The '''2012 Northern Illinois Huskies football team''' represented [[Northern Illinois University]] in the [[2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season]]. The Huskies competed in the West Division of the [[Mid-American Conference]]. They were led by second-year head coach [[Dave Doeren]] for the regular season and [[Rod Carey]] in the [[2013 Orange Bowl]]. They played their home games at [[Huskie Stadium]]. They finished the season 12–2, 8–0 in MAC play to win MAC West Division Title. With their win over [[2012 Kent State Golden Flashes football team|Kent State]] in the [[MAC Championship Game]] on November 30, NIU moved to 12–1, the most regular season wins in the program's 113-year history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=323352309|title=Northern Illinois vs. Kent State - Game Recap - November 30, 2012 - ESPN|website=ESPN.com|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
The '''2012 Northern Illinois Huskies football team''' represented [[Northern Illinois University]] in the [[2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season]]. The Huskies competed in the West Division of the [[Mid-American Conference]]. They were led by second-year head coach [[Dave Doeren]] for the regular season and [[Rod Carey]] in the [[2013 Orange Bowl]]. They played their home games at [[Huskie Stadium]]. They finished the season 12–2, 8–0 in MAC play to win MAC West Division Title. With their win over [[2012 Kent State Golden Flashes football team|Kent State]] in the [[MAC Championship Game]] on November 30, NIU moved to 12–1, the most regular season wins in the program's 113-year history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=323352309|title=Northern Illinois vs. Kent State - Game Recap - November 30, 2012 - ESPN|website=ESPN.com|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
Since the MAC was a non-automatic qualifying (non-AQ) conference, its conference champion had to finish 16th or higher in the BCS ranking and be ranked ahead of at least one AQ conference champion to qualify for a BCS game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4819597|title=BCS selection procedures|date=2013-07-25|website=ESPN.com|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> With their MAC Championship, the Huskies moved to No. 15 in the final [[Bowl Championship Series]] rankings, while [[2012 Big East Conference football season|Big East champion]] [[2012 Louisville Cardinals football team|Louisville]] was ranked No. 21. As a result, Northern Illinois received a BCS bid to the [[2013 Orange Bowl|Orange Bowl]] against [[2012 Florida State Seminoles football team|Florida State]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/mac/2012/12/11/college-football-bcs-orange-bowl-northern-illinois/1755185/|title=Northern Illinois is a BCS team years in the making|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> It was the first major-bowl appearance in school history, as well as the first-ever major-bowl appearance for a MAC team. Head coach Doeren did not coach the Huskies in the Orange Bowl after accepting the head coaching job at [[NC State Wolfpack football|North Carolina State]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8698510/dave-doeren-hired-north-carolina-state-wolfpack-coach|title=NC State hires N. Illinois' Doeren as next coach|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> Co-offensive coordinator [[Rod Carey]] was named his successor, and coached the bowl game. The Huskies lost to Florida State 10–31.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=330010052|title=Northern Illinois vs. Florida State - Game Recap - January 1, 2013 - ESPN|website=ESPN.com|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bowls/2013/01/02/bcs-orange-bowl-florida-state-northern-illinois/1803265/|title=Florida State solves Northern Illinois offense in win|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
Since the MAC was a non-automatic qualifying (non-AQ) conference, its conference champion had to finish 16th or higher in the BCS ranking and be ranked ahead of at least one AQ conference champion to qualify for a BCS game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4819597|title=BCS selection procedures|date=2013-07-25|website=ESPN.com|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> With their MAC Championship, the Huskies moved to No. 15 in the final [[Bowl Championship Series]] rankings, while [[2012 Big East Conference football season|Big East champion]] [[2012 Louisville Cardinals football team|Louisville]] was ranked No. 21. As a result, Northern Illinois received a BCS bid to the [[2013 Orange Bowl|Orange Bowl]] against [[2012 Florida State Seminoles football team|Florida State]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/mac/2012/12/11/college-football-bcs-orange-bowl-northern-illinois/1755185/|title=Northern Illinois is a BCS team years in the making|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> It was the first major-bowl appearance in school history, as well as the first-ever major-bowl appearance for a MAC team. Head coach Doeren did not coach the Huskies in the Orange Bowl after accepting the head coaching job at [[NC State Wolfpack football|North Carolina State]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8698510/dave-doeren-hired-north-carolina-state-wolfpack-coach|title=NC State hires N. Illinois' Doeren as next coach|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> Co-offensive coordinator [[Rod Carey]] was named his successor, and coached the bowl game. The Huskies lost to Florida State 10–31.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/college-football/recap?gameId=330010052|title=Northern Illinois vs. Florida State - Game Recap - January 1, 2013 - ESPN|website=ESPN.com|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bowls/2013/01/02/bcs-orange-bowl-florida-state-northern-illinois/1803265/|title=Florida State solves Northern Illinois offense in win|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
The season marked the Huskies' fifth consecutive trip to a bowl game.
The season marked the Huskies' fifth consecutive trip to a bowl game.
Since the MAC was a non-automatic qualifying (non-AQ) conference, its conference champion had to finish 16th or higher in the BCS ranking and be ranked ahead of at least one AQ conference champion to qualify for a BCS game.[2] With their MAC Championship, the Huskies moved to No. 15 in the final Bowl Championship Series rankings, while Big East championLouisville was ranked No. 21. As a result, Northern Illinois received a BCS bid to the Orange Bowl against Florida State.[3] It was the first major-bowl appearance in school history, as well as the first-ever major-bowl appearance for a MAC team. Head coach Doeren did not coach the Huskies in the Orange Bowl after accepting the head coaching job at North Carolina State.[4] Co-offensive coordinator Rod Carey was named his successor, and coached the bowl game. The Huskies lost to Florida State 10–31.[5][6]
The season marked the Huskies' fifth consecutive trip to a bowl game.
