I can’t even think of one. 25-point spread. Even Buffalo knocking off a 12-0 Ball St was more likely, IIRC.

CMU was a 34.5 underdog against WMU in 2000 and won.

I also wonder what the spread was for CMU-NIU in 2011?

Quote:CMU was a 34.5 underdog against WMU in 2000 and won.

Yeah, that game still pains me. WMU was ranked #26 in the nation. We were about to break into the Top 25, just as long as our trip to Mt P was kosher. Which, it wasn't. Turned out to be a disaster.

The WMU/CMU Game is talked about frequently on our boards.

Probably a bigger in-conference upset then yesterday, because it was so late into the schedule.

Wasn’t following in 2000 so had to look this up:

WMU - 8-1, 26th in polls, lost to #4 Wisconsin by 12, won at Iowa
CMU - 1-8, 35-pt underdog, lost 7 times by 16+

Wow. We could revive this topic in 2100 and that’ll still be the biggest MAC upset ever.

I'm a CMU alum but only 29, so I was not following then. But yeah, that is a wild one. I wonder where we can find past spreads.

Would've gone undefeated in the MAC regular without that loss and hosted Marshall at Waldo for the MACC instead of travelling to Huntington to lose by five. May have been the difference between staying home in December versus a Motor City Bowl against Cincy.

(10-13-2019 07:40 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Would've gone undefeated in the MAC regular without that loss and hosted Marshall at Waldo for the MACC instead of travelling to Huntington to lose by five. May have been the difference between staying home in December versus a Motor City Bowl against Cincy.

We wouldn't have hosted Marshall. The game was going to be in Huntington regardless of what happened. It was contracted to be there that year.

(10-13-2019 08:17 PM)Bronc33 Wrote:  

(10-13-2019 07:40 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Would've gone undefeated in the MAC regular without that loss and hosted Marshall at Waldo for the MACC instead of travelling to Huntington to lose by five. May have been the difference between staying home in December versus a Motor City Bowl against Cincy.

We wouldn't have hosted Marshall. The game was going to be in Huntington regardless of what happened. It was contracted to be there that year.

How was it handled before Ford Field? Each division switch who the host school is each year? I've always wondered why Miami didn't host in 2003...

(10-13-2019 09:17 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  How was it handled before Ford Field? Each division switch who the host school is each year? I've always wondered why Miami didn't host in 2003...

When Marshall began MAC play in 1997, they had a history of hosting the Division I-AA championship game. Seeing the crowds Marshall was drawing for that game, even when they weren't in it, the MAC decided to award the first few MAC title games to Marshall. As good as Marshall had been at I-AA, I think some felt this would probably turn out to be a neutral site for the MAC in most years.

Not so. Marshall won the East Division their first four years and proceeded to win four straight MAC titles on the Thundering Herd's home field. The fourth time, in 2000, on ABC, a 6-5 Marshall team upset 9-2 Western Michigan 19-14. It was not difficult to imagine that the Broncos probably would have won this game anywhere but in Huntington, W.Va.

So, starting in 2001, the MAC began playing the game at the home field of a division winner, rotating the divisions so that the West hosted in 2001 and in every odd year thereafter. The East was to host in even years.

And so it was that, in 2001, Toledo hosted the MAC championship at the Glass Bowl and won, upsetting 10-1, 20th-ranked Marshall.

And that's how Bowling Green ended up hosted the 2003 championship even though Miami was more highly ranked that amazing season. It was the West Division's turn to host that year.

That 2003 game in Bowling Green was the last MAC championship played outdoors. The game moved to Ford Field in 2004, where it has been ever since.

There was a time when I thought Fawcett Stadium in Canton would be a great neutral site for the MAC championship game. But when December rolls around in Middle America, there is a lot to be said for playing indoors. We've got a pretty good thing going right now in Detroit.

Oh, I dunno, I kinda vote for the “Fat Punter” win over BG as one hell of a upset. And yes, we have another fat punter for this weekend.

