2018 MAC Power Rankings Week 14: The East/West Chasm is set
Our power rankings show the East having an odd up year compared to the West. Is it sustainable?
Free on Saturday’s Week 14 Power Rankings
T-1. Buffalo Bulls
Last Week’s Rank: T-1
Week 13 Result: Win @ Bowling Green 44–14
The Bulls took care of business against the Falcons to avoid any tiebreakers and win the MAC East outright. Ohio probably should be up there, but you can’t lose to Miami and NIU. Lance Leipold’s squad now looks for its 2nd MAC Championship in as many appearances after winning way back in 2008.
T-1. Ohio Bobcats
Last Week’s Rank: T-1
Week 13 Result: Win vs Akron 49–28
Jumped out to a 21–0 first quarter lead against the Zips and pretty much coasted to a moral victory. Ohio is going to rue both the fumbles against NIU and the missed Zervos kick against Miami, but at 8–4, the Bobcats hold the 2nd best record in the MAC this season and that’s good enough to earn a top MAC bowl.
3. Miami RedHawks
Last Week’s Rank: T-1
Week 13 Result: Win vs Ball State 42–21
The first half really set-up a potential Ohio/Buffalo boat-race on Black Friday, but the RedHawks hammered home a three score win in the 2nd half to down the Cardinals and earn the Red Bird Trophy and get bowl eligible. 6–6 with zero non-conference wins probably keeps Miami home during bowl season, but Chuck Martin did a great job to steal wins from Ohio and NIU down the stretch to give the RedHawks a chance.
4. Northern Illinois Huskies
Last Week’s Rank: T-1
Week 13 Result: Loss @ Western Michigan 28–21
Man, NIU really took the “back into the MAC Championship” thing to heart, huh? Back-to-back losses to Miami and WMU aren’t bad, but the lack of a consistent offense (especially against the sieve that is WMU) really has to worry Huskie fans before Friday’s title tilt against a lethal Buffalo team. Still, NIU is a lock to make a bowl because of the division title, and might finish the season 7–7. That’d be fun!
5. Eastern Michigan Eagles
Last Week’s Rank: 5
Week 13 Result: Win @ Kent State 28–20
The Eagles hung on to beat the rebuilding Kent State team and clinched a 7–5 record. Then they dropped this:
Look, Eastern is going bowling. They didn’t even need that. After beating Purdue, Toledo, and holding their own in the West (lost to NIU in OT, Buffalo by a TD, and WMU the one week the Bronco defense decided to show up), the Eagles are gravy.
6. Toledo Rockets
Last Week’s Rank: 6
Week 13 Result: Win vs Central Michigan 51–13
Easily handled the Chippewas and then got the Bahamas Bowl bid later in the weekend. The MAC West is now NIU and Ball State shy of hitting Bahamas Bingo after the three Michigan MAC schools went in prior seasons. This should be nice to see what the future holds at QB and RB, as this season wasn’t great, but showed some promise at most positions.
7. Western Michigan Broncos
Last Week’s Rank: 8
Week 13 Result: Win vs Northern Illinois 28–21
Look, the win over NIU is good and all, but the Huskies clearly didn’t want to be in cold Kalamazoo on a Tuesday night. That said, the defense looked better (only allowed two touchdowns) and Kaleb Eleby looked more comfortable when he wasn’t getting lit up by Sutton Smith. There are still things that need to be addressed in the off-season, and even at 7–5, the Ball State loss will loom over a potential bowl bid and may be the reason WMU doesn’t go bowling again! It’ll be a long Sunday for Bronco fans.
8. Ball State Cardinals
Last Week’s Rank: 7
Week 13 Result: Loss @ Miami 42–21
Hung with Miami for a half, but got outscored 35–0 down the stretch. Mike Neu’s seat is plenty warm for next year, and losing both James Gilbert and Riley Neal to transfer won’t help. However, Drew Plitt showed some promise in November, and Caleb Huntley/Malik Dunner should provide a solid 1–2 combo out of the backfield. Just gotta fix that run defense, and this is a team that could contend. I swear there’s not an echo from the past few seasons, why do you ask?
9. Kent State Golden Flashes
Last Week’s Rank: T-10
Week 13 Result: Loss vs Eastern Michigan 28–20
A 28–20 loss at home to Eastern Michigan is nothing to hang your head about after a rebuilding year. Sean Lewis did about everything right and this team looks much more competitive than it did over the past 2–3 seasons. Ignore the last place finish in the East, because Kent lost two games by a single point (Ohio[!] and Akron), got Ball State in September, and hung with two solid West teams in the final two weeks. There are a lot of young players that got experience next year, and the Flashes are on the rise.
10. Bowling Green Falcons
Last Week’s Rank: 9
Week 13 Result: Loss vs Buffalo 44–14
Well, the Falcons couldn’t descend the East into chaos, but back-to-back wins under Carl Pelini were a nice saving grace to an otherwise awful season. Today, the Falcons hired Boston College OC Scot Loeffler and the reviews have been mixed at best. His offenses were “eh” at best, but maybe he’s a better head coach. Still, it feels like BG is stuck in MAC East purgatory for the near future.
11. Akron Zips
Last Week’s Rank: T-10
Week 13 Result: Loss @ Ohio 49–28
Got hammered by an angry Ohio team that had literally nothing to play for other than revenge for last year’s de facto MAC East Title game, thus knocking Akron out of bowl eligibility. However, the Zips are about that payday and travel to South Carolina this weekend to play their 12th game before deciding what to do with Terry Bowden.
12. Central Michigan Chippewas
Last Week’s Rank: 12
Week 13 Result: Loss @ Toledo 51–13
Getting blown out by Toledo was expected. CMU firing John Bonamego was not. It’s a perplexing move as Bono had been recruiting the state of Michigan fine, and had a decent defense. This particular offense was rough, but after making a bowl in his first three seasons, there really wasn’t a reason to fire him. Now the Chippewas have to do a coaching search with the expectation of “win now or else”. Good luck with that.
