Week(s) 10+11 MACtion Power Rankings & Ah well, maybe next year
Another season, another December without EMU appearing in the MAC championship game.
Maybe next year.
Maybe next year, for once, Eastern Michigan can play its way into the MAC Championship picture.
Maybe next year, EMU won’t suffer the emotional losses that it has over the past couple of weeks to really shoot itself in the foot, as far as these MAC standings can observe.
When I first sat down to write this post, I assumed that this would end up being some sort of rooting guide for the Eastern Michigan crowd. Something that’d help spell out the tiebreaking possibilities EMU would have to try and see itself through, and something that’d help fans know which results for they’d have to watch out and root for. I got a spreadsheet and my little notebook together and scribbled a bunch of different scenarios with different game results the rest of the way, both realistic and not.
About two or three hours into my assignment, I couldn’t find any hope for the EMU side. I took some notes, I asked a friend to help read the MAC’s new tiebreaker rules with me to see what I was wrong about, then we went through possible scenarios that this season could still see, and what EMU has to do to come out on top.
Maybe twelve seconds into checking ESPN’s projections, I got the number I needed to see. Eastern has no shot at getting to the MAC title game.
None as in 0%.
ESPN’S WIN CONFERENCE PERCENTAGE (which includes the chances of getting to the MAC championship game itself)
Miami, 29.4%
BGSU, 26.6%
Toledo, 18.7%
Ohio, 17.6%
Western Michigan, 4.7%
Buffalo, 3.0%
Northern Illinois, 0.1%
everybody else, 0.0%
Ah well. If one thing’s been clear about this program, it’s that there’s still next year to play for.
MAC Football Power Rankings through Weeks 10 + 11
Again, the most impossible chore in the world is this assignment right here. More people would do this if it were easy to do, promise. This week’s MAC power rankings:
Miami OH (5-4, 4-1 MAC | Last week’s ranking: 2) — Miami hasn’t truly beaten the snot out of everybody it’s beaten this MAC season, but this team is still playing good football, and gets the timely jump in this power ranking after Western Michigan’s loss.
Bowling Green (5-4, 4-1 MAC | LW: 3) — Other than a weak loss to NIU earlier in the year, no real complaints on BGSU’s season thus far. All three of its MAC games since have been won by 10+ points, and now this week will be a huge prove-it moment with Western Michigan coming to the Doyt.
Western Michigan (5-4, 4-1 MAC | LW: 1) — A damning loss to NIU, but WMU is still well-positioned in the standings with some good performances otherwise. Also, here’s a stat for you. There are 20 teams around the country with a (1) 90+ yard kickoff return recorded against them. WMU has allowed four of them this year (4), and is the only team to allow multiple 90+ yard returns.
Ohio (6-3, 4-1 MAC | LW: 4) — Ohio is off to a good start in the MAC standings, and has outscored its last two opponents 88-16 since falling 30-20 at Miami. The schedule doesn’t get much easier for Ohio in these final three games.
Toledo (6-3, 3-2 MAC | LW: 5) — Toledo has not won two games in a row since it started the season with a 3-0 record. The two MAC losses were both by double digits, and its last two MAC wins (both on the road, too) were by a combined 8 points.
Buffalo (4-4, 2-2 MAC | LW: 6) — Beat NIU when it was ranked! Beat Toledo by double digits! But got out-paced by WMU and spanked by Ohio in back-to-back weeks. Buffalo beat Akron 41-30 last week, and might be looking to finish strong with Ball State, Eastern Michigan, and Kent State left on the schedule.
Ball State (3-6, 2-3 MAC | LW: 8) — Again, every MAC game this year has been a one-possession game for the Cardinals. Ball State’s due to get get one of its final three games: at Buffalo, vs. BGSU, at Ohio.
Northern Illinois (5-4, 2-3 MAC | LW: 9) — I have no freaking clue where to put NIU on this list and I refuse to overthink this here. NIU’s done so bad in so many spots, and yet they do the exact thing I didn’t think they’d do: put up 42 points in a win over a pretty strong Western Michigan unit.
Eastern Michigan (5-4, 2-3 MAC | LW: 7) — Coulda, shoulda, woulda. EMU has a bad habit of looking back on games with too many point-toable moments of how the Eagles could have beaten Akron and Toledo instead of having the losses it ended with. Can’t have last week’s loss back, and I don’t like the lump sum of how disturbing these last three games have been for this group.
Akron (2-6, 1-3 MAC | LW: 10) — No movement out of a bye week. The spice factor in the Akron-NIU series has gone up in recent years, I’d plan to pay some attention to this one Wednesday.
Central Michigan (3-6, 1-4 MAC | LW: 11) — On a 4-game losing streak with room to make it 7 in a row. CMU’s at Toledo, home to WMU, then at NIU to end the year.
Kent State (0-9, 0-5 MAC | LW: 12) — I… do not love the direction Kent State’s taken this year. I thought this team would be capable of scraping out at least one or two wins this year. This is why I haven’t done any gambling this year.
