.
With a win, Western Michigan would improve to 13-0 and be in prime position to earn the “Group of Five” bid when the final College Football Playoff rankings come out Sunday.
MAC officials have become increasingly convinced that the Broncos would get the bid over a Navy team that is 9-2 entering its American Athletic Conference championship game against Temple on Saturday.
It wouldn’t just be a boon for a Broncos program that has become a national darling. It would be a financial windfall for the MAC.
MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said the conference could earn $6 million with a bid in the Jan. 2 game in Arlington, Texas.
About half that money, Steinbrecher said, would be used to pay for travel costs for the team and the band, hotel rooms, tickets and meals. The other half would go into the conference general fund for distribution among the 12 member schools.
“Probably looking at $3 million,” said Steinbrecher, “and we’ll cover that.”
While the Cotton Bowl was to have representatives at the MAC title game, its board has no say in who plays in the game. That’s up to the CFP committee, which chooses the four playoff opponents and all participants in New Year’s Six bowls.
The highest-rated conference champion from the “Group of Five” conferences, or non-Power Five, gets the cotton Bowl bid. An announcement could be delayed until Dec. 10, when Navy plays Army in its regular-season finale, if the CFP committee deems Western Michigan and Navy too close this Sunday.
Other bowl reps scheduled to be at Friday’s game included officials from the Camellia Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl and the Dollar General Bowl, as well as the Fiesta Bowl and the Bahamas Bowl, which already has filled its Dec. 23 bill with Eastern Michigan (7-5) and Old Dominion (92).
Stay the course
Steinbrecher was particularly impressed with Eastern Michigan’s turnaround this season — from 1-11 last year to 7-5 and a bowl bid this year, coach Chris Creighton’s third.
“What a great story that is,” Steinbrecher said. “It’s good to see that occurring. They’ve made very good hires on the coaching staff, they’ve recruited well, they’ve trained well.”
EMU’s first winning season since 1995 and first bowl since 1987 came after a tumultuous offseason when HBO and ESPN both spotlighted the athletic department’s financial woes, amid calls for the school to drop the football program or move it to Division II.
Steinbrecher said he feels EMU got unfairly picked on. It’s far from the only athletic program that’s heavily subsidized by student tuition dollars.
“Well, yeah,” Steinbrecher said, when asked if the criticism was unfair. “Because you know what’s going on internally, and you see some of the gears grinding, I guess. I had confidence in (athletic director) Heather Lyke and the team she’s assembling there and what she’s doing.”
Steinbrecher said a scenario that included EMU leaving the MAC was never discussed. EMU football averaged 4,987 fans a home game in 2015, last in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Falcon update
Former four-star running back Matt Falcon, taking a redshirt at Western Michigan, is recovering well from knee surgery he had just prior to his senior season at Southfield High, his father said.
Falcon originally committed to Michigan, but was told by head coach Jim Harbaugh last fall that while his scholarship would be honored, he would never play for the national power.
So Falcon moved on to Western Michigan. He attended the MAC title game against Ohio, cheering the Broncos on, but was not in uniform.
Darrin Falcon said his son is on schedule to be at 100 percent when WMU opens next season at Southern California on Sept. 2. WMU also plays Michigan State on Sept. 16.
“Matt’s doing well, his knee is fine,” Darrin Falcon said. “He practices with the team, you know, does drills, but no contact.
Western Michigan will lose quarterback Zach Terrell and receiver Corey Davis next season, but return premier running backs Jarvion Franklin, a junior, and Jamauri Bogan, a sophomore, along with Falcon.
WMU entered Friday ranked No. 14 nationally in total offense (500.4 yards).
Extra points
WMU quarterback Zach Terrell was a bit off the mark early Friday, but he still kept the ball away from defenders’ hands, as he’s done all season while racking up a 30-1 touchdown-interception ratio entering Friday’s game.
WMU coach P.J. Fleck on Thursday called that the most impressive stat in college football this season.
“And nobody talks about it,” Fleck said, “and I don’t know why.”
... The MAC has six bowl-eligible teams, including all three Michigan teams. The conference could get a seventh, if 5-7 Northern Illinois makes it. Northern Illinois needs some help, including 5-6 South Alabama and Louisiana Lafayette to lose upcoming games.
... WMU’s nation-leading turnover margin increased to plus-20 early Friday when Andre Turner recovered a fumble by Ohio freshman quarterback Quinton Maxwell on Ohio’s first drive, then on a WMU kickoff, Giovanni Ricci recovered a fumble by Ohio’s Kyle Belack.
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