Ball State Declines Invitation to Humanitarian Bowl

The Ball State Cardinals, the 12-0 Mid-American Conference champions, denied their invitation to play in the Humanitarian Bowl.The game would be against 12-0 Boise State, the Western Athletic Conference champions. It would be played on Boise State's home blue turf, and would be one of the best matchups of the bowl season, since it would have been the only bowl matching up two undefeated teams. But the game will not happen. The decision by Ball State not to accept the bid is a puzzling one. Did they expect a BCS bowl bid after playing one of the easiest schedules in the country? Their opponents combined record is 54-88, and only three of the teams they played finished with a winning record. Yet, they are too scared to finally play some legit competition. People have wanted to see all year if Ball State was for real. They were always the lowest ranked undefeated team throughout the year, and deservedly so, because they did not beat anyone good. Ball State is embarrassing the MAC, achieving ... (link)