Sometimes reality is harsh.

The NIU football team currently sits with a 6-4 record and is eligible to receive a bowl bid.

Next week’s foe, Wake Forest, is not bowl-eligible.

With a win on Saturday, Wake Forest would reach the minimum number of games needed to qualify for a bowl game: six.

If the Huskies win, they will improve to 7-4, marking their fourth straight season in which the team has improved its overall record.

The reality of the matter is that Wake Forest has a better chance of getting a bowl bid with a 6-5 record than the Huskies do at 7-4.

The Huskies are no better than the fifth best team in the conference. The chances are slim-to-none that the Huskies will make a bowl.

So, we at the Star have come up with a solution to NIU’s bowl blues.

The Huskies should treat the Wake Forest game just like a bowl game.

Think of the similarities.

First, NIU will make a long distance trip south, typical of a bowl game. Wake Forest is located in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Second, the Huskies will be playing a non-conference team from a powerhouse conference. If the Huskies were to go to a bowl game, they probably would play a team similar to the Demon Deacons, a representative of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Third, the Huskies are playing Wake Forest in the last game of the season.

Fourth, the game will be played around the holidays. Who cares that the contest is played two days after Thanksgiving. Sure most bowls are played around Christmas, but Thanksgiving is better than nothing.

Fifth, the game could be another feather in the cap of the MAC. Recently the MAC has knocked off teams from the Big Ten, Conference USA and Western Athletic Conference.

“We are going to go down there and have fun with it,” head coach Joe Novak said of this weekend’s trip. “We are going to try to gain prestige for the school and the conference.”