Over the last 4 seasons, Ohio has gone 36-18.  Pretty remarkable, especially for us fans who endured the Dark Ages wrought by Cleve/Lichty/Knorr.

How does that 36-18 stack up against the other 123 FBS teams?  Four have matched those 36 wins and 16 have bettered them. 

Alabama and Boise State lead with 49 wins and Oregon is next with 43.

In the MAC?  NIU has 41 and no one else matches Ohio's 36.

I think a MAC Championship is really the milestone that we need to achieve to break through to the "next level"-meaning that what we have accomplished so far is very satisfying and great for our program but it is still missing something.  It sticks in my craw that programs like Buffalo and Akron, even Miami, who have not had much consistent success since Frank arrived, all have claimed MAC trophies in his tenure.

I take some comfort in looking at NIU who, after years of near misses in the MACC, broke down the door (alas at our expense but that's a different topic) in 2011 and ripped off back to back wins and a BCS game appearance. 

Look at what happened with our bowl games-we went from never winning one to winning them in back to back years.

All of this being said if we don't win the MACC next year (barring any sort of injury epidemic like we had this year) I am not too sure when we will given all of the talent coming back.

We should be equally matched or favored with all of our opponents next year (less Louisville, who I think caught lightning in a bottle in NOLA).  Hopefully the disappointments of this year will motivate this team to new heights!