MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

The question heading into tonight’s Ball State @ Central Michigan game on ESPN2 was could the undefeated #17 Ball State Cardinals beat the 2-time defending MAC Champions to take the “next step” as a program and keep their BCS hopes alive. The answer to that question was yes, Ball State could indeed remain undefeated as they picked off a Dan LeFevour pass with 27 seconds remaining to hold on for a 31-24 victory. Now, with a win at home against Western Michigan next weekend, Ball State would not only improve to 13-0 in the MAC football standings, but they would also be the MAC West Champions.

The win by Ball State means another thing; Ball State hats & gear will remain a hot item. All season long VanDelay Sports has seen increased interest in Ball State merchandise as the Cardinals have been advancing on their run with the past few weeks seeing even more traffic. One thing is for sure, if the Ball State Cardinals can continue this run and somehow make a BCS Bowl game it would be huge for both Ball State University and the Mid-American Conference.

Another college basketball season will begin this month and the MAC is preparing for the 2008-2009 basketball season as well. College Sports Fans has released their 2008-2009 college basketball preview which includes over 150 of the top teams in the nation including 6 MAC basketball programs which are listed below.

• Central Michigan basketball preview 2008-2009
• Eastern Michigan basketball preview 2008-2009
• Kent State basketball preview 2008-2009
• Miami RedHawks basketball preview 2008-2009
• Ohio Bobcats basketball preview 2008-2009
• Western Michigan basketball preview 2008-2009

One look at the MAC football standings tells me a lot at first glance. The MAC West appears to be playing out as expected while th MAC East is wide open. The MAC Media members voted Central Michigan, Ball State and Western Michigan to take the top three spots in the MAC West in 2008, and these teams have not disappointed. Ball State has started hot at 7-0 overall, 3-0 in the MAC while Western Michigan’s 6-1 start to the season (4-0 MAC) has been a slight surprise. Meanwhile, two-time defending MAC Champion Central Michigan is 4-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play. While NIU has looked solid at 3-3 overall and 2-1 in MAC play, it’s hard to think that the Huskies can contend with these three talented squads.

Over in the East, basically everyone is in the race and controls their own destiny. The lone team with just one MAC loss is Bowling Green at 1-1 in the MAC and 2-3 overall. Akron, Buffalo & Ohio are all 1-2 in MAC play and Miami also has two MAC losses at 0-2 inside the Mid-American Conference. Temple looked like a title and bowl contender in 2008, but their 1-3 MAC start includes a loss @ Buffalo on a Hail Mary pass. Kent State appears to be the only team in the East who can be written off after losses to both Ohio and Akron in the past two weeks and a 0-3 MAC record.

The three 12 noon ET kickoff games for today are all at halftime as CMU looks solid, Ohio has dug themselves a hole and Temple is getting blown out by Penn State. A 60-yard FG attempt by Purdue fell short as the Boilermakers & Chippewas are tied at 10-10 at the half. While Ohio was able to hold Northwestern to field goals in their first three scoring drives, a late touchdown by Northwestern has extended their lead to 16-0 at the half thanks in part to two more Boo Jackson turnovers for the Bobcats. Meanwhile Temple survived the 1st quarter 0-0 but Penn State has put up 28 points in the 2nd quarter to open up a 28-0 halftime lead.

While Nate Davis is known as one of the top QBs in the MAC and for his careful decision making, it was Dante Love that stole the show from Davis and his 4 TD passes. Davis found Love for 2 TD passes and Love also rushed for a TD as he netted 336 yards on the day in Ball State’s 35-23 win at home over Navy. The Cardinals not only were featured on ESPN for the game, but a fantastic crowd of 22,517 showed up in Muncie to cheer the home team on to victory.

> Buy Ball State hats & apparel online through VanDelay Sports, the leading site for MAC football coverage!

The remainder of the MAC plays on Saturday as 10 games feature MAC teams versus BCS conference opponents and MAC teams face #2 Georgia (CMU) and #3 Ohio State (Ohio).

