After a respectable 10-1 record week #1 with some easy games, week #2 has more interesting match ups and some potential for some nice MAC out-of-conference wins. Here’s how I see it…


Nick’s Pick: Maryland 38 – BGSU 33
Comment: First meeting between these two schools as the Terps beat I-AA Richmond 50-21 last week while Matt Johnson threw for 424 yards in a 59-30 loss at Tennessee. This is a game the Falcons can win so don’t be surprised if they do, but until their defense shows anything it’s hard to pick BG on the road.

Nick’s Pick: Penn State 26 – Buffalo 14
Comment: UB was impressive in dismantling I-AA Albany last week 51-14 while Penn State was quite lethargic in their 27-10 loss to Temple. Again, this is another MAC/Big Ten match up that the MAC can win especially if QB Joe Licata has a big game.

Nick’s Pick: Wisconsin 44 – Miami 17
Comment: Wisconsin is looking to forget their 35-17 loss to Alabama last week and Miami is the perfect team to come to town for that to happen. The RedHawks have a lot of youth and are two years away from contending in the MAC’s east division. Chuck Martin’s team may keep it close for a while but once the running game gets going for the Badgers it will get ugly quick.

Nick’s Pick: UMass 38 – Colorado 37
Comment: Colorado’s program is a mess losing at lowly Hawaii last week 28-20 and going 2-10 last season which included a 41-38 win at UMass. QB Blake Frohnapfel is a legit pro prospect and should have a big day throwing to WR Tajae Sharpe.

Nick’s Pick: Central Michigan 30 – Monmouth 10
Comment: Monmouth opened up the season with a 27-19 loss to Holy Cross and returns 15 starters. The Chips played extremely well in their 24-13 home loss to Oklahoma State last week. Expect Central to win but the score may not be the blow out many MAC fans might expect.

Nick’s Pick: NIU 56 – Murray State 16
Comment: Murray State beat D-II Kentucky Wesleyan last week 52-14. KWU is a very bad D-II team and would get creamed by Grand Valley State, Tiffin or Ashland out of the GLIAC. A more telling score was the Racers 45-14 loss at Western Michigan last week. For NIU this game is a welcome breather after a tighter than expected 38-30 win against UNLV and before they travel to Ohio State and Boston College for the remainder of September.

Nick’s Pick: Wyoming 33 – Eastern Michigan 24
Comment: Like last week’s loss to Old Dominion, this is a game Eastern can win. The Cowboys opened the season losing at home to I-AA North Dakota 24-13 as former North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl is rebuilding the program from the ground up. Eastern has lost 16-straight road openers by an average of 28-points; this game will be much closer than those.

Nick’s Pick: Arkansas 48 – Toledo 23
Comment: If the Hogs’ 52-14 victory over NIU last year is an indication of what Toledo is walking into then this game could very well be more of the same. In last week’s non-contest against Stony Brook the Rockets offense had several passes dropped that killed drives and they missed tackles on defense. That won’t cut it this week against a team that will likely be nationally ranked by seasons end.

Nick’s Pick: Kent State 23 – Delaware State 13
Comment: The Golden Flashes are dreadful and their offense is very offensive. The Hornets lost to I-AA Liberty last week 32-13 and are equally bad on offense. KSU will get a much needed win but somehow, someway, they need to find some play makers.

Nick’s Pick: Pitt 33 – Akron 16
Comment: The Zips handled the Panthers last year 21-10. Last week Pitt defeated I-AA Youngstown State 45-37. The Zips held their own for a half before Oklahoma took over in the second half. The good news is that Akron has the defense to slow down and compete with Pitt…the bad news is that Akron doesn’t have enough quality play from the QB position to put much of a scare into Pitt.

Nick’s Pick: Western Michigan 35 – Georgia Southern 28
Comment: At the beginning of the year this is a game I planned on picking GSU coming off their 9-3 season. GSU returns just 13 starters and that inexperience showed in last week’s 44-0 loss at West Virginia. The shutout was the first in 20-seasons for the Eagles, 242 straight games to be exact. Western was quite impressive in their home loss to Michigan State and certainly has the playmakers to light up the scoreboard.

Nick’s Pick: Texas A&M 62 – Ball State 21
Comment: This game will be ugly no matter how good of a coach Pete Lembo is…the Aggies beat Arizona State last week 38-17 and are loaded with talent across the board. The Cards had a nice 48-36 win over VMI last week but will be clearly outclassed here.

Nick’s Pick: Ohio 27 – Marshall 23
Comment: On paper this should be the MAC’s game of the week. A true local backyard brawl along the Ohio River where the home team has won four of the past five contests and the Bobcats have won three of the past five meetings. Marshall needed two pick-sixes from Tiquan Lang in their come-from-behind win over Big Ten bottom-feeder Purdue last week 41-31. The Bobcats were never really threatened in their 45-28 road win at Idaho. Expect a full house in Athens, an animated crowd, a very close and hard hitting game, and an OU victory where the Marching 110 will put on a tremendous halftime and post-game show.

