Great achievement for NIU but beating Alabama in 2003 wasn’t the accomplishment it normally would be. Bama was terrible in Mike Shula’s first season.

@max_the_t

6 ай бұрын

yeah but they were still the underdog and not expected to win at all

@setalight7290

6 ай бұрын

Needs to return to that , shees saban era has me tired

@msk1170

6 ай бұрын

@@max_the_t there’s no doubt it was a huge win for them, especially at the time, but that Bama team only only won 4 games.

@msk1170

6 ай бұрын

@@setalight7290 hopefully no time soon. 😏

@setalight7290

6 ай бұрын

@@msk1170 hopefully soon mans old af and on a bum hip , i need him to go to Tahiti and not return

The MAC was such an entertaining conference in the early 2000's.

I'm a Huskies fan here in Freeport. Back then there weren't as many bowl games and most of the bowl games back then we're only open to members of Power 5conferences. Now there's so many bowl games everyone 6-6 or better plays in a bowl game because they have to fill up all of the spots.

NIU is one of the best programs in the MAC historically at beating Power 5 teams. A lot of MAC schools for whatever reason happen to just rollover to those teams but NIU always seems to get a win against them every season or two. The 2013 which was arguably better than the Orange Bowl team the year prior, beat Iowa and put up 55 on Purdue, both away.

@5roductionz1466

5 ай бұрын

Yeah 2013 team was better than 2012. The 2013 team just played bad in their last two games.

As an NIU student thank you for showcasing us on your channel. Recently NIU has been ok, but hasn't achieved the heights of college football since Jordan Lynch. #gohuskies

It's seasons like this that I always point to when people say there are too many bowl games. Back in the 90's, some good teams did not get bids, especially non big conference teams, bc they had most of the automatic bids.

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

As an Idaho alum, our bowl seasons in 2009 and 2016 were amazing. I wouldn't tried those years for anything and there are lots of schools with similar stories. It means something no matter how many folks want to kill bowl season.

@GR-bn3xj

6 ай бұрын

@@thetouchback I heard the narrative that there are too many bowls from fans of the big schools. But look at Memphis this year. They soundly beat a P5 team and now the whole narrative of their season changed. They went from not being able to win the games that mattered to winning 10 games and setting themselves up to probably be the favorite for the G5 playoff spot for next year. They wanted to be there and played like it. There are definitely some teams that act like they don't want to be there, but just because there are a few teams that just go through the motions, it doesn't mean it's true for everybody, especially non P5 teams. But the focus has been so much for the top 20 teams or so lately that it seems that's all anyone cares about in the media. I am old enough to remember that some really good teams without conference tie-ins were left out of bowl games, but all the big time Media people care it seems is making sure the power conferences get their teams in. I don't think they realize they need these fans to continue to get huge ratings and the big TV deals. Yes these big schools have a lot of fans but it's the huge TV numbers that are driving these contracts and getting them the money, and they need the fans of smaller schools to keep interested. Once they have no hope, they're going to quit watching. The 12 team playoff is a good start to continue that but hopefully they continue to have a spot for the group of five.

Stories like this are (one of) the reasons I'll never be on the "too many bowl games" train. A team like this would've gone crazy for the Famous Toastery or something like it.

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

As an Idaho alum, our bowl seasons in 2009 and 2016 were amazing. I wouldn't tried those years for anything and there are lots of schools with similar stories. It means something no matter how many folks want to kill bowl season

This was back when the Mac was tough.

As an FSU fan, I FEEL this snub. Funnily enough, FSU played NIU in a bowl the year before FSU won it's last national title.

People forget how bad the bowl bid process used to be.

From 2010 to 2014 NIU won 11 games three years and 12 games the other two.

You should do one on 1996 Wyoming Cowboys football. 10- 1 regular season, lost the MWC championship game to unbeaten BYU 28-25. No bowl game.

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

Both those teams have interesting stories. Not only did Wyoming get the short end of the stick, but BYU nerfed the scheduling rules into getting 15 games in 1996. I just may have to do a retrospective on both.

@winstonjames2583

5 ай бұрын

Bust it(music starts)

NIU wasn’t the first team to passed over after having a great season. Heck Louisiana Tech one of my favorite teams had a 9 and 2 record as an independent in 1997 and not a single invite. They also had two 8 win seasons before hand that they didn’t get bowl invite either if I’m not mistaken.

