So they call this the land of equal opportunity.

Whatever.

There are 6-6 teams going to bowl games, while NIU’s 10-2 football team is left hanging by a thread.

Before the bowl breakdown begins, let me get one last shot in at the BCS: You suck, so hit the road!

There is hope. NIU does have one last chance, maybe two, at a bowl game, depending on what happens in this week’s MAC Championship game.

NIU coach Joe Novak has said the team would have its injured star players back, save for linebacker Nick Duffy. Receiver Dan Sheldon, safety Akil Grant, defensive end Travis Moore and defensive tackle Leonard Cooksey are expected to return.

The Fort Worth Bowl, a new addition to the bowl game list this year, and possibly the Motor City Bowl, will be looking at NIU.

NIU Athletic Director Cary Groth had lunch with Forth Worth Bowl Executive Director Tom Starr on Monday. Starr said NIU is one of six teams the committee is looking at to play a Conference-USA team.

All bowl scenarios involve the MAC and C-USA, and possibly the Northwestern Crapcats. So, let’s begin with the MAC.

East Division champion Miami-Ohio and West Division winner Bowling Green will play Thursday for the MAC championship and a bid to the Motor City Bowl.

What has made this game worth watching for NIU fans is that Miami-Ohio already has accepted an invitation to the MAC’s other bowl game tie-in, the GMAC Bowl.

Now pay attention carefully. If Miami-Ohio wins on Thursday, then the Motor City Bowl Committee can choose any team it wants. It is not obligated to take the second place MAC team, which in this case would be BGSU.

Since Marshall, Toledo and NIU all finished with 6-2 MAC records, they would be the next choices from the MAC. As far as overall records, NIU holds the edge at 10-2 because BGSU would be 10-3 if it loses to Miami-Ohio.

The Big Ten’s No. 8 seed, Northwestern, which finished 6-6, most likely will meet the MAC selection in the Motor City Bowl.

The scenario of having two Illinois rivals battle across Lake Michigan in Detroit should have the Motor City Bowl Committee sleeping soundly while hearing the ringing of cash registers in its sleep.

However, if the RedHawks fail to deliver, and BGSU quarterback Josh Harris leads the Falcons to victory, the Huskies’ last hopes lie with the Fort Worth Bowl Committee.

Harris, you’re a great athlete and fun to watch, but if you happen to get injured for Thursday’s game, I wouldn’t exactly be losing any sleep.

Now, the Fort Worth Bowl’s tie-ins were with the Big 12’s No. 8 seed, which is Kansas this year, and C-USA. Because Kansas accepted an invitation to the Tangerine Bowl, the slot became an at-large bid.

NIU is one of six teams on the Fort Worth Bowl at-large list. Everyone in the nation should want to see the two teams that could have made claims to bringing down the worst postseason playoff system ever, or I mean the BCS. But it most likely won’t happen.

C-USA’s Texas Christian University most likely will go to the Hawaii Bowl, one of the conference’s five tie-ins, after declining an invitation to the GMAC Bowl because the school had finals that week.

Memphis is going to the New Orleans Bowl and C-USA champ Southern Mississippi is going to the Liberty Bowl. This leaves TCU, Louisville and Southern Florida available for the Hawaii, GMAC and Fort Worth Bowls.

NIU has the second-leading rusher in the nation; it made headlines in Sports Illustrated and became the first mid-major non-BCS team to crack the BCS top 10. These men deserve a bowl game.