It goes without saying. College football rankings often seem a bit skewed.

Sometimes, even dead wrong.

Take for instance, a Bowling Green team that, like NIU, went 9-3 this season.

BG finished the season ranked No. 27 – ahead of the No. 29 Huskies.

But wait, didn’t NIU pluck the Falcons out of Huskie Stadium in a 34-17 game early in the season?

Even more dubious is that Toledo, which beat both BG and NIU, finished well behind both teams (No. 38) in the post season poll.

The perplexity of national rankings doesn’t end there.

BG was ranked in a preseason poll by ESPN.com as the No. 20 team for 2005. With sophomore sensation Omar Jacobs returning as arguably the best quarterback in the nation, BG’s top-25 ranking is a deserving one.

But where are the Huskies?

Even Toledo, with a quarterback star of its own in Bruce Gradkowski, managed to make the “to watch” list.

NIU is nowhere to be seen on the 37-team list.

Is this to say the Huskies, who walloped BG this season and return a bulk of their team, aren’t even among the top 37 teams in the nation?

Recall that the Huskies will have their own nationally-ranked weapon in Garrett Wolfe, the third-ranked returning running back in yards-per-game next season.

They also have fellow running back A.J. Harris. Together, the duo amounted 2,478 rushing yards in 2004.

The Huskies also return a crop of solid receivers, the majority of their defensive line and three All-MAC offensive lineman to block for Wolfe and Harris.

Jacobs may be one of the top returning quarterbacks in college football, but what about the receivers the Falcons will lose?

Three of the top six BG receivers who combined for 1,308 receiving yards in 2004 are all seniors.

Don’t think Jacobs will have any problem getting his returning receivers Charles Sharon, Steve Sanders and P.J. Pope to catch passes, but the graduating receivers will leave a void.

In all of this mess, it appears NIU has again been bypassed in the ranking process.

Perhaps if rankings looked at the big picture, instead of isolating a few prominent media players, picks would be more accurate.

So while Toledo and BG get credit for their star quarterbacks, NIU again will remain the unsung danger of the MAC next season.

It’s the same old story, one NIU coach Joe Novak is quite comfortable with: being the underdog.