@Zay4Life

6 ай бұрын

To my knowledge when LTU was a 9 win team they turned down a bowl because they didn’t want to play ULM

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

That was 2012 Louisiana Tech. The 1997 LT team also beat a sanctions-hampered Alabama side and has an interesting story in its own right.

In the scoreboard in 2003 in alabama it had the former Pepsi logo that is bad and outrageous for them to serve Pepsi products back then.😢😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😭😭😭😭😭

A lot of times who goes to a bowl has nothing to do w/ record and has more to do w/ which teams have a travelling fan base that will spend money there.

And now theres so many bowl games they literally have to sometimes invite 5-7 teams. This NIU team, as well as 1997 Louisiana Tech got fucked by a bias as hell NCAA. Absolute bullshit!!!!!

It sucks that people don't take bowl games seriously these days because it's about the only time we get to see decent teams playing other decent non con teams because everyone schedules lesser division games for their non con games during the regular season to pad their stats.

That Bama team won 4 games and was under severe sanctions. Bama was also blown out by Hawaii that season.

Hey man! Love the videos. I’m looking to start a channel for fun, but can’t figure out best place to source images. Where do you get images and video that are cool to use and won’t get struck for copyright?

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

Shoot me an email (It's in the channel description) and I'll answer any questions I can.

The MAC is giving "Funblet" vibes.

Check out the 1983 East Carolina Pirates football team

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

Earnest Byner!

With the glut of bowl games today, NIU can be mediocre (as was the case this year) and STILL be invited to a bowl game (which they happened to win).

Don't give 2003 Bama a damn pass. Seriously!

And because of this team and other teams from the Group of 5, we have bowl games for anybody who gets to 6 wins. My hope is that now that there's a 12 team playoff, some of the lesser bowls will disappear. What really needs to happen, in my opinion, is that the Group of 5 become 1-AA and what is currently FCS becomes 1-AAA. This would reward only the good teams and not the mediocre teams from a super-conference that's on TV all the time boring us to tears.

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

On the contrary, the reason we have so many bowls is because the 6-6 P5 schools got super butt hurt a few years later about being passed over in favor of 8-3 & 7-5 G5 teams. The same mediocre teams from big conferences are now the ones wanting to squeeze out the G5 entirely. The issue with college football isn't the NIU's and Texas State's. It is the UCLA's and Nebraska's who are trying to snuff out competition in order to hide their own shortcomings.

@troybaxter

6 ай бұрын

​@@thetouchback This. I hate the P5 (now P4) elitism. You might be great conferences, but G5 can and have competed with you, and they deserve the opportunity to showcase that on the top stages. Thank God G5 gets an automatic bid in the 12 Team Playoff Structure. I'm just hoping they don't snub a really good second G5 team for a mediocre at best P5 team for a playoff slot in the future (sadly, you know they will).

Who is your favorite team of all time? College or pro.

Some important caveats here: - Alabama and Iowa State finished with 4 wins and 2 wins, respectively. Both were bad teams in 2003. - Bowl invites operated differently in 2003. Most bowls were under contracts with each conference and handed out invites accordingly. Cal, for example, received an Insight Bowl invite because they finished 3rd in the PAC-10. The Silicon Valley Classic (UCLA's Bowl) was *also* contractually obligated to pick a PAC-10 team. Northwestern played in the GMAC bowl....whose entire purpose was to put the MAC Champion against a Big 10 or Big East team. NIU finished 3rd in the MAC and needed an At-Large invite, which were very limited. - Worth noting that there were 28 FBS/D1 bowl games in 2003 while there are over 40 now.

