It’s a New Fall in MAC Land
Ahhh, Summer. The days of beaches, warm weather, and baseball. It’s a glorious season for most — the literal polar opposite of Winter when most everyone hibernates until they can return to the world.
It sucks.
With all do respect to Summer people, it is one of the worst seasons there is. The heat is unbearable, with global warming only pushing the mercury further up the thermometer with each coming year. The beach is full of sand that gets everywhere. Baseball? If I wanted to sit around and drink for three hours, I would rather do it watching Comedy Central. Summer is the perfect hibernation season, because when you awake, the best season awaits you.
Fall.
Cooler temperatures, colorful leaves, and oh yeah….FOOTBALL! It is back with the NFL starting up the pre-season and college teams in Fall camps. Less than 2 weeks separate us from actual, meaningful football games, so its as good as time as ever to shake off the moss and come back to life.
And what a season it should be. Last season, we wrote that the MAC had an identity crisis in terms of star power. What happened after that? Anthony Johnson, Nathan Rourke, and Sutton Smith exploded onto the scene. Marcus Childers, Diontae Johnson, Shakif Seymour, Kato Nelson, Caleb Huntley all showed excellent potential as well. And this is still a league with Tyree Jackson, James Gardner, and Cody Thompson (back from injury).
The MAC East features three strong contenders for the division crown this season, with Ohio the clear class of the division despite stumbling to Akron down the stretch a year ago. Meanwhile, the West will likely come down to NIU and Toledo (again), yet you can never count out a Western Michigan team that struggled after losing starting QB Jon Wassink before November (1–3 in final four games). Nor can you ignore the strong defense that Eastern Michigan is going to field, led by Maxx Crosby.
So rub the sleep out of your eyes, crack open a cold one (responsibly), and don your gear. It’s football season, baby!
