The BGSU football team’s stint in the West division of the Mid-American Conference lasted just three seasons.
During that time, the Falcons enjoyed their most success in nearly a decade while treating fans to big-time match-ups with division rivals Northern Illinois and Toledo on a yearly basis. The three teams were annually involved in a battle royale for the division crown. The Falcons were able to beat both teams at home in 2003 to capture the title, while the Rockets and Huskies shared the honor in 2002 and 2004, defeating the visiting Falcons, who ultimately finished third.
BGSU’s match-ups against NIU and UT garnered national attention the past two seasons as ESPN2 covered all four games and College Gameday made its first-ever visit to a MAC school for the BGSU-NIU showdown in 2003 at Doyt Perry Stadium. It was a game that marked the beginning of a new MAC rivalry one that will now be seen less frequently as the Falcons get ready to open another chapter in their storied history.
Their new role is to play ‘filler’ in the depleted MAC East, which lost both Central Florida and Marshall to Conference USA.
Gone may be the annual game with NIU, but the Falcons can look forward to reacquainting themselves with old MAC rivals Kent State, Miami and Ohio University as BGSU will join the East for the second time after being an original member for the first five seasons since the MAC split into two divisions before the 1997 season. The annual battle of I-75 has also been saved as Toledo remains a fixture this season as the Rockets and Falcons face off in the final game of their schedules.
It’s a move BGSU coach Gregg Brandon says won’t really change the way his team plays and prepares for each season.
‘We’ve enjoyed competing as a member of the West division, but where we are is not really concern of mine,’ he said. ‘Since we have been nationally ranked the last three years, we have been fortunate to play in front of several spirited crowds on the road in this league. I don’t see that changing much because of this move, so it won’t get any easier than it’s been the last three seasons.’
Two of those road crowds will be Akron and Kent State, which are located in Falcon-friendly Northeast Ohio. The region has been a good recruiting ground for Brandon and has had a large Falcon fan base for years as many alumni, as well as current students, reside in the greater-Cleveland area.
‘I like the fact that we are going to get to play every year in Northeast Ohio, which is a strong area for us in recruiting and an area where we have a lot of fan support,’ Brandon said. ‘We are a fun team to watch and this will give us the opportunity to let those people see that.’
The Anniversary Award has been given out to the winner of the BGSU-Kent State game since 1985 and the people of Northeast Ohio will be hoping the move can help rekindle an old MAC rivalry dating back to 1920.
Miami and Ohio University have also been conference rivals in the past for the Falcons, dating back to the inception of the conference. Though OU has struggled of late, the Falcon-RedHawk rivalry is still very much alive after the teams met in the 2003 MAC championship game and the RedHawks were picked to finish second behind BGSU in the East pre-season poll.
A move east also sets up the possibility for a BGSU-Toledo match-up occurring twice in the matter of a week as the MAC Championship game in Detroit is scheduled just nine days after the annual game at Doyt Perry Stadium. This could open up a new chapter in what many consider to be the MAC’s equivalent to the game between Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten.
Could fans see BGSU’s Omar Jacobs and UT’s Bruce Gradkowski air it out in both an outdoor and indoor setting?
Well, that may well be the case, as well as the possibility of getting to see BGSU try to slow down NIU’s Garrett Wolfe twice in the same season.
But for the players, as much as the possibilities are endless for this upcoming season, they know it’s business as usual.
‘Every game counts toward our goal,’ BGSU running back P.J. Pope said. ‘We have to go out there every game and play it like it is the big game no matter if we are in the East or the West. We have to approach every game as if it is the same.’
With BGSU moving to the East, the West will now consists of Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, NIU, Toledo and Western Michigan. The East Division will include Akron, BGSU, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami and OU.
