2013 Bowl Projections Week 8: Northern Illinois Projected To Win Out, Crash Fiesta Bowl

The mother ship has reconfigured its bowl projections in preparation for Week 8, and these new projections are sure to have MAC fans excited. Six MAC teams are still projected to make a bowl this season, but according to Jason Kirk's latest projections, one of those bowls will be a BCS Bowl.

According to Kirk, Northern Illinois will win out this season, going 13-0 and bust the BCS for a second straight year, this time heading out to lovely Glendale, AZ, for a matchup with the dangerous Baylor Bears in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. I don;t need to explain to you how big this would be for the MAC, and especially for the Huskies, to MAC a BCS game for a second-straight year, under two different head coaches. It's not completely far-fetched either.

From here until mid-November, the Huskies possess the easiest schedule in the MAC. This gives them plenty of time to work out kinks in preparation for end of the season showdowns with Ball State and Toledo. If NIU can get by those two, and beat Bowling Green (Kirk's projected MAC East champion) in the MAC Championship Game, it could easily find itself north of No. 15 in the BCS rankings. The Huskies have already notched two wins over B1G opponents, and wins over BSU and the Rockets would add more style points to what would be an unblemished resume.

With NIU potentially busting the BCS party again, Bowling Green is projected to represent the MAC in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in a rematch against Indiana. The Hoosiers smacked BGSU earlier this season, 42-10. Since then BGSU has rattled off three lopsided victories, and a near upset of Mississippi State, an SEC school.

Ball State, runners up in the MAC West, is expected to go to the GoDaddy Bowl, while Toledo, the likely third place team in the West division, is projected to go to the Military Bowl. Based on the Buffalo Bulls recent dominant performances, they've been upgraded to a projected slot in the Pinstripe Bowl, against Rutgers. Ohio rounds out the list of projected MAC bowlers with an expected appearance in the Idaho Potato Bowl. The game would pit the 'Cats against Troy, in a rematch of sorts of the two teams battle in the 2010 New Orleans Bowl.

Here's the complete breakdown of the MAC's projected bowl appearances:

More from Hustle Belt:

• College Football Rankings Week 8: Northern Illinois Remains No. 23 In AP And Coaches Poll
• MAC Football Power Rankings: Week 7
• Hustle Bag: Would the MAC Consider Adding James Madison
• MAC Basketball Top 25: #25 Daylen Harrison, Eastern Michigan Guard
• Central Michigan Upsets Ohio 26-23