MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

In the quest to advance to the MAC Championship Game the Ohio Bobcats and Kent State Golden Flashes are keeping the pressure on Temple in what is turning out to be a great race. Ohio overcame a sluggish offense to score a 4th quarter TD and pull away with a win @ Ball State and improve to 6-3 and 4-1 in MAC play. Meanwhile, Kent State showed that they are indeed for real with a impressive win at home over Western Michigan. With Temple playing out of conference for the second time in three weeks, the Owls proved they have taken the next steps as a program in picking up win #6. Here is a look at the MAC East teams still in contention:

• Temple (6-2, 4-0 MAC) - The Owls have Miami and Kent State at home and road games @ Akron and a season finale @ Ohio which could be the deciding game in the MAC East race.
• Kent State (5-4, 4-1 MAC) - With wins over Ohio and WMU in consecutive weeks, the Golden Flashes have proven they are for real and could very well win the MAC East this season. Remaining games for Kent State include @ Akron and @ Temple before a home matchup with Buffalo to finish the regular season.
• Ohio (6-3, 4-1 MAC) - Ohio looked bad on offense in their 20-17 win at Ball State, but they got the much-needed win. Looking for just their second bowl berth since 1968, the Bobcats are off until Tuesday, November 10th when they play @ Buffalo. Ohio closes the regular season with home games against Northern Illinois and Temple.
• Bowling Green (3-5, 2-2 MAC) - BG is still in the race but does not face Temple this season and faces a potential elimination game tomorrow night @ Buffalo. While BG could very well run the table in their final three games (@ Miami, vs Akron, vs Toledo), having 3 losses including to Ohio and Buffalo would put the Falcons in a tough spot.
• Buffalo (3-5, 1-3 MAC) - Last week I didn’t even include the Bulls, but a closer look at UB’s remaining schedule is the reason they are still in the picture. Buffalo needs a 4-0 finish to end 5-3 in conference play and have a lot of help for a share of the MAC East title and that starts on Tuesday night vs Bowling Green. Remaining for UB include vs BG, vs Ohio, @ Miami and @ Kent State.

In the MAC West, Northern Illinois is the lone contender for CMU’s crown and the Huskies will likely have to keep winning to create a showdown on November 27 @ Central Michigan. CMU has a home game with Toledo and @ Ball State while NIU has EMU and Ball State before @ Ohio and the big game with CMU to end the regular season.

It seemed clear-cut. The Ohio Bobcats and Temple Owls seemed destined to meet in the final week of the season with the MAC East title and a berth in the MAC Championship Game on the line. While that still may very well happen, Kent State’s win @ Ohio on Saturday introduced the Golden Flashes into the MAC East race. With Temple 4-0 after defeating Toledo, Ohio and Kent State are now tied at 3-1 in MAC play with Bowling Green at 2-2 hanging on to slim hopes for the MAC East title.

Here is a look at what each team has remaining on their schedule with the understanding that the winner will meet the Central Michigan Chippewas in the MAC Championship. Be sure to check back at VanDelay Sports for the weekly MAC football scores to see the week’s MAC football results.
- Temple (4-0) - The Owls have 5 games remaining, 4 against MAC opponents as they host Miami and Kent State and travel to Akron and Ohio.
- Kent State (3-1) - The Flashes face Western Michigan and Buffalo at home and travel to Akron and Temple.
- Ohio (3-1) - Ohio is @ Ball State and @ Buffalo in the next two weeks then finishes the 2009 regular season with home games against Northern Illinois and Temple.
- Bowling Green (2-2) - The Falcons have games @ Buffalo and @ Miami in the next two weeks and end the regular season with home games against Akron and Toledo. At 3-5 overall right now, BG will likely have to win out to get a bowl game, and 4 straight to finish the season may get them a MAC East title if others falter.

Week 2 started strong for the MAC as Toledo pulled off an upset of Colorado on Friday night on ESPN, but several thrilling games on Saturday added to what is an impressive Week 2 for the MAC.

• Eastern Michigan, picked by most every media member to finish in last place in the tough MAC West, gave Northwestern all they could handle in a 27-24 loss when the Wildcats kicked the game-winning 49-yard field goal with 6 seconds remaining.
• Western Michigan blocked a Indiana FG late in the 4th Quarter to keep the score 23-17 and proceeded to drive inside the IU 10 yard line. However a fumble by WMU gave Indiana the ball with under two minutes remaining and gave IU the 23-19 win.
• Central Michigan appeared to have been defeated in their quest to upset intra-state rival Michigan State in East Landsing as their 2-point conversion attempt failed with 32 seconds left. With MSU up 27-26 the Chippewas perfected the onside kick and drove to the MSU 30 yard line where the 47-yard FG was no good. But a flurry of flags thanks to a Michigan State player jumping offside lead to another attempt, this time from 42 yards out, which sailed just inside the right upright for a CMU 29-27 upset of Michigan State.
• Buffalo was the big disappointment of the afternoon as the Bulls, winners @ UTEP last week, hosted Pitt and were blown out 54-27.

Fans can find great MAC merchandise including Western Michigan hats & clothing, CMU apparel & more on DFN Sports sites!

In other MAC action this weekend, Akron opens InfoCision Stadium against Morgan State and led 24-0 at the half. Akron’s nearby rival, Kent State, trailed Boston College by the same score at halftime of their game while tonight’s MAC games feature Ball State hosting New Hampshire, Northern Illinois hosting Western Illinois, Ohio @ North Texas and Bowling Green @ #25 Missouri. For all of the MAC scores for every MAC football game, keep updated with VanDelay Sports.

The annual MAC football recruiting report from VanDelay Sports has been released and team capsules are being added daily. Researched and written by Nick Gergosian, owner of VanDelaySports.com, the 2009 MAC football recruiting analysis is the most complete and comprehensive recruiting report that you will find online covering the Mid-American Conference. In addition to ranking the 13 MAC football programs against each other for the best recruiting class, VanDelay takes a look at each of the 13 teams in-depth, provides his star recruits and sleepers for each team and ranks the top incoming recruits individually.

It is expected that the entire 2009 MAC football recruiting analysis will be completed by the middle of February and can be found at VanDelaySports.com.

While the national attention has been on the Big Ten’s bowl struggles in the 2008-2009 season, back home the MAC has been a huge disappointment. We were pleased when it was announced that the MAC had a record-typing 5 bowl teams this holiday season, but MAC football teams unfortunately got off to a rough start in bowl games. It started with heavily-favored Central Michigan fell to Florida Atlantic in the Motor City Bowl, then continued with Northern Illinois’ loss to Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl and when Western Michigan was crushed by Rice in the Texas Bowl it proved that the MAC would have a losing bowl season.

Today, the Buffalo Bulls are playing in the first bowl game in school history led by head coach Turner Gill and QB Drew Willy. Gill, a candidate for the Nebraska job last season and the Auburn job this year, is considered a “rising star” in college football after turning Buffalo from one of the worst programs in college football into the 2008 MAC Champions. After the 0-3 start by MAC teams this season Buffalo has a chance to get the MAC a notch in the win column as they face the Connecticut Huskies in the International Bowl in Toronto, Ontario.

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.

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.

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