The problem of the MAC in 1982

It has just come to my attention that for the 1982 season only, 8 of the 10 members of the Mid-American Conference, dropped to Division I-AA. One of these 8 teams was Northern Illinois, and so the Northwestern losing streak of 34 games actually ended with a win over a Division I-AA opponent. Since Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, and Kent State--the three teams that wore the Mask in 1982--have played in in Division I-A every year since the 1978 division of I into I-A and I-AA with the exception of this 1982 season, for shaming purposes, I will treat them as though the did play in I-A in 1982.

However, this does present even more bad news for Northwestern. The week after beating Northern Illinois, they returned to their losing ways at Iowa 43-7. However, on October 9, 1982, the Wildcats finally beat a Div. I-A opponent, knocking of the Minnesota Golden Gophers 31-21. This was the first conference win for Northwestern since the final game of the 1977 season. This loss by Minnesota, I feel, is also worthy of a Shame Mask, one which will be shaped like a Golden Gopher. I shall call it the Golden Gopher Shame Mask, or the GGSM for short.