Bowl Watch: Northern Illinois win gives MAC the nation's best bowl record
This file will be updated regularly with previews of upcoming bowls and results of recently played games.
Which conference had the best bowl season?
It’s tough to argue against the Southeastern Conference, which won five games and has two teams - LSU and Alabama - playing in tonight’s BCS Championship Game (8:30 p.m., ESPN).
Going strictly by records, however, the winners are the Mid-American Conference and Conference USA.
Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish looks for a receiver against Arkansas State in the first half of the Go Daddy.com Bowl.
AP Photo
Northern Illinois’ 38-20 win over Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on Sunday night gave the MAC a 4-1 bowl record, tying it with C-USA for the season’s best winning percentage.
The MAC champion Huskies trailed 13-0 late in the first quarter, but scored 31 unanswered points on the way to their ninth straight victory. It was the third time this season Northern Illinois (11-3) rallied from a double-digit deficit to win.
Arkansas State (10-3) had its nine-game winning streak broken. The Sun Belt champions couldn't overcome five turnovers -- including three interceptions thrown by Ryan Aplin.
NIU's Chandler Harnish completed 18 of 36 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns in his final college game. Martel Moore caught eight passes for 224 yards, the third-most in school history.
Other MAC teams with bowl wins this season include: Temple 37-15 over Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl, Ohio 24-23 over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and Toledo 42-41 over Air Force in the Military Bowl. Western Michigan lost to Purdue in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
The complete conference record breakdown:
Mid-American: 4-1 (.800)
Conference USA: 4-1 (.800)
Big 12: 6-2 (.750)
Southeastern: 5-2 (.714)*
Big East: 3-2 (.600)
Independent: 1-1 (.500)
Big Ten: 4-6 (.400)
Mountain West: 2-3 (.400)
Sun Belt: 1-2 (.333)
Pac-12: 2-5 (.286)
Atlantic Coast: 2-6 (.250)
Western Athletic: 0-3 (.000)
* SEC will be 6-3 (.667) after the BCS Championship Game.
The Associated Press contributed to the game story.
SUNDAY'S RESULT
GoDaddy.com Bowl
Arkansas State (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (10-3)
Story | Boxscore
MONDAY'S GAME
BCS National Championship
At New Orleans
LSU (13-0) vs. Alabama (11-1)
8:30 p.m., ESPN
AP prediction: LSU, 20-16
New Orleans Times-Picayune coverage
Preview | Matchup
RESULTS
SATURDAY, DEC. 17
New Mexico Bowl
Temple 37, Wyoming 15
Story | Boxscore
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Ohio 24, Utah State 23
Story | Boxscore
New Orleans Bowl
Louisiana-Lafayette 32, San Diego State 30
Story | Boxscore
TUESDAY, DEC. 20
Beef 'O'Brady's Bowl
Marshall 20, Florida International 10
Story | Boxscore
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21
Poinsettia Bowl
TCU 31, Louisiana Tech 34
Story | Boxscore
THURSDAY, DEC. 22
MAACO Bowl
Boise State 56, Arizona State 24
Story | Boxscore
SATURDAY, DEC. 24
Hawaii Bowl
Southern Mississippi 24, Nevada 17
Story | Boxscore
MONDAY, DEC. 26
Independence Bowl
Missouri 41, North Carolina 24
Story | Boxscore
TUESDAY, DEC. 27
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
Purdue 37, Western Michigan 32
Story | Boxscore
Belk Bowl
North Carolina State 31, Louisville 24
Story | Boxscore
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 28
Military Bowl
Toledo 42, Air Force 41
Story | Boxscore
Holiday Bowl
Texas 21, California 10
Story | Boxscore
THURSDAY, DEC. 29
Champs Sports Bowl
Florida State 18, Notre Dame 14
Story | Boxscore
Alamo Bowl
Baylor 67, Washington 56
Story | Boxscore
FRIDAY, DEC. 30
Armed Forces Bowl
BYU 24, Tulsa 21
Story | Boxscore
Pinstripe Bowl
Rutgers 27, Iowa State 13
Story | Boxscore
Music City Bowl
Mississippi State 23, Wake Forest 17
Story | Boxscore
Insight Bowl
Oklahoma 31, Iowa 14
Story | Boxscore
SATURDAY, DEC. 31
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Texas A&M 33, Northwestern 22
Story | Boxscore
Sun Bowl
Utah 30, Georgia Tech 27 (OT)
Story | Boxscore
Liberty Bowl
Cincinnati 31, Vanderbilt 24
Story | Boxscore
Fight Hunger Bowl
Illinois 20, UCLA 14
Story | Boxscore
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Auburn 43, Virginia 24
Story | Boxscore
MONDAY, JAN. 2
TicketCity Bowl
Houston 30, Penn State 14
Story | Boxscore
Capital One Bowl
South Carolina 30, Nebraska 13
Story | Boxscore
Outback Bowl
Michigan State 33, Georgia 30 (3 OT)
Story | Boxscore
Gator Bowl
Florida 24, Ohio State 17
Story | Boxscore
Rose Bowl
Oregon 45, Wisconsin 38
Story | Boxscore
Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma 41, Stanford 38 (OT)
Story | Boxscore
TUESDAY, JAN. 3
Sugar Bowl
Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20 (OT)
AnnArbor.com coverage | Boxscore
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4
Orange Bowl
West Virginia 70, Clemson 33
Story | Boxscore
FRIDAY, JAN. 6
Cotton Bowl
Arkansas 29, Kansas State 16
Story | Boxscore
SATURDAY, JAN. 7
Comments
knotch
Mon, Jan 9, 2012 : 1:07 p.m.
