Ohio tops Buffalo to keep heat on Temple in East
After consecutive games where the offense looked like a 3-6 team rather than a 6-3 team’s offense, the Ohio Bobcats started strong Tuesday night @ Buffalo. The Bulls, a team that looks a lot like the 2008 Bobcats, were able to hold Ohio close and tie the game in the 4th quarter at 24-24, but a late FG and defensive INT sealed the road win for the Bobcats.
The win means Ohio is now 5-1 in MAC play, just 1/2 game behind East Division leader Temple (5-0). The win also mean the Bobcats are very likely to be heading to a bowl game this postseason; their 2nd bowl appearance in 4 years after a 34-year drought that dated back to 1968. The loss for Buffalo guarantees that UB will not be playing a postseason game this season.
The Bobcats have a home game against Northern Illinois a week from Saturday followed by a home game against Temple to close the season on Black Friday. If they win out they head to the MAC Championship, however a loss to NIU means Ohio will need Temple to slip up as well before the two meet. Either way, Ohio controls their own destiny, something any team would ask for this time of year.
The current MAC bowl picture looks great for CMU, Temple and Ohio with Northern Illinois needing another win to better-position themselves. Bowling Green’s schedule may line up perfectly and Kent State controls their own destiny while WMU and Toledo need minor miracles to play in bowl games in 2009-2010. Akron, Buffalo, Miami, Ball State and EMU are all eliminated from bowl eligibility this season.
MAC football continues this week with Toledo @ Central Michigan on Wednesday night, Bowling Green @ Miami and Ball State @ Northern Illinois on Thursday night, Temple @ Akron on Friday night and WMU @ EMU on Saturday.
Tags: mac championship, MAC Championship Game, mac east standings, mac football bowl games, mac football bowl teams
November 11th, 2009 at 9:36 am
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