The MAC had an eventful weekend, although it actually all ended by Friday. We knew Central Michigan was on to the conference final, but Ohio has joined them by ending Temple’s impressive win streak at 9 and taking the East division. The rest of the league did wrap up play last week as well, with one team earning their all-important 7th win, and another it’s 12th loss.
MAC Standings
| East | ||
| Conf | Overall | |
| Ohio | 7-1 | 9-3 |
| Temple | 7-1 | 9-3 |
| Bowling Green | 6-2 | 7-5 |
| Kent State | 4-4 | 5-7 |
| Buffalo | 3-5 | 5-7 |
| Akron | 2-6 | 3-9 |
| Miami | 1-7 | 1-11 |
| West | ||
| Conf | Overall | |
| Central Michigan* | 8-0 | 10-2 |
| Northern Illinois | 5-3 | 7-5 |
| Western Michigan | 4-4 | 5-7 |
| Toledo | 3-5 | 5-7 |
| Ball State | 2-6 | 2-10 |
| Eastern Michigan | 0-8 | 0-12 |
Week 13 Games
Ball State 22, Western Michigan 17- This one happened last Tuesday but I completely whiffed on mentioning it. Ball State grabs their second win of the year while denying Western Michigan bowl eligibility (although it probably wouldn’t have mattered, as we learned in the last post, right?)
Ohio 35, Temple 17- This one was close for a while, but Ohio really laid the wood to Temple in the second half and clinched the division in grand style. Temple should still find a nice bowl home, given the great story of their turnaround this year and their old Big East rivals hanging around.
Central Michigan 45, Northern Illinois 31- NIU went from a shot at the conference title to down and out and needing a helping hand to find a bowl home in 6 days. Their second loss in a row puts them in the group hoping nothing weird happens to shut them out of an at-large bowl bid.
Bowling Green 38, Toledo 24- Lost a bit in the drama of the conference title race has been Bowling Green’s late season charge into bowl contention and third place in the East. Unlike NIU and a 2 game losing streak, BGSU’s bowl resume now has a four game win streak and 6 of the last 7, plus the nation’s #3 receiver and #8 overall passing attack.
Akron 28, Eastern Michigan 21- Eastern Michigan’s 0-12 season came to an end at the hands of Akron, in only their third win of the year after sparking Kent State’s tailspin a few weeks before.
Buffalo 9, Kent State 6- Speaking of Kent State’s Tailspin, yeah, this happened. The Flashes collapsed far worse than Northern Illinois did- after beating Western Michigan and Ohio, thus controlling their own destiny on the path to the championship game, they lost their last three to Akron, Temple, and now Buffalo. Buffalo climbs up to 5-7, a disappointing but not entirely disastrous record.
Week 13 Power Rankings
This is essentially going to be the final ranking for the bottom eight, although I may adjust it a bit. The top 3 or 4 could shuffle after the title game, and then after bowl season, but it’s probably going to look a lot like this anyway.
- Central Michigan
- Ohio
- Temple
- Bowling Green
- Northern Illinois
- Buffalo
- Toledo
- Kent State
- Western Michigan
- Ball State
- Akron
- Miami
- Eastern Michigan