@michaelwall3393

6 ай бұрын

Alabama was coming off a 10-3 season heading into that season and was ranked at the time and game was in Tampon Tide Shrimp Stadium and against Non-BCS schools that were not traditionally well known winning programs (such as a Houston or Louisville or Cincinnati or Utah or TCU or Fresno State or Southern Mississippi or even one of the service academies) Alabama had always had their way with those teams not a traditional power-buster like those in the parentheses. While NIU had a solid history and tradition of winning of their own; it was nowhere near what those other programs I listed that Alabama had problems with in the past beating. Also Mike Shula had several seasons with 10 or more wins. His career was too rollercoaster; much like his older brother at the professional level at Cincinnati Bengals with his rollercoaster career as head coach. In fact, Mike did better at Alabama than Dave did at the NFL with the Bengals. People who support Alabama in whatever capacity act as if Mike Shula was horrible. He was not. He was consistent with being inconsistent and once the bottom of the rollercoaster ride became 6-6 and not 4-8 or 5-7 but the top of the hill was at best 11-3/11-2/10-3/10-4 all good to great records for many other schools but at Alabama you gotta get some undefeated seasons and at least a few shots at a Natty like previous long term tenure coaches or exit stage for a coach who can, as in enter Nick Saban. This was not click bait. The creator of this video has it right. That year the video creator is talking about how NIU got screwed over by not being in a bowl game could have expounded even further than that based on Utah playing Pitt in a BCS game, when it probably should’ve been NIU vs Utah or vs WazzU or something like that. Instead NIU and Ohio-Miami and the entire MAC got jobbed for what it is worth. If I am not mistaken, in 2003 the SEC had an undefeated team in Auburn and no shot at nor share or split of National Championship and provocation of what would happen after that with all BCS and eventual Autonomy Conferences and Colleges until this year with this mess with FSU.

@CB018332

6 ай бұрын

@@michaelwall3393 Auburn's undefeated season was 2004. Pitt & Utah was also in the 2004 season. The reason Pitt was playing in a BCS bowl that year was due to them being Big East Champions. Utah was undefeated and ranked in the top 10. Also, none of this changes the fact that Alabama was a 4-8 team in 2003.

@MattBuild4

6 ай бұрын

@@michaelwall3393 Miami Ohio also went 13-0 in 2003 and didnt make a BCS bowl as G5 teams were inelligible until 2004. Same with Boise State going 12-0 in 2002, and Boise State still got snubbed again in 2004 because they werent the highest ranked undefeated G5 team.

@troybaxter

6 ай бұрын

​@@michaelwall3393politics going to politics. I hate the subjective nature of rankings and determining whether or not someone's record is valid. "Oh, you didn't play enough good teams. How dare you go undefeated/play great in a "scrub" conference that you HAVE to play in. You don't deserve a bowl game or shot at the National Championship because we THINK you aren't good enough, even though all indicators say otherwise." It's all crap that takes away from what happened on the field. I don't care if Bama, LSU, Florida, whoever did worse than expected. If you go out of your way to schedule tougher opponents, then you shouldn't be punished for those teams performing below par, especially when you consider this evaluation ALWAYS takes in these teams losses to the team in question as negatives for the team in question. For instance, FSU beat a 9-2 LSU team, not a 9-3 LSU team. 9-2 looks a lot better and harder than 9-3.

Just another reason not to play with any team that doesn't have the same level of NIL as the Blue Bloods... Blame the NIL... BLAME IT! BLAME IT!!

my backyard this team was great and why I hate the bcs and ncaa and everything related to college football and fsu was the latest victim so...thanks for covering Michael Turner yup

MAC was strong that year.

Cool story. Goes to show how vast the lore of college football is.

Great video. It always frustrates me seeing the disrespect the G5 conferences receive. They are FBS, regardless of how you spin it. They may be "lesser" (a very subjective metric) than you, but they can and have competed and beaten P4/5/6 conferences. As such, they should be taken far more seriously and receive a lot more respect than they have. Now, with the mpve to 2 Super Conferences, this elitism is only going to get worse. Oh, and for the record, my team/alma mater is in one of these Super Conferences. So no one call me a salty G5 team fan.

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

To your point, what annoys the most about college football today is that the sport has decided this is the moment in time where the have and have nots will be determined forever. We know college football is cyclical and that no program is good or bad forever. Instead of keeping things open, the sport's leaders want to stop access. I just don't understand how this is a good thing.

