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Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck makes impassioned plea for Cotton Bowl bid (Video)

By Casey Pazzalia

Dec 2, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Western Michigan Broncos head coach P. J. Fleck reacts on the sideline in the first half against the Ohio Bobcats at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 2, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Western Michigan Broncos head coach P. J. Fleck reacts on the sideline in the first half against the Ohio Bobcats at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Western Michigan head coach P.J Fleck believes his team belongs in the 2017 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

The No.13 Western Michigan Broncos won the MAC football championship 29-23 over the Ohio Bobcats. With the win, Western Michigan improved to 13-0 on the season.

Played at Ford Field in Detroit, the MAC Championship was as close to a home game as Western Michigan could have imagined. The game drew the biggest crowd in MAC Championship history, with an announced attendance of 45,615. In fact, the 2016 attendance mark broke the previous MAC Championship record by more than 17,000 fans.

Western Michigan is now in a position to be the Group of 5 team allowed to play in a New Year’s Six bowl game at the 2017 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Navy is the only other team to have a case for the bid. The Midshipmen are two spots behind Western Michigan in the College Football Playoff rankings but have two games remaining on their schedule.

On Saturday, Navy will play Temple in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game. With a Navy win, things may be very difficult for the College Football Playoff selection committee. In addition to the AAC title game, Navy will also play Army on December 10.

Fleck, however, does not seem too concerned with what Navy does and thinks his team has done enough to justify the Cotton Bowl bid. After finishing the season 13-0, Fleck was adamant in his team being qualified for the Cotton Bowl.

As you can tell from the video, Fleck gave a passionate and persuasive speech about his team’s Cotton Bowl chances. I loved how he’s even going to have an all-cotton wardrobe to let that point sink in a little deeper.

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In leading Western Michigan to their first conference title since 1988, Fleck has become one of the hottest commodities in college football. It is expected that he will interview for some of the vacant coaching positions at the end of the season.

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