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The Weekly Wrapups will look back at the games of the weekend, such as it is, and present my conference power rankings. They get shorter when conference play starts.
The MAC went 6-7 against 13 out of conference teams this weekend, a much better start than they had in 2008. Broken down, the league was 6-0 against FCS teams, 0-1 v. Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, and independent Army. So it wasn’t great, since nobody in the MAC beat a FBS team. That will change Thursday, no matter what. Let’s look at the games.
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Weekend previews will appear in this space on Thursdays and Fridays, to look at the games happening on Saturday and some Sundays. Of course, weeknight games will get special attention, with posts of their own.
Last year, the Mid American Conference had an abysmal opening week. This one should be better, with a ton of FCS games and even some upset potential in the bigger games. We hit the Ball State, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Kent State and Northern Illinois games from tonight in our earlier posts, and we’ll give Toledo & Temple a once-over tomorrow. For now, let’s see what the weekend holds for the rest of the MAC. All games are Saturday, all times Eastern, all rankings USA Today, and lines are from Vegas.com and subject to change before kickoff.
*When Army & Navy play a non-BCS team, we’ll just lump them in with their opponents. When they play against the BCS, I’ll probably include them with the Sun Belt, since they have only 9 teams and are generally in the East.
12:00 PM, ESPN- Miami at #3 Florida: Obviously, this is not a game that many people have the RedHawks penciled in to win. Keeping it close to halftime will be an accomplishment, but after that it’s tough to compete against the depth of an elite program, especially in the 2 PM Florida heat. Line: Gators by 36.5. That’s a lot of points for a team that’s going to probably lead early and get some young players on the field. I’d take Miami plus more than five touchdowns.
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The team previews are done, so we’re zooming out a level to look at each conference as a whole, and we’re doing it fast- football is very nearly upon us.
The Mid-American Conference had what might have been a bit of a breakout year in 2009. Both division races went down to the last two weeks, with the East not being decided until the MAC’s now-traditional Thanksgiving Friday season finales. But the football was exciting and competitive all through the season, the league showed up for two of the best bowl games of the year, and Central Michigan ended the year 23 & 24 in the polls.
For 2010, we have two clear favorites and a few question marks right behind them about who will emerge- and someone always does- to push the favorites right to the end of the season. In the West, Northern Illinois is loaded and ready to chase down their first conference championship since 1983. In the East, the resurgent Temple team looks to avenge their final-Friday loss to Ohio and take their place in the title game.
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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
After a 9-4 2008 campaign, Western Michigan was expected to be among the best in the MAC last year, but ultimately they weren’t at the level of Northern Illinois and Central Michigan. The losses piled up at the end of the year, leaving the Broncos at 5-7 and home for the postseason.
I feel like I’ve written this 30 times in the last three weeks, but the Broncos are back with a lot of returning players, but lose talented QB Tim Hiller and 1100 yard rusher Brandon West. If they can find replacements there, then the other 8 players who do return on offense (and seven on defense) could be enough to keep WMU in the hunt this year.
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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.
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The Mid-Season Report Cards are a subjective look using objective numbers with a look toward the remainder of the season as well. Teams are being reviewed in random order once they reach 6 games.
The Western Michigan Broncos have had a season that is nothing short of schizophrenic so far. They opened the season with some upset buzz going into their game at Michigan, but got blown off the field. They kept it closer but still lost to Indiana, then got things going with wins over Miami OH and Hofstra. The confusing part is in week 5 and 6, when they lost to Northern Illinois 38-3, then came back around and beat Toledo 58-26.
- Wins: C. 3 wins, no major upsets, it’s an average start. Read Post
Once again, congratulations go out to all the players of the week and their teams:
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