3. This doesn’t take away from the amazing San Jose State season
It really doesn’t.
As painful as this game was, and as unfair as it might have been without so many key players, the Spartans were still here as an unbeaten Mountain West champion, they put together one of their best seasons ever as a program, and they were a whole lot of fun to watch as one of college football’s biggest surprises.
This was building under Brent Brennan, but to do this and to come into this game expecting to win big – if it had its full team intact – was a massive step forward.
2. Ball State, welcome to your first bowl victory
1-7. That’s what Ball State is in bowl games now after it came up with its first one ever.
It all started with a loss to Fresno State in the 1989 California Bowl. It’s not like the Cardinals were playing Alabama or Notre Dame over the years – 2007 Rutgers might have been the best team they faced in a bowl game until this.
And now they did it.
While other programs win a random bowl game and throw it on the pile, remember, for some, winning one of these things is a really, really big deal, which means …
All smiles heading back to Muncie #ChirpChirp | #MACtionpic.twitter.com/0Wc49O9Xzi
— #MACtion (@MACSports) January 1, 2021
1. Was this greatest Ball State football season ever?
That’s a stretch considering there are several conference championships over the years since the school first started playing college football in 1924. There are six MAC titles, and there have been better teams, but the 2020 version is the first to have a conference championship and a bowl win.
It’s the program’s first winning season since 2013, it ended with a whole lot of fun, and there’s hope to keep it all going with everything continuing to improve. Even if it wasn’t the best Ball State season ever, it was fantastic.
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