Northern Illinois crashes BCS party

Score one for the little guy.

Northern Illinois faced long odds in its bid for a BCS bowl berth. NIU was 21st in the BCS standings heading into Friday night’s MAC championship game against Kent State. Kent State was 17th and in better position to finish 16th.

Northern Illinois turned the tables, beat Kent in double overtime and finished 15th in the final BCS standings released on Sunday. The Huskies will face Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Northern Illinois crashing the party upset the status quo in college ball as Oklahoma (10-2), which finished 11th in the BCS standings, would’ve likely gotten the at-large bid. Georgia (11-2), LSU (10-2), Texas A&M (10-2) and South Carolina (10-2), which finished seventh through 10th in the final BCS standings, are prohibited from getting a BCS bid because the SEC already has two teams (Alabama and Georgia) playing in bowls.

Northern Illinois earned the berth because it finished in the top 16 of the final BCS standings and ahead of at least one conference champion from an AQ conference. The Huskies were ranked ahead of Big East champ Louisville and Big Ten champion Wisconsin.