MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

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)

Sure, it’s only June, but with summer here and spring football all complete, the 2008 college football season is just around the corner. It’s time to start thinking about MAC football for the 2008 season and College Sports Fans has sent us a link to their 2008 college football preview which features all 13 MAC football schools.

The Central Michigan Chippewas will look for their 3rd straight MAC Championship and we can see what the experts think of the Chippewas in the 2008 CMU football preview. The Miami RedHawks faced CMU in the 2008 MAC Championship Game but ended their season 6-7 and did not go bowling. The 2008 Miami RedHawks football preview takes a look at Shane Montgomery’s RedHawks in 2008. Bowling Green and Ball State both represented the MAC in 2007-2008 bowl games, but both were blown out in embarassing fashion. The 2008 Bowling Green football preview looks at the Falcons in ‘08 while the Ball State football preview for 2008 reviews the Cardinals and star QB Nate Davis.

There are plenty of other storylines which will be interesting to follow in the MAC in 2008 including the expected continued improvement of Temple and Buffalo, the difficult early-season schedule for Frank Solich’s Ohio Bobcats, Toledo’s efforts to regain the MAC dominance and more. Check out the 2008 MAC football previews below for more if you are interested.

• Akron Zips 2008 football preview
• Ball State 2008 football preview
• Bowling Green 2008 football preview
• UB Bulls 2008 football preview
• Central Michigan 2008 football preview
• Eastern Michigan 2008 football preview
• Kent State 2008 football preview
• Miami RedHawks 2008 football preview
• Northern Illinois 2008 football preview
• Ohio Bobcats 2008 football preview
• Temple 2008 football preview
• Toledo 2008 football preview
• Western Michigan 2008 football preview

The prognosticators didn’t give the Ball State Cardinals a chance, and the Cardinals defense did nothing to disprove them. In the second annual International Bowl which pits a MAC team vs. a Big East opponent, the MAC has fallen to 0-2 as Ball State’s defense could not stop Ray Rice and Rutgers today. Rutgers 52-30 win was led by Ray Rice’s 280 rushing yards and Mike Teel’s 303 passing yards.

Fans can find Ball State apparel & merchandise online at MAC fan site VanDelay Sports.

On January 5th the Ball State Cardinals will play in their first bowl game in years as the 7-5 Cardinals will face off with 7-5 Rutgers from the Big East. The 2008 International Bowl preview is now live featuring all you need to know about the game that will kickoff at 12 noon ET on the 5th in Toronto, Ontario. The Intenational Bowl was first played in January 2007 and featured the Western Michigan Broncos losing a thriller to the Cincinnati Bearcats 27-24.

After falling behind 34-13 at the half, it didn’t look good for the MAC Champion Central Michigan Chippewas. But a 28-point 3rd Quarter saw CMU tie the score at 41-41 before a late drive by Central Michigan tied it again at 48-48 with just over a minute remaining. The time proved to be too much for CMU’s defense as Curtis Painter led Purdue’s offense to a game-winning FG and a 51-48 final in the 2007 Motor City Bowl. In the end, Painter finished with 546 yards passing and 3 TDs to top MAC Offensive Player of the Year Dan LeFevour’s 293 yards and 4 TD performance for CMU.

VanDelay Sports is your home for Central Michigan (CMU) Chippewas merchandise and Big Ten Fans has the Purdue apparel & clothing you need to support your favorite teams!

It’s halftime at the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, and the Central Michigan Chippewas trail the Purdue Boilermakers 34-13. The CMU defense has struggled to stop Purdue QB Curtis Painter and the Boilermakers’ offense allowing Painter to throw for 339 yards in the 1st half alone.

Central Michigan took an early 3-0 lead after an INT, but Purdue bounced back to score two TDs and take a 14-3 lead. Another CMU field goal cut the lead to 14-6, but Purdue answered with another Curtis Painter TD pass for a 21-6 lead before adding two FGs to make it 27-6. Central Michigan answered with a TD to cut it to 27-13 with around 4 minutes remaining in the half, but a time-consuming Purdue drive resulted in a rushing TD and a 34-13 lead at the half.  The College Sports Fans Motor City Bowl preview picked Purdue 45-28 over CMU and that offensive prediction looks to be rather conservative.

Purdue is playing in their 10th bowl game in 11 years; another bowl game victory would surely cause fans to flock to buy Purdue apparel & merchandise online & at their local stores.

The 2007 Motor City Bowl, like the Las Vegas Bowl, features a rematch between a BCS conference school and a non-BCS conference school. In both games, the BCS school won the first round with Purdue topping Central Michigan 45-22, but CMU has improved througout the season while Purdue has cooled off after their hot start. Check out the College Sports Fans complete Motor City Bowl preview.

As expected, 3 MAC football teams have accepted bowl bids at the conclusion of the MAC Football Championship today. MAC Champion Central Michigan (8-5) will be headed to the Motor City Bowl on December 26th against a likely Big Ten opponent, Ball State (7-5) will face Rutgers (7-5) in the International Bowl on January 6th and Bowling Green (8-4) will face Tulsa (9-4) also on January 6th.

Dan LeFevour is a beast. The CMU QB had 2 rushing TDs today as Central Michigan defeated Miami 35-10 in the MAC Championship Game. With 185 yards passing and 170 rushing, LeFevour accounted for over 350 yards and 3 TD on the day. The win means that CMU (8-5) will likely receive a bid to play in the Motor City Bowl and Miami (6-7) will likely not receive a bowl bid. Expect to see CMU in the Motor City Bowl, Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl and Ball State in the International Bowl when the invites are announced later today and this coming week.

Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour, the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, has added yet another amazing stat to his 2007 season. LeFevour joined former Texas QB Vince Young as the only two players in NCAA history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Young completed the feat during the 2005 season when Young was the Heisman runner-up and led Texas to the BCS National Championship over USC.