The time couldn’t be better for a mid-major football team to shoot for a bowl bid.

While 58 teams have at least the necessary six wins to play in a bowl, South Carolina and Clemson announced last week they would not accept any invitations, lowering the number of currently eligible teams to 56 - the exact number of bowl bids available.

Both teams will not go to a bowl game as punishment for a bench-clearing brawl Nov. 20 between the two teams.

“Obviously, it opens a couple more bowls for some at-large teams,” NIU quarterback Josh Haldi said. “It’s too bad that it happened, but we’re not going to apologize if we accept a bowl bid because of it.”

If Tulane (5-5) upsets No. 7 Louisville (9-1) on Saturday, the number of bowl-qualified teams would increase to 57. Hawaii (6-5) will need to beat Michigan State on Saturday to make 58 bowl-eligible teams. Hawaii needs the win because it has a 12-game schedule.

If both teams lose, the number would remain at 56.

“We’ve got a real good shot,” Haldi said. “Hopefully things will work out and the football gods will help us out.”

The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC did not produce enough qualified teams to fill out their preseason bowl tie-ins, freeing up those games for other eligible teams.

NIU (8-3) is one of six bowl-eligible MAC teams.

All four ESPN.com experts predict NIU will play in its first bowl since 1983. Ivan Maisel and Rece Davis both have the Huskies playing in the Silicon Valley Football Classic against Fresno St., while Pat Forde and Dave Revsine predict the Huskies will play Minnesota in the Motor City Bowl.

“We’re qualified, bowl-eligible and with our numbers in ‘04 there’s a good chance we’ll go to a bowl,” said NIU Associate Athletics Director Robert Collins.

The Huskies have not practiced since Tuesday and will have a team meeting today, Haldi said.

The MAC has three bowl tie-ins this season for the first time in the conference’s 58-year history: the Dec. 27 Motor City Bowl in Detroit, the Dec. 22 GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. and the Dec. 30 Silicon Valley Football Classic in San Jose, Calif.

Road Trip

A look at the three bowls college football experts have NIU playing in

Silicon Valley Football Classic

San Jose, Calif. -2,108 miles

32.5 hours from DeKalb

Motor City Bowl

Detroit, Mich. -343 miles

5.5 hours from DeKalb

MPC Computers Bowl

Boise, Idaho - 1,630 miles

25 hours from DeKalb

NIU needs two things to happen to get into the MAC championship game and all but guarantee its first bowl appearance since 1983.

First, the Huskies need to knock off Eastern Michigan and finish conference play with just one loss.

Second, NIU has to root on Bowling Green to a victory over Toledo on Tuesday.

The first of the two will take place at noon Saturday at Eastern Michigan’s Rynearson Stadium.

“We need to take care of our business first,” NIU quarterback Josh Haldi said. “Once we do that, then we have to become big BG fans.”

An NIU and Bowling Green win would create a two-way tie between the two atop the MAC West Division standings. The Huskies (7-3 overall, 6-1 MAC) would have the tiebreaker, having beat Bowling Green Sept. 24 at home.

“Right now, we have to count on Bowling Green to beat Toledo,” NIU wide receiver Dan Sheldon said. “With the way BG has been playing, there is a very good chance they could beat them.”

If the scenario does not work out in NIU’s favor, the Huskies still could make it to a bowl game. The Toledo Blade reported Tuesday that the Silicon Valley Football Classic and the MAC have agreed to terms of a one-year contract. If the deal officially goes through, it would be the first time in history that the MAC would have three bowls.

“[The season] is never complete unless you get to play in a bowl game,” Sheldon said. “The best situation is for us to get into the MAC championship. Then we’re almost guaranteed a spot in a bowl.”

The Huskies, who lost to Toledo at home last week, have not lost consecutive games since Sept. 2002.

The Huskies offense will receive a boost when sophomore running back Garrett Wolfe returns to the lineup. Wolfe missed the loss to Toledo after suffering an injury to his eye called hyphema after trying to be a peacemaker in a fight. Coach Joe Novak said Wolfe was cleared to play this week.

Defensive end Ken West will not play Saturday with a sprained ankle.

“He came close after working out this week, but we decided to hold him out this week,” Novak said. “We’ll see where he’s at after this week.”

Freshman kicker Chris Nendick, though not 100 percent from a groin injury, will play, Novak said.

The Eagles’ offense is fifth in the MAC for scoring, averaging 31.2 points per game. Despite the productive offense, the Eagles are last for defense, allowing an average of 42.4 points per game.

“Stopping the run will be our first priority, and we want to force them to go to the air,” EMU coach Jeff Genyk said.