The Northern Illinois football team is once again in the Mid-American Conference championship and is ranked No. 14 in the BCS, whoop-dee-freaking-doo.

Such praise for the Huskies is overrated and undeserved. Quarterback Jordan Lynch is a monster — the brute of a defensive end combined with the attack of a running back.

He simply runs over and through opponents. He did so against Eastern with ease for 189 yards on the ground behind an 8.2 average.

Lynch is Northern’s offense. But can he do anything other than run? In his two record-setting games for rushing yards by a quarterback — 316 against Central Michigan and more recently 321 against Western Michigan on Nov. 26 — Lynch threw for an average of less than 100 yards per game.

Lynch was a combined 25-of-47 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Central Michigan and Western Michigan, and average of 4.1 yards per pass attempt.

In addition, it is easy to have such record-setting performances against mediocre MAC opponents. Outside of Northern’s 12-0 overall record, the remaining 12 MAC teams are 16-32 in their non-conference schedule, a .333 win percentage.

To be fair, Northern did not become the country’s fourth best rushing offense (319 yards per game) and ninth best scoring offense (43 points per game) solely based on strength of schedule.

But put Northern in the Big 10 Conference and such success would not be replicated. Northern beat Iowa in the first week of the season 30-27 off a game-winning field goal with four seconds left, but Lynch was held to 56 rushing yards on 22 attempts (2.5 yards per rush). That same Iowa team beat Western Michigan by 56 points. The Huskies beat the Broncos by 19.

Also, Bowling Green, a team Northern will play for the MAC championship, lost to Indiana 42-10 this season. Indiana finished eighth in the Big 10, while Bowling Green managed to score just 10 points on the nation’s 117th ranked scoring defense.

It is no question that Northern’s recent success is largely because of the lack of competition in the MAC.

To take it one step further, Eastern’s football team could contend just as equally as a MAC team, if it were to leave the FCS for the FBS. Aside from Iowa, which Northern beat by three points, Eastern’s 43-39 loss to Northern is the Huskies’ closest game marginally.

Eastern led that game 20-0 with less than eight minutes into the game and Panthers’ coach Dino Babers clearly outsmarted coach Rod Carey of the Huskies, especially in the first quarter, along with the cojones to go for it on several fourth down attempts and two-point conversions.

Panthers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo outshined Lynch passing for 450 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. As for Lynch, he threw for 235 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Northern won the game, but Eastern made its case that it could contend with the No. 14 ranked team in the country, a ranking that is mainly credited because it plays in a dull conference.

And that is why Northern fans should quit pouting about how the Huskies deserve more recognition and Jordan Lynch is the greatest player to ever step onto a football field. Northern is getting recognized for more than it should. Enjoy it.

But even if they win the MAC, the Huskies and their fans can have fun getting walloped in a second straight BCS bowl game.

Meanwhile, Eastern will make its run in the FCS playoffs as the No. 2 seed. It’s an easy choice which has the better possible outcome.

Hey, at least the Huskies still have the “Kick the cat” flyers from their four-point win over the Panthers on Sept. 21.

Anthony Catezone can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].