#48 Kent State
#49 Ohio
#50 Western Michigan
#51 Central Michigan
#59 Northern Illinois
These are football ranking not December rpi's........
And do you know what the the best thing about this is? We haven't heard the last of Toledo, Miami and Akron. Teams that experience success like they have do not simply disappear. MAC is on the rise baby.
These types of seasons don't produce a BCS buster, but it healthier for the MAC. Getting sleeping dormats Kent State, Ohio, and CMU to ignite their fan base is good for the MAC. Winning fills those stadiums. The hype of Garrett Wolfe, the coaching hires at Buffalo and Ohio. In the MAC, its possible to go from worst to first and first to worst. The gap on the field has closed between Miami/Toledo/BGSU and the rest of the MAC. The recruiting in the MAC has always assumed that Akron, Ohio and Kent State stink and the Cleveland recruits must go to other places to get to a bowl. Akron blew that miff out of the water last year and now Ohio and Kent State are doing it this year. If those Columbus and Cleveland kids starting thinking that Ohio and Kent State are contenders, then its gonna help keep the MAC deep. The days of BGSU, Toledo, and Miami posting 50 points a game and 8-0 MAC seasons is ending. The MAC is more than just 3 deep. Except for UB, there aren't not to many games in the MAC that teams can say.....thats a sure W. Even UB is closing the gap.
With the overall reputation of MAC football enhanced it has helped Kent and Akron recruit a better athelete. These schools are no longer doormats in football or men's basketball as was the case for many years.
Eastern Michigan and Buffalo still have some problems. Buffalo looked to be making a good move by bringing in Turner Gill........the problem is the overall talent level at Buffalo was very low. Its going to take a Joe Novak 5 year rebuilding plan to turn around Buffalo....3-4 seasons before showing some life.
By contrast, Frank Solich inherited a halfway decent Ohio team, that was coming off a season where it smoked Kentucky on the road, and almost beat Marshall at home which would have probably saved the coaches job.
Eastern is just a tough sell. Not a top 150 public university school like some in the MAC. Limited liberal arts offerings. No tradition. Western and Central are simply better football schools. No local region to call its home as UMich next door. Bad attendance, and that will turn off recruits if they can't get to a bowl......
To that point, Kent State has reportedly received two verbals from players in Central Ohio in the last month. Traditionally, Columbus players are rated well behind the gems in Cleveland and Cincinnati, but that Columbus pipeline has been good to coaches like Minnesota's Glen Mason in recent years and it is an area that Kent State has gotten anything from in the last several years.
I think the potential for the BCS buster is still there. 2003 was a deep year for the MAC overall. I think the great seasons for Miami, BG, NIU and Toledo overshadowed other decent teams. But it is tough to sustain. We may have had a 11-2 team in this conference before the year. But they may have taken themselves and the rest of the MAC for granted.
No BCS buster out of the MAC this year.
A BCS buster has to be undefeated or at worst no more than 1 loss if it was early in the season.
Its worth noting the bottom of the MAC is performing much better these days than it did historically.
Toledo- Beat Kansas, almost beat Iowa State.
Miami- Lost close contest to a mid level Big Ten team.
EMU- Played Northwestern tough
Buffalo- Played #2 Auburn tough for a half.
Traditionally, the bottom tier MAC schools would be blown out 50-0 anytime they squared off against a BCS school.........not the case anymore.
OU had losing seasons in 2004 and 2005 but BCS victories in both years.
The potential as in next year or a few years from now. Obviously, there won't be one this year.
Next year, Ohio has the kind of OOC schedule and MAC schedule that could make it a huge year if the team takes the next step and land some recruits to add key depth. Plays a D-AA team, Wyoming, @LA-Lafayette, and at Va Tech. 3-1 perhaps...4-0 if Solich has another BCS upset up his sleeve. VA Doesn't have Michael Vick or Williford anymore and is not a top 25 team anymore. (kent State can beat them this year and CMU played BC better than Va Tech)
In the MAC, Ohio gets Miami at home, Kent State at home, Buffalo, At BGSU, at Akron(no Getsy) and Temple. Depending on who Ohio gets as a cross over games. The expectations should be good. The only problem is that Ohio will lose a lot of starters, but Solich recruits will start to slide into more starting spots and Juniors, Redshirt Soph, Red-shirt Fr and true Freshmen. The experience will be less, but the talent should be there.