@troybaxter

6 ай бұрын

@@thetouchback it isn't. We are essentially going back to the old blue chip format where only 5 teams could get and hoard all the recruits. College basketball does it right. I get that it is different than football in its own right as you can cram more games in a week, but there are no have and have nots. Any team can rise to the top and become the best. And any team can drop off. Case in point, Villanova, UConn, Houston, and Gonzaga. They are all relatively new top teams. Conversely, teams like Indiana and Georgetown have fallen off and to an extent, lost their prestige. Meanwhile teams like Duke, Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas remain at the top. And given year, someone can emerge out there, but that is not the case in College Football because only the teams we want (Bama, Michigan, OSU, Georgia, OU, Texas, USC whenever they get their crap together) can make it year in and year out. FSU? Never. Washington? Lucky. Liberty, Tulane, JMU, App State, Boise State? Ha, in your wildest dreams. It's disheartening seeing how CFB is changing in the WRONG direction. The only thing I can hope for is that in 5 years, there will be enough infighting that these super conferences WILL collapse (SEC as it stands may be the only one that can hold its grown due to cultural similarities, but the ACC, B1G, and Big 12 *will* fracture).

I wonder how many National championships they will take back from Saban once they discover his cheating.

Dude. You look just like Hugh Freeze

They were screwed but, Alabama was dogshit that year and none of us fans deny that! It’s not like they knocked off a Nick Saban Alabama, Like Louisiana Monroe did.

THAT WAS A TERRIBLE ALABAMA TEAM CMON NOW STOP IT YES THEY BEAT BAMA 😂😂😂 BUT STOP IT DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND THAT ALABAMA TEAM

@troybaxter

6 ай бұрын

They still beat Bama. Regardless of how you shake it. They scheduled a historically tough team and beat a historically tough team in their house. NIU has no control over how poorly managed their opponents turn out

@troybaxter

6 ай бұрын

And something you have to consider, how much of Bama's struggles that year can be contributed to the blow of getting blown out by NIU?

See this is how normal data gets misinterpreted. Bama sucked fucking ass in 2003. That's the equivalent of them beating 2023 Mississippi state. Not that great of a win

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

You got to watch the video dude. This is explained.

@marshallpeters1437

6 ай бұрын

@thetouchback your title says "upset alabama" how? They were the better team it's literally just clickbait

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

@marshallpeters1437 Alabama was still ranked 21st at the time and a 14-point favorite. How is that not an upset?

@michaelwall3393

6 ай бұрын

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@marshallpeters1437it’s not click bait goofball. Alabama was coming off a 10-3 season heading into that season and was ranked at the time and game was in Tampon Tide Shrimp Stadium and against Non-BCS schools that were not traditionally well known winning programs (such as a Houston or Louisville or Cincinnati or Utah or TCU or Fresno State or Southern Mississippi or even one of the service academies) Alabama had always had their way with those teams not a traditional power-buster like those in the parentheses. While NIU had a solid history and tradition of winning of their own; it was nowhere near what those other programs I listed that Alabama had problems with in the past beating. Also Mike Shula had several seasons with 10 or more wins. His career was too rollercoaster; much like his older brother at the professional level at Cincinnati Bengals with his rollercoaster career as head coach. In fact, Mike did better at Alabama than Dave did at the NFL with the Bengals. People who support Alabama in whatever capacity act as if Mike Shula was horrible. He was not. He was consistent with being inconsistent and once the bottom of the rollercoaster ride became 6-6 and not 4-8 or 5-7 but the top of the hill was at best 11-3/11-2/10-3/10-4 all good to great records for many other schools but at Alabama you gotta get some undefeated seasons and at least a few shots at a Natty like previous long term tenure coaches or exit stage for a coach who can, as in enter Nick Saban. This was not click bait. The creator of this video has it right. That year the video creator is talking about how NIU got screwed over by not being in a bowl game could have expounded even further than that based on Utah playing Pitt in a BCS game, when it probably should’ve been NIU vs Utah or vs WazzU or something like that. Instead NIU and Ohio-Miami and the entire MAC got jobbed for what it is worth. If I am not mistaken, in 2003 the SEC had an undefeated team in Auburn and no shot at nor share or split of National Championship and provocation of what would happen after that with all BCS and eventual Autonomy Conferences and Colleges until this year with this mess with FSU.

@jimmartin2548

6 ай бұрын

@@michaelwall3393agreed

Who cares

@thetouchback

6 ай бұрын

The guy who clicked on the video AND left a comment?