The Humanitarian Bowl is one of the first ones to be played this bowl season, and may also be one of the first to be rendered almost completely worthless as a predictor of future performance.
Northern Illinois and Fresno State will link up to play in the Humanitarian Bowl on December 18 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern at Boise State's Bronco Stadium in Boise, but the chances that Jerry Kill will be the Huskies' coach in the game dwindle with every passing hour.
That's because Kill has agreed to become the next coach at Minnesota, according to Minnesota's Rivals site. He'll leave a very good Northern Illinois team for that job with the Golden Gophers, one that could win its bowl game without him but would be helped by his presence.
But there's no way that anything about this bowl should be used to forecast 2011 results. The Huskies will be a team in limbo, and Fresno State is a perpetual enigma.