“The rankings have shifted, big time.” is one saying college football fans have heard countless times this season. However, normally this would apply to the FBS division (who have had their fair share of upsets this week.) This weekend we saw an upset that beats anything you’ve seen all season in the NCAA, it’s greatest upset since bread was sliced.
Northern Iowa 23, North Dakota State 3
That’s what the scoreboard read at Sheriff Field inside the UNI Dome on Saturday, with fans of the green and yellow leaving the stadium in herds (much like the animal their team is named after, the bison).
The Panthers had done the impossible, finally knocking off seemingly unbeatable North Dakota State. The Bison had held the NCAA’s longest current winning streak of 33 games in a row.
The FCS rankings came out Monday afternoon and featured a new school at the top of the list, 10-0 Coastal Carolina. The Bison were dropped down to fourth and UNI made a sweeping move up to 12th.
So with the playoff implications on the line, the Panthers are just one of six teams in the top 25 with a four-loss record, and they face the 22nd-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis this coming Saturday who possess the same 6-4 record.
One would think Northern Iowa’s strength of schedule and their two close losses to FBS opponents Iowa and Hawaii was enough to get them selected. The new playoff system could boot them out though, since it includes only four wild cards.
Regardless of what happens, here’s to UNI’s victory over the Bison, and we’ll see if they can carry this success into next week, and possibly the playoffs.
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