Congratulations, Scott.  It takes an undeserved amount of faith in the Cats to envision this team beating BSU and Cant on the road. Emotionally, physically, mentally beaten at this point, and yet  who knows?  Could happen, I guess.  Not feelin' it today, though.

So where do we go from here? if we win one more does a 9-3 record keep us out of a bowl game? Do we still hold out hope for a conference championship chance? With such a disheartening loss I am finding it hard to get excited about the next two games. With that said I will continue to root for this team and watch them until the end. We may lose the fair weather/band wagon fans but at 8-2 this team still has the opportunity to do something special.

Because that is the team's initial goal. Has been since the end of last season. They still have not reached it, and incrementally, that comes before any bowl game or BCS discussion, including any Top 25 listing. Our first goal is win the smallest measure, well, second-smallest if you count the MAC East.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but this is how I think we can get into the MAC Championship game:

1) We have to win out
2) Kent needs to loose against Miami and against us, but they MUST beat Bowling Green
3) Bowling Green needs to loose to Kent and Buffalo
4) Miami needs to loose a game sometime before the season ends, but not against Kent State.

Pretty easy, right?

I'll drink that kool-aid.  It's the MAC.  Not counting on it, but anything can happen.

Not to sound blase, but we've been to three straight bowl games now, so it's not like we haven't been there already.  We haven't won the MAC since 1968 -- the year before I was a freshman.  It would be a plateau we haven't reached in my 43 years of association with Ohio University.  I'd to see it happen. 

I get there's a level of pride there, and all coaches say the same thing, but what's the reward for winning the conference?  I shirt that says you are champs?  A statistic that says you won it?  The current college football postseason provides no real reward for winning your conference for the non-AQ's.  In every other D-1 sport Ohio competes in winning the conference qualifies you into some type of postseason tournament.  In football it does not.  It gets you to Detroit or Mobile, and a hat that says you are champs.  That's it. 

My point is that end result of a good season is a bowl game either way, and by not winning you actually may get a better bowl and better opponent.  I'll also argue winning a bowl game is more significant in the current college football lanscape than winning the conference.  How many times this year have we heard the media mention winning our first bowl last year? Much more significant than winning the MACC and losing the bowl game. 

The MAC is having one of the best years in recent memory.  Some publications have us above the Big East and the ACC, CBS ahead  of the BIG TEN.  I know publications mean little, but this isn't the MAC we've been used to the past few years.