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Bowling Green At Central Michigan: A Look At The Numbers

BG has dominated this series, but the arrival of two of the best head coaches in the history of the respective programs has put some intense heat into the rivalry of old MAC foes.

USA TODAY Sports

It took a tragedy in 2012 to elevate Bowling Green head coach Jennifer Roos to her current position. Roos took over as interim head coach at BG as a result of former BG head coach Curt Miller suffering a stroke. In her very first game as interim head coach in 2012, her Falcons defeated Central Michigan 77-72 in a thrilling overtime game at McGuirk Arena in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.. An exclamation point should have been added to the box score of that game shouting: "It's on!"

The overall history of the BG-CMU rivalry is not close. BG holds a 46-15 all-time advantage and has won fifteen of the last twenty meetings going back to 2001. Enter CMU head coach Sue Guevara, the catalyst for change. Under coach Guevara, the Chips have gone to the post-season the last three years in a row. CMU is 4-3 in the last seven meetings with Bowling Green and is 2-1 against the Falcons in the last three times CMU has faced them in the MAC tournament.

In 2011, BGSU knocked CMU out of the MAC tournament. In 2012, Central Michigan returned the favor, knocking Bowling Green out of the MAC Tournament with 69-66 win. In the 2013 MAC tournament, CMU blasted the Falcons 81-49.

The Chippewas' blowout of Bowling Green in the 2013 MAC tournament may have been sweet revenge. BG walloped CMU 84-59 in a 2013 regular season MAC contest. This was consistent with the Falcons' regular season success against Central Michigan. From 2004 to 2009, BGSU was victorious in the regular season nine straight times against the Chips. In fact, CMU has not won a regular season game against Bowling Green since 2010.

The Falcons come into Saturday's game against CMU at McGuirk Arena ranked number four in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll. CMU has played the toughest non-conference schedule in the country according to the RPI.

It's on again! Tipoff is 12:08 pm EST. The game may be viewed on ESPN3 and the MAC digital network.