Group of Five Power Rankings, Week 14: Championship week hierarchy

Northern Illinois was already locked into their place in the MAC championship game. But, six years after the Huskies were the last BCS Buster, a New Year’s Six trip is probably impossible this season. Rod Carey’s team already sports five losses on their record, meaning that no matter who wins the AAC, Mountain West, and Conference USA those champions are guaranteed to have better records than the Huskies.

The best that NIU can realistically hope for this year is the MAC championship. They will certainly need to play better in Detroit than they did in Kalamazoo in the regular-season finale, as the Huskies fell 28-21 against Western Michigan. A win might have kept their slim chances of a major bowl berth alive, but the defeat at the hands of the Broncos ended all but the most apocalyptic of chances.

The Huskies played three Power Five opponents this year and lost all three contests. That alone could be forgivable if those were NIU’s only losses, but they are on a two-game losing streak in MAC play heading into the championship game. Against a high-scoring outfit like Buffalo, Northern Illinois might need to find a way to score at least 40 points for the first time this year.