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2000 Northern Illinois

6–⁠5 (4–⁠3 Mid-American Conference), coached by Joe Novak.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 2000, game by game: lost at Northwestern 17–35; won vs. Illinois State 52–0; lost at No. 20 Auburn 14–31; won at Ball State 43–14; won vs. UCF 40–20; won at Akron 52–35; lost at Western Michigan 22–52; won vs. Buffalo 73–10; lost vs. Toledo 24–38; lost at Eastern Michigan 32–39; won vs. Central Michigan 40–6+63−30Lost 17–35 at Northwestern-18NorthwesternWon 52–0 vs. Illinois State+52Illinois StateLost 14–31 at No. 20 Auburn-17No. 20 AuburnWon 43–14 at Ball State+29Ball StateWon 40–20 vs. UCF+20UCFWon 52–35 at Akron+17AkronLost 22–52 at Western Michigan-30Western MichiganWon 73–10 vs. Buffalo+63BuffaloLost 24–38 vs. Toledo-14ToledoLost 32–39 at Eastern Michigan-7Eastern MichiganWon 40–6 vs. Central Michigan+34Central Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atNorthwesternL 17–⁠3543%
Sep 9vsIllinois StateW 52–⁠073%
Sep 23at20AuburnL 14–⁠3120%
Sep 30atBall StateW 43–⁠1461%
Oct 7vsUCFW 40–⁠2047%
Oct 14atAkronW 52–⁠3533%
Oct 21atWestern MichiganL 22–⁠5229%
Oct 28vsBuffaloW 73–⁠1087%
Nov 4vsToledoL 24–⁠3839%
Nov 11atEastern MichiganL 32–⁠3966%
Nov 18vsCentral MichiganW 40–⁠674%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Central Michigan 40–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 27th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 61 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2000.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 7th in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
409–⁠280
Coach
Joe Novak
Elo
1454 +42 this season
SP+ rating
5.6 No. 49 of 116; offense No. 18, defense No. 86
SRS
1.1 No. 59 of 116 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dan Roushar
Captains
Ryan Diem, Chris Finle, Justin McCareins, Cameron Saulsby and Kevin Selover
Most valuable player
Justin McCareins and Buster Sampson

Drafted in 2001

The 2001 draft
Rd 4Ryan Diem OGIndianapolis Colts
Rd 4Justin McCareins WRTennessee Titans

2000 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Western Michigan7–⁠19–⁠3
Toledo6–⁠110–⁠1
Ohio5–⁠37–⁠4
Marshall5–⁠38–⁠5
Miami (OH)5–⁠36–⁠5
Akron5–⁠36–⁠5
Northern Illinois4–⁠36–⁠5
Ball State4–⁠35–⁠6
Eastern Michigan2–⁠53–⁠8
Bowling Green2–⁠62–⁠9
Central Michigan2–⁠62–⁠9
Buffalo2–⁠62–⁠9
Kent State1–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.