If you are right this would be a decent week for the mac. Those WMU and Ohio games are the biggest games of the week going against our peer conferences top teams.

EDIT:

Quote:A more telling score was the Racers 45-14 loss at Western Michigan last week.

*Last Year. We played another MSU last week. The big, bad kind. :)

very nice write-up, Nick! well done, especially the Ohio segment.

GO-HIO!

(09-09-2015 09:59 PM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote:  After a respectable 10-1 record week #1 with some easy games, week #2 has more interesting match ups and some potential for some nice MAC out-of-conference wins. Here’s how I see it…


Nick’s Pick: Maryland 38 – BGSU 33
Comment: First meeting between these two schools as the Terps beat I-AA Richmond 50-21 last week while Matt Johnson threw for 424 yards in a 59-30 loss at Tennessee. This is a game the Falcons can win so don’t be surprised if they do, but until their defense shows anything it’s hard to pick BG on the road.

Nick’s Pick: Penn State 26 – Buffalo 14
Comment: UB was impressive in dismantling I-AA Albany last week 51-14 while Penn State was quite lethargic in their 27-10 loss to Temple. Again, this is another MAC/Big Ten match up that the MAC can win especially if QB Joe Licata has a big game.

Nick’s Pick: Wisconsin 44 – Miami 17
Comment: Wisconsin is looking to forget their 35-17 loss to Alabama last week and Miami is the perfect team to come to town for that to happen. The RedHawks have a lot of youth and are two years away from contending in the MAC’s east division. Chuck Martin’s team may keep it close for a while but once the running game gets going for the Badgers it will get ugly quick.

Nick’s Pick: UMass 38 – Colorado 37
Comment: Colorado’s program is a mess losing at lowly Hawaii last week 28-20 and going 2-10 last season which included a 41-38 win at UMass. QB Blake Frohnapfel is a legit pro prospect and should have a big day throwing to WR Tajae Sharpe.

Nick’s Pick: Central Michigan 30 – Monmouth 10
Comment: Monmouth opened up the season with a 27-19 loss to Holy Cross and returns 15 starters. The Chips played extremely well in their 24-13 home loss to Oklahoma State last week. Expect Central to win but the score may not be the blow out many MAC fans might expect.

Nick’s Pick: NIU 56 – Murray State 16
Comment: Murray State beat D-II Kentucky Wesleyan last week 52-14. KWU is a very bad D-II team and would get creamed by Grand Valley State, Tiffin or Ashland out of the GLIAC. A more telling score was the Racers 45-14 loss at Western Michigan last week. For NIU this game is a welcome breather after a tighter than expected 38-30 win against UNLV and before they travel to Ohio State and Boston College for the remainder of September.

Nick’s Pick: Wyoming 33 – Eastern Michigan 24
Comment: Like last week’s loss to Old Dominion, this is a game Eastern can win. The Cowboys opened the season losing at home to I-AA North Dakota 24-13 as former North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl is rebuilding the program from the ground up. Eastern has lost 16-straight road openers by an average of 28-points; this game will be much closer than those.

Nick’s Pick: Arkansas 48 – Toledo 23
Comment: If the Hogs’ 52-14 victory over NIU last year is an indication of what Toledo is walking into then this game could very well be more of the same. In last week’s non-contest against Stony Brook the Rockets offense had several passes dropped that killed drives and they missed tackles on defense. That won’t cut it this week against a team that will likely be nationally ranked by seasons end.

Nick’s Pick: Kent State 23 – Delaware State 13
Comment: The Golden Flashes are dreadful and their offense is very offensive. The Hornets lost to I-AA Liberty last week 32-13 and are equally bad on offense. KSU will get a much needed win but somehow, someway, they need to find some play makers.

Nick’s Pick: Pitt 33 – Akron 16
Comment: The Zips handled the Panthers last year 21-10. Last week Pitt defeated I-AA Youngstown State 45-37. The Zips held their own for a half before Oklahoma took over in the second half. The good news is that Akron has the defense to slow down and compete with Pitt…the bad news is that Akron doesn’t have enough quality play from the QB position to put much of a scare into Pitt.

Nick’s Pick: Western Michigan 35 – Georgia Southern 28
Comment: At the beginning of the year this is a game I planned on picking GSU coming off their 9-3 season. GSU returns just 13 starters and that inexperience showed in last week’s 44-0 loss at West Virginia. The shutout was the first in 20-seasons for the Eagles, 242 straight games to be exact. Western was quite impressive in their home loss to Michigan State and certainly has the playmakers to light up the scoreboard.

Nick’s Pick: Texas A&M 62 – Ball State 21
Comment: This game will be ugly no matter how good of a coach Pete Lembo is…the Aggies beat Arizona State last week 38-17 and are loaded with talent across the board. The Cards had a nice 48-36 win over VMI last week but will be clearly outclassed here.

