MAC Power Rankings: Week 13

1. Ball State - I have to admit, I’ve been dying to put the Cardinals in this spot all year. Not because I’m a BSU fan or anything; I’ve just thought Ball State was the league’s best team all year, but had one terrible defensive game on the worst day possible, losing the division to CMU. Don’t get me wrong, the Chips deserve the West title, but if the season started over today, I’d pick Ball State.
2. Central Michigan - OK, being upset in a rivalry game is one thing, but giving up 48 points to Eastern Michigan? Seriously? How CMU responds this week at Akron will be one of the league’s most interesting stories. The undefeated MAC campaign is over, but now CMU has to beat Akron to guarantee a bowl game regardless of how the title tilt turns out. Will the defense answer the bell against the MAC’s worst offense?
3. Miami - Other than a midseason loss at Temple, the Redhawks have stepped up every single week, mostly on the strength of what is easily the league’s best defense. He won’t win the award, but LB Clayton Mullins deserves your consideration for Defensive Player of the Year. With an average MAC defense, the Redhawks have 4 wins tops, and Mullins seems to be in the mix on every big play.
4. Bowling Green - Who has the most wins in the conference? Yep, its the Falcons, after last week’s emphatic win at UB Stadium, which had already vexed East counterparts Ohio and Toledo. With a win this Friday in the Battle for I-95, the Falcons will have 8 wins, a 4-game winning streak, a rivalry win, and the league’s top passing attack. You think some bowl scouts aren’t dying for that combination?
5. Buffalo - Turner Gill’s awesome second campaign in Buffalo won’t end in Detroit, courtesy of the squad’s 31-17 loss to BGSU this weekend. I was a little surprised, as I thought the Bulls would knock off the Green, but it didn’t happen. Still, this is probably my pick to win the East in 2008. Drew Willy, James Starks, Mario Henry and the vastly underrated Naaman Roosevelt all return, giving Buffalo the league’s most potent returning combination on offense.
6. Akron - With the return of John Mackey, Akron’s defense has improved, peaking in a stunning shutout of Miami last week at Yager. Here’s the problem - the offense is worse than ever. Neither Chris Jacquemain or Carlton Jackson can throw downfield to save their life, and opposing Ds have been strong enough to take away Jabari Arthur from the Zip attack. The future is sophomore HB Alex Allen, who has looked explosive each of the three times I’ve seen the Zips in person.
7. Ohio - The Bobcats are a 3 point favorite over East Champ Miami on senior day at Peden, and I think it’s warranted. Now that Miami has the title wrapped up, they might lose a step, and with Ohio fighting for a .500 record on Senior Day, we should be in for a great ball game. Even though the Bobcats have been a bit of a disappointment this year, the D is still 2ndin the MAC in both sacks and TFL, led by Landon Cohen.
8. Toledo - After 85 seconds last Tuesday, the Rockets and Cardinals were on pace for 600 points. Both teams cooled their jets, but Toledo didn’t score in the second half, giving BSU a 41-20 victory. A victory this Friday over BGSU claims the Peace Pipe and gets Toledo to 6-6. The next time they get 7 home games, they’ll have to do better.
9. Eastern Michigan - You and I both know it: nobody has any clue how EMU is going to play on any given day. The league’s least predictable team beat up on the CMU defense for a 48-45 win, taking home the Michigan MAC trophy in style. Lost in all the unpredictability is the defense: how did a really salty unit in the early season, led by two of the league’s top 5 defenders, get so bad? In the last 5 MAC contests, EMU’s D held one opponent under 39 points.
10. Western Michigan - Credit to the Broncos. I’m telling you, the win at Iowa isn’t quite as impressive as some would like to think, but a major bravo for rebounding from a crushing loss to their rival to stun a Big Ten team in its own house. As bad as the MAC has been out of conference this year, this could really be the league’s signature win, not counting bowl season. Sad but true.
11. Temple - The Owls, like Buffalo, fought valiantly this year, but ran out of horses at season’s end. In hindsight, Adam DiMichele was easily one of the league’s most valuable players; Temple lost a ton of production and clutch play when he went down for the year. Al Golden and Turner Gill are going to be duking it out for league coach of the year honors for as long as both of them stick around.
12. Northern Illinois - The Huskies battled a capable Midshipmen squad, getting yet another 100 yard outing from Justin Anderson and what is backup QB Ryan Morris’ best game in awhile, certainly. Alex Kube was a beast, racking up 15 tackles, including 9 solos, but the Navy running attack was too much. Is this Joe Novak’s last year roaming the sidelines in DeKalb?
13. Kent State - Even in defeat, the Flashes represented the league well this weekend, battling Temple with a third-string QB, broken spirits, and nothing to play for but pride. The offense was brutal as Jon Brown threw 4 picks and converted just 2 of 12 third downs. Yet somehow KSU led 14-12 after three quarters before succumbing 24-14 in the fourth. Another valiant effort, another tough loss.