Northwestern coach Gary Barnett made one of college football’s most unrealistic declarations when he told the crowd at a basketball game in 1992 that he was going to “take the purple to Pasadena.”
Incredibly, he made good on his promise, as the Wildcats won the Big Ten in 1995 and played in the Rose Bowl.
An even more outlandish occurrence is inevitable: a Mid-American Conference school reaching the College Football Playoff.
With the announcement last week that a 12-team playoff is coming, perhaps as soon as the 2024 season, and that the top six conference champions will receive automatic bids, coaches and administrators from DeKalb to Buffalo are reevaluating their commitment to football.