Nick’s Pick: Ohio 27 – Marshall 23
Comment: On paper this should be the MAC’s game of the week. A true local backyard brawl along the Ohio River where the home team has won four of the past five contests and the Bobcats have won three of the past five meetings. Marshall needed two pick-sixes from Tiquan Lang in their come-from-behind win over Big Ten bottom-feeder Purdue last week 41-31. The Bobcats were never really threatened in their 45-28 road win at Idaho. Expect a full house in Athens, an animated crowd, a very close and hard hitting game, and an OU victory where the Marching 110 will put on a tremendous halftime and post-game show.

nick, if you are right, a lot of bettors will get rich on UMass.

They are 3.75 : 1 straight up over Co. OR +13 taking points.

In English, take UMass put down 10 bucks and it returns $47.50 for a win of 37.50.

UMass sounds like a best bet Saturday.

EMU is 4:1.

GAMES WE WILL WIN:
- NIU (vs Murray State)
- CMU (vs Monmouth)
- Kent State (vs Delaware St)
Expect: 3-0

GAMES WE CAN WIN (Ordered by Probability):
1 WMU (vs Georgia Southern)
2 UMass (vs Colorado)
2 Ohio (vs Marshall)
4 EMU (vs Wyoming)
4 BGSU (vs Maryland)
6 Buffalo (vs Penn State)
7 Akron (vs Pitt)
Expect: 2-5

GAMES WE WON'T WIN:
- Toledo (vs Arkansas)
- Ball State (vs Texas AM)
- Miami (vs Wisconsin)
Expect: 0-3

Pretty solid picks as always. I'm very interested in the MD-BG game and UB-Penn St. I think BG has a real shot. The MD quarterback Perry Hills did not impress me at all last week. They're punt returner was amazing though.

I'm hoping UB keeps it close. The Bulls really lost the ambush factor based on what happened to PSU last weekend.

(09-10-2015 12:48 PM)zrb2 Wrote:  Pretty solid picks as always. I'm very interested in the MD-BG game and UB-Penn St. I think BG has a real shot. The MD quarterback Perry Hills did not impress me at all last week. They're punt returner was amazing though.

I'm hoping UB keeps it close. The Bulls really lost the ambush factor based on what happened to PSU last weekend.

And BG's punt coverage was abysmal last week. If we never punt, we might pull this one off.

I pick The Herd to beat the Bobcats.

(09-10-2015 06:35 PM)GreenSteve Wrote:  I pick The Herd to beat the Bobcats.

I rate the game as a toss-up, so up your pick is totally understandable. However, as I recall back in the day, Herd fans who did not pick the Herd (even if they were playing the Green Bay Packers) would not qualify for a "Stewie Dog", right?

(09-10-2015 08:03 PM)T-Town Wrote:  

(09-10-2015 06:35 PM)GreenSteve Wrote:  I pick The Herd to beat the Bobcats.

I rate the game as a toss-up, so up your pick is totally understandable. However, as I recall back in the day, Herd fans who did not pick the Herd (even if they were playing the Green Bay Packers) would not qualify for a "Stewie Dog", right?

That's right! Great memory...

There's no Stewart's Hot Dog on the line here... but I still pick The Herd.

And I didn't give Vandelay any Hell... Like we did back in the day.

GS.

Well GreenSteve, I think we've all gotten older and softer over the past decade.

I do miss the animated Marshall fans giving me hell all of the time, now it's just my wife doing that.

(09-11-2015 05:25 AM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote:  Well GreenSteve, I think we've all gotten older and softer over the past decade.

I do miss the animated Marshall fans giving me hell all of the time, now it's just my wife doing that.

I'll still give you Hell if you really miss it that badly...

Quote:I pick The Herd to beat the Bobcats.

Not a daring pick, especially by a Herd fan -- that would be expected as the sun rising the next day. Picking Marshall to win, IMO, would be a default choice. If I had to bet money on a straight-up game, I would too. But for some reason I think Ohio may pull this out -- even though I believe it's going to be a battle (kind of like the Purdue game).

(09-11-2015 02:55 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:I pick The Herd to beat the Bobcats.

Not a daring pick, especially by a Herd fan -- that would be expected as the sun rising the next day. Picking Marshall to win, IMO, would be a default choice. If I had to bet money on a straight-up game, I would too. But for some reason I think Ohio may pull this out -- even though I believe it's going to be a battle (kind of like the Purdue game).

I never said it would be easy.

I do think we'll win.

BTW, it's kinda fun to be back on the MAC board...I wish exCincyKid was here.

GreenSteve.

(09-09-2015 09:59 PM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote:  Nick’s Pick: Kent State 23 – Delaware State 13
Comment: The Golden Flashes are dreadful and their offense is very offensive. The Hornets lost to I-AA Liberty last week 32-13 and are equally bad on offense. KSU will get a much needed win but somehow, someway, they need to find some play makers.

Hurry and go place a bet on DSU. They are 29.5 point underdogs tonight!! Yikes.

Rough week for the swami.