2018 MAC Pick’em — Week 7
It’s the halfway point of the regular season, and MAC play is heating up. It’s time to pick the upsets of the week.
There are only two full Saturdays of MAC football left, and that is sad. What is not sad is that these are some good football match-ups left, with the division races seeing multiple teams battle for the slightest edge before the weeknight games.
In the Pick’em, we saw a couple upsets in Week 6 to throw some of us through a loop. However, two people saw what the rest could not, and got perfect weeks. Therefore, a big congrats goes out to Robert Tomlinson (again) and Justin Coffin for their 14 point weeks.
As with two weeks ago, I won’t post the updated cumulative totals, but just know that Robert is starting to pull away from the pack. He’s 3 points ahead of 2nd, and a full 3 MAC games ahead of the cluster of pickers that make up 4th on down. He’s won 2 of the past 3 weeks, and finished a close 2nd in another week.
But Week 7 is a new week, and it’s a new opportunity for someone to gain ground. Let’s get to pickin’
Link to the form, if you cannot access it below.
Akron @ Buffalo — The Bulls have struggled in the passing game without Anthony Johnson. If he misses this week, that could be huge as the Zips were able to spring the upset last year in this game. That said, I like Buffalo as the better all-around team, and I don’t trust the Zips’ offense enough for them to win.
Toledo @ Eastern Michigan — Remember when EMU lost six straight one-score games last year? They’re at four right now, and I think they’ll make it five after this week. The Eagles keep it close, but Toledo has too much fire power on offense to not win.
Kent State @ Miami — The RedHawks apparently are good. Sure, they’ve only beaten Akron and Bowling Green, two of the worst teams in the pre-season polls, but a narrow loss to a decent WMU team is the only hiccup in an otherwise flawless start to MAC play. Kent State will keep it close, but Miami gets to 3–1 in MAC play before getting the tough half of the conference slate in the weeknight games.
Ball State @ Central Michigan — The Chips appear to be improving, but I just don’t see it happening enough against a solid Cardinal team that just got stifled against a great NIU defense. Fun Fact: Both of these teams have a 24–16 home loss to the Huskies this year.
Western Michigan @ Bowling Green — Does WMU still have Bellamy and Bogan? Yes? Easy money.
Ohio @ Northern Illinois — The pre-season favorites in the East and West facing off in DeKalb is everything we need and more. That said, neither team has stood-out thus far. NIU has a great defense, but the offense is putrid. Ohio has a decent offense, but the defense has been hit-and-miss. I’m gonna put my money on the NIU defense to show up and let this ride.
Game of the Week — Ohio @ NIU — Again, this is a possible MAC Championship Preview, so yeah. Game of the Week.
