Sunday Night Football is so five minutes ago. Monday Night Football is for snoozers.
Let me tell you where the good stuff’s at: MAC Tuesdays.
MAC Tuesdays come packed with more fast-paced excitement than the Kentucky Derby, more firepower than the latest “Call of Duty” and, for all you deprived NBA fans, little to no defense.
Just look at this year’s debut MAC Tuesday game, which featured a primetime ESPN showdown between Northern Illinois and Toledo. That contest would prove to be a good indication of the Tuesday night barnburners in store for lonely fans for the rest of the NCAA season, as the Huskies outgunned the Rockets in an action-packed 63-60 affair.
The shootout between NIU and Toledo, which resulted in a non-overtime Mid-American Conference record of 123 total points, was no fluke. Teams in the conference have made a habit of wearing out scoreboard operators. Just one week after the NUI-Toledo game set the single game points record, the Rockets topped Western Michigan 66-63 to set a new conference high.
There has been an average of 97.5 points scored in each of the four MAC Tuesday games in 2011. The most recent MAC Tuesday showdown did not disappoint fans either, as NIU rallied from 17 points down to top Ball St. 41-38 by way of a 34-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining.
Critics argue that these high-scoring Tuesday night affairs “aren’t real football,” but I couldn’t disagree more with that notion. After all, who doesn’t like to see quarterbacks throw for six TDs — as NIU’s Chandler Harnish did on Nov. 1 — or witness a MAC-record 1,439 yards of total offense as seen in the Nov. 8 Toledo-Western Michigan match-up?
This isn’t your grandfather’s style of college football, because in a MAC game, you can never write off a team no matter how many scores they are down by. In fact, I wouldn’t even recommend moving from your seat during the game. Stop watching for a mere moment while you go off to refill your soda, and you could miss a touchdown or two just like that.
There is no lull on MAC Tuesdays — it’s all action, all the time.
And I’ve got to say, the MAC is genius for showcasing their explosive conference on a national stage like this. Think of high school recruits — especially offensively skilled players — sitting at home watching these games on a Tuesday night and drooling at the thought of competing in the trigger-happy MAC. For a player who isn’t quite good enough to play at a major D-I program, these MAC Tuesday games could very well be the tipping point that lands such a player on a squad in the Midwest.
While this conference doesn’t garner much BCS attention, there’s no doubt that the MAC is where it’s at for any college football lover. I’ve yet to experience a dull moment while watching a MAC Tuesday game this year. And from Wednesday morning all the way to the next Tuesday night, I find myself waiting in anticipation for another shootout.
Like I said, forget “Football Night In America” and “Is It Monday Yet?” It’s time for ESPN to get it together and start an “Is It MAC Tuesday Yet?” ad campaign.
Reach the columnist at kjnewma2@asu.edu
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