If you haven’t already, it’s time to jump on the Bears bandwagon. A large majority of Eastern students hail from the Chicago area, so it’s time that everyone from Oak Lawn to Arlington Heights band together and proclaim the superiority of the navy and burnt orange clad gladiators.

I myself come from Chicago and have been a Bears fan for a long time. Sure I’ve bashed the team before, but the past few years the Bears have been as dead as the Charleston bar scene on Sundays.

However, this year the Bears and the bars have made a complete turnaround. So, for all of you potential fans who have been ignoring the team this year, I offer some conversation starters that will help you swear you’re a die-hard fan you as watch the first round of the playoffs from your favorite Chucktown tavern.

First of all, the Bears aren’t playing this weekend. So don’t ask what time the game is on. They wrapped up the NFC Central Division title and the second seed in the playoffs, which means they get to sit home this week and wait to see who they’ll play.

You can wow other football fanatics by mapping out next week’s playoff possibilities.

Saturday the Buccaneers face the Eagles in Philadelphia. Last week in the final regular season game the Eagles knocked off the Bucs. The game was roughly the latest preseason game ever played considering both teams played their backups and neither team could have improved their playoff status with a victory.

This weekend’s game is for real. If the Bucs win they’ll go to St. Louis the following weekend to face the Rams. If the Eagles win they come to Soldier Field next weekend.

The Rams defeated Tampa Bay in the playoffs last year, but the Bucs have beaten St. Louis during the regular season this year and last. This year’s victory accounted for one of the Rams two defeats.

If Tampa does win, the Bears will have to play the winner of Sunday’s game between the 49ers and Packers. Both teams are 12-4, but the game is in Green Bay and two weeks ago the 49ers lost to the Cowboys, a team that finished just 5-11.

In the AFC, the Jets go to Oakland for the second week in a row. Last week they won in Oakland for the first time in 39 years. If they can do it again they’ll move on to face the Steelers. But if the Raiders prevail they’ll go to New England.

If the Jets win, the Patriots will play the winner of Sunday’s game between the Dolphins and Ravens. Otherwise, the winner of that game will go to Pittsburgh.

Now after you explain the playoff picture to your fellow fans, you may still need some bits of Bears knowledge to help prove to them that you’ve been a Bear fan from the start.

Casually mention that the Bears’ running game may be hindered by the loss of fullback Daimon Shelton. After many appeals this season, Shelton finally received a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Tell your friends that the Bears signed Stanley Pritchett earlier this year and he should be able to pick up the slack. You can also mention that Shelton isn’t the only player who’s been suspended for the playoffs. Oakland’s standout defensive tackle, Darrell Russell was suspended for an entire year for his third substance abuse violation.

If you still need conversation fodder you can bring up the various NFL head coaching positions that have recently opened up. Most important to the Bears may be the firing of Jim Mora in Indianapolis.

The contract of Bears Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache is up after the season. Blache was a coach for the Colts before coming to Chicago and with the Bears’ defensive turnaround, he could be a prime candidate to return to Indianapolis as a head coach.

However, the NFL has never been awash with black head coaches. This season their were just three black head coaches, up from two last year.That history may make it difficult of Blache to get a head coaching job.

However, two of the three black coaches; Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay and Herman Edwards in his first season with the Jets are in the playoffs. The third, Dennis Green, was fired last week after 10 seasons with the Vikings.

Now, if you’ve proved to the rabid Bears fans that you know the playoff match-ups, and you’re up do date on the current player and coach situations and they still doubt you, there remains a last resort.

Just tell them that Brian Urlacher is the greatest middle linebacker you’ve seen since Mike Singletary or Dick Butkus.

Then they’ll have to believe.