After a strong start on Thursday night and Friday which saw MAC teams go 5-1 in their first 6 games of the opening weekend of the 2008 college football season, Saturday was not so kind. Let’s start with the good news first as Bowling Green kicked off @ #25 Pittsburgh on ESPNU and handled the Pitt Panthers in a 27-17 upset that had ESPN and ABC personalities talking about the Falcons all day. But while good showings and close games were to come on Saturday, none of the other five games resulted in wins for MAC football programs. Akron fell @ #13 Wisconsin 38-17, Ohio led in the 4th quarter only to fall @ Wyoming 21-20, Northern Illinois lost @ Minnesota in the final minute of the game 31-27, and both Western Michigan and Kent State lost by 20+ points. For details check out the VanDelay Sports Week #1 MAC football recap.

So the MAC looks to Week #2 with 13 games and several big-name opponents including Miami @ Michigan, Ohio @ #2 Ohio State, Central Michigan @ #1 Georgia, Toledo @ Arizona, Akron @ Syracuse and more. Tune in this weekend for more MAC football and the Week #2 MAC football preview should be posted on VanDelaySports.com in the next few days.

Fans can find a great selection of MAC gear including Bowling Green clothing & merchandise online to show their colors wherever they go!

The 2008 college football season began on Thursday night with 5 games involving MAC football teams. Buffalo topped UTEP 42-17, defending MAC Champion Central Michigan knocked off Eastern Illinois 31-12, Eastern Michigan crushed Indiana State 52-0 and Ball State easily rolled to a 48-10 win over Northeastern 14 for the four wins for the MAC. Miami was the lone team to lose last night as they fell at home to SEC member Vanderbilt 34-13.

In Nick’s MAC football picks for Week #1 of the 2008 season, Nick picked Buffalo and Miami, both favorites in their home games, to cover the spread, thus a 1-1 record ATS. Since the three games against FCS teams have no lines, Nick went 4-1 overall and 1-1 ATS in the first five games of the weekend.

The halfway point of Week #1 of the 2008 MAC football season comes tonight after the Temple game is completed. Temple is looking strong @ Army right now leading 28-7 late in the 3rd Quarter. For reference, Nick picked Temple, a 7.5 point favorite to beat Army by 5.

The Mid-American Conference’s two most trusted and respected media/fan sites, VanDelay Sports and MAC Report Online, have both released their 2008 MAC football preview. VanDelay Sports, truly a fan site aimed at providing fans with enjoyable MAC football coverage including the weekly Nick’s MAC football picks during each MAC football season, released their 2008 MAC pigskin  preview earlier this week. Meanwhile, the respected media site MAC Report Online has released their 2008 MAC football preview which also has “in-depth analysis and previews of all thirteen MAC squads with information developed through extensive interviews with each of the thirteen MAC head coaches, inside the position battles on each team and current, updated information.” The MAC Report Online preview is available for jus $4.95 in digital, downloadable format.

MAC sports fans can find both of these previews by clicking the links above as well as a nice selection of MAC clothing & merchandise online.

After a surprising move last week where Ohio men’s basketball coach Tim O’Shea announced he was leaving to fill the same spot at Bryant University, the Bobcats were left without a leader. One of the top candidates was rumored to be John Groce, Thad Matta’s top assistant at Ohio State, and Fox Sports is now reporting that Groce has agreed in principle to a contract to become Ohio’s new head coach. Groce has worked for Herb Sendek @ North Carolina State as well as Matta at Xavier and Ohio State and is just 36 years old. With the hiring, the only open Division I college basketball head coaching position has been filled.

With both the Lindy’s and Athlon Sports 2008 college football preview magazines now on newstands, we can now reveal how both publications see the MAC playing out in 2008.

Athlon Sports, the publication I tend to prefer from year to year, is the preview we will begin with. In their rankings of all 11 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences for 2008 they have selected the MAC #9, leaving the WAC and the Sun Belt below. Yes, the same WAC that produced back-to-back BCS bowl teams in Hawaii and Boise State. They also rank CMU’s Butch Jones as the 10th best new coach for the 2007 season.

Here is the Athlon Sports expected finish or prediction for the MAC in 2008. Please note the number in paranthesis is the team’s national rank per Athlon.

MAC West Prediction 2008
1. Central Michigan (62)
2. Ball State (75)
3. Western Michigan (82)
4. Northern Illinois (97)
5. Toledo (103)
6. Eastern Michigan (112)

MAC East Prediction 2008
1. Miami (88)
2. Bowling Green (89)
3. Buffalo (92)
4. Kent State (94)
5. Temple (101)
6. Ohio (110)
7. Akron (113)