Quote:The fourth time, in 2000, on ABC, a 6-5 Marshall team upset 9-2 Western Michigan 19-14. It was not difficult to imagine that the Broncos probably would have won this game anywhere but in Huntington, W.Va.

We were still reeeling after being Massively upset by @CMU. Still pains me.

(10-14-2019 08:20 AM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(10-13-2019 09:17 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  How was it handled before Ford Field? Each division switch who the host school is each year? I've always wondered why Miami didn't host in 2003...

When Marshall began MAC play in 1997, they had a history of hosting the Division I-AA championship game. Seeing the crowds Marshall was drawing for that game, even when they weren't in it, the MAC decided to award the first few MAC title games to Marshall. As good as Marshall had been at I-AA, I think some felt this would probably turn out to be a neutral site for the MAC in most years.

Not so. Marshall won the East Division their first four years and proceeded to win four straight MAC titles on the Thundering Herd's home field. The fourth time, in 2000, on ABC, a 6-5 Marshall team upset 9-2 Western Michigan 19-14. It was not difficult to imagine that the Broncos probably would have won this game anywhere but in Huntington, W.Va.

So, starting in 2001, the MAC began playing the game at the home field of a division winner, rotating the divisions so that the West hosted in 2001 and in every odd year thereafter. The East was to host in even years.

And so it was that, in 2001, Toledo hosted the MAC championship at the Glass Bowl and won, upsetting 10-1, 20th-ranked Marshall.

And that's how Bowling Green ended up hosted the 2003 championship even though Miami was more highly ranked that amazing season. It was the West Division's turn to host that year.

That 2003 game in Bowling Green was the last MAC championship played outdoors. The game moved to Ford Field in 2004, where it has been ever since.

There was a time when I thought Fawcett Stadium in Canton would be a great neutral site for the MAC championship game. But when December rolls around in Middle America, there is a lot to be said for playing indoors. We've got a pretty good thing going right now in Detroit.

Interesting, thanks for the history lesson. Weird strategy by the MAC to have a recent I-AA addition host as a neutral site even if Marshall had such a big fan base, it's like if the C-USA put a few of their games at WKU right after they were called up. Shame that Miami didn't host in 2003 because our fan base was dynamite that season.

(10-13-2019 11:31 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I can’t even think of one. 25-point spread. Even Buffalo knocking off a 12-0 Ball St was more likely, IIRC.

Part of the problem was the betting line and the bets that were placed, Toledo is much better than BG, but NOT 24 point road favorite better. That should have been a mid to upper teens differential.

(10-13-2019 05:34 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Wasn’t following in 2000 so had to look this up:

WMU - 8-1, 26th in polls, lost to #4 Wisconsin by 12, won at Iowa
CMU - 1-8, 35-pt underdog, lost 7 times by 16+

Wow. We could revive this topic in 2100 and that’ll still be the biggest MAC upset ever.

Historical perspective: back at that time, CMU absolutely owned WMU at Kelly-Shorts. IIRC WMU had not won at Kelly-Shorts since 1973. A lot of Broncos made the trip up to Mount Pleasant that year fully expecting to celebrate shattering that curse.

WMU did break the Kelly-Shorts curse two years later and, strangely, can't lose at Kelly-Shorts these days (haven't lost there since 2010), but there's no question that 2000 loss still stings a bit. I've been a Bronco since the mid-90s, and up until the 2016 Cotton Bowl team, that 2000 team was the best WMU team I've seen.

To put it in some other perspective: that same year Toledo had a really good team that went 10-1 and throttled Penn State (back when Penn State was PennState). The week after destroying PSU, Toledo went to Waldo and got picked off by the Broncos.

Interesting tidbit: 2000 was the year after Tim Lester, current Bronco coach, graduated. (His backup, Jeff Welsh, was a senior in 2000 and had an excellent season.)

Quote:Toledo is much better than BG, but NOT 24 point road favorite better. That should have been a mid to upper teens differential

I think they were favored by 26 or 27. I picked BGSU to beat the spread by "only" losing by 24 lol.