Bowling Green who? A week after NIU won its biggest game in two decades, the triumph over BGSU doesn’t look all that impressive.

After falling to the Huskies 26-17, Bowling Green went down to South Florida on Saturday and got mopped by the Bulls, 29-7.

The Falcons now own an 8-0 record against teams with a losing record and an 0-2 record against teams with a winning record.

So the question remains: Did the media, myself included, think too much of BGSU?

Absolutely!

It is great to pull for the underdog, and it is especially nice when it is in your conference. So, while I was cheering for Bowling Green as much as the next guy (up to the week it played NIU), we must step back into reality and realize the only reason it was ranked was a simple process of elimination.

If one team keeps winning, and others continue to lose, voters must rate the undefeated teams.

But here lies the problem.

When NIU defeated Bowling Green, the then-16th ranked Falcons were ranked above Florida, Florida State and Penn State, to name a few.

Now, I would have voted for BGSU for the Top 25, but as the 16th-best team in the nation?

Is an undefeated Falcons team better than an underachieving Florida State team filled with NFL draft picks?

Doubt it.

Now that you have had your history lesson for the day, let us move into the future and let me be the first to tell you: The Toledo game is the biggest game in 20 years at Northern Illinois University.

It may just be the biggest game of your lifetime.

“What?” you say.

That’s right.

Toledo is now the biggest game to hit campus since Ronald Reagan was president.

And, the madness doesn’t stop there.

If NIU beats Toledo, the MAC Championship against the East Division champ then becomes the biggest game in a long time.

And so on and so forth.

Welcome to the verge of the big time.

For teams like Miami (Fla.), Ohio State and Florida State each game is the biggest game of the year.

When NIU was mired in the worst losing streak in the nation, every game was big because it was just hoping to win one.

For good teams, one loss can make or break a season.

This is a relatively new idea to this campus, but it could just be one that hangs around for a while.

While each team in the NCAA marks games at the beginning of the year, the day-by-day approach is a great thing for any team, it has been especially successful at NIU.

Winning a big game once a year is not enough to elevate the Huskies to the top of the MAC, let alone to gain national respect.

NIU has done all anyone could ask for recently. But as success comes, so do the pressures of being on top.

So, just as Bowling Green realized a week ago, one loss can ruin a season.

And, for the Huskies, a loss to Toledo may not mean the end of the season, but a win sure would do a lot for a university starving for an athletic identity.