I get it....this is percentage....I see a 6-2. More game played....Alas, this is winning Percentage.... SEC will drop....got'cha
D21
Fri, Dec 30, 2011 : 5:03 p.m.
I have a big question for University of Washington Huskies. Did RR coach your team last night? :) GEAUX BLUE!
RudeJude
Fri, Dec 30, 2011 : 1:58 p.m.
Speaking of Notre Dame, did you hear the news about Rudy? He may be going to jail for stock fraud. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/17/us-sec-rudy-idUSTRE7BF1QQ20111217" rel='nofollow'>http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/17/us-sec-rudy-idUSTRE7BF1QQ20111217</a> (From the article) "The company sold modest amounts of the sports drink "Rudy" with the tagline "Dream Big! Never Quit!", but the company was primarily a pump-and-dump stock scheme that created more than $11 million in illicit profits, the SEC said."
D21
Fri, Dec 30, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.
What a waste!
MRunner73
Fri, Dec 30, 2011 : 11:46 a.m.
Notre Dame: The real problem is Brian Kelly. I watched most of this game because Michigan will play at ND in 2012. The sneak previews showed me one thing: Chaos; by Kelly switching QBs. Kind of reminded me of what Al Borges did for a while with Denard and Devin-didn't work too well. ND has a pathetic offense and with Micheal Floyd graduating, they will not be as potent. The FSU defense showed me what the Michigan defense will be able to do to slow down the ND offense. ND might have a decent defense but they showed that they could not handle Denard these past two years. Advantage: Michigan. BYU-Wash: Like a pin ball game. How do run 159 plays, 1397 yards in one 60 minute game? Fun and ugly sums it up. Not what I want to see ever again at Michigan.
MRunner73
Fri, Dec 30, 2011 : 5:31 p.m.
Sorry, Scott but the final score says it all. ND scored their first TD on defense. ND only scored 7 on offense. Yes, it was very poor judgement on Rees to throw a pick in the end-zone on their first and real scoring opportunity. Brian Kelly just didn't react with the same calmness as Brady Hoke has done in those situations. I also did not see any real adjustments on offense ND made to deliver the points on the scoreboard they needed to in order win. I'd give Brian Kelly another year to see if he trends upward but at this point; I don't see ND ever winning more than 8 games next year, no matter what schedule they are playing, which should be a near repeat of 2011. FSU was basically equally unimpressive on offense. They had one excuse: playing a lot of freshman.
scott
Fri, Dec 30, 2011 : 2:29 p.m.
Crazy analysis on ND, I can't see how anyone can blame anything but turnovers. They move the ball really well, and against an amazing defense. Rees just throws the ball away when they get in the redzone. Borges did nothing of the sort for what it's worth....
Doug
Sun, Dec 18, 2011 : 3:44 p.m.
Feather in the cap for the MAC. Now let's get the Hurons ( or whatever they're called now ) on board and keep the "bowl" rolling.
Cash
Sat, Dec 17, 2011 : 11:43 a.m.
Watch the games, but please grab a bag of Better Made chips.....Michigan made! :-)