The Broncos finish the season 6-6 and without a bowl game for the first time since 2013.
KALAMAZOO, MI – Of the 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, 78 breathed a sigh of relief Sunday, when the NCAA announced its 39 bowl matchups for the 2017-18 postseason.
Unfortunately for Western Michigan, the Broncos were 1 of 3 bowl-eligible teams to miss out on the extra game and the important practice time that precedes it.
The last time WMU failed to reach a bowl game was 2013, when the Broncos went 1-11 in P. J. Fleck’s first season in Kalamazoo.
WMU (6-6,4-4 MAC) reached a milestone this season by becoming bowl eligible in four consecutive years, but the Broncos joined Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo and the University of Texas San Antonio as teams with six wins that failed to receive a postseason invite.
Five teams from the MAC received bowl bids in 2017, marking the 10th time in league history five or more squads have gone bowling.
WMU looked poised to join its bowl-bound league opponents when it defeated Kent State 48-20 for its sixth win, but the Broncos let a late lead slip away against Northern Illinois and failed to keep pace with MAC champ Toledo in the season finale .
It also didn’t help WMU’s case that among its six wins, none came against bowl-bound teams, and only one came against a bowl-eligible team (Buffalo).
Coming off 2016’s undefeated regular season and Cotton Bowl berth, expectations around the program were high entering the season opener at USC, and the Broncos showed plenty of promise by staying tied with the fourth-ranked Trojans midway through the fourth quarter, but key injuries and a struggling offense derailed hopes of defending the MAC title down the stretch.
The Broncos graduate nine players who finished the season as starters, including cornerback and MAC Special Teams Player of the Year Darius Phillips, linebackers Robert Spillane, Caleb Bailey and Asantay Brown, left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, tight end Donnie Ernsberger and running back Jarvion Franklin, WMU’s career rushing leader.
Among the key returners are running backs Jamuari Bogan and LeVante Bellamy, quarterback Jon Wassink, center John Keenoy, wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge, cornerback Sam Beal and defensive tackle Steven Clark.
WMU opens the 2018 season by hosting Syracuse in Week 1 and traveling to Michigan in Week 2.
