March MACtion 2020: Finding the best MAC team of the 2010s
NIU's Orange Bowl year? What about WMU to the Cotton Bowl? Can any of these former MAC teams stop Bowling Green's offense in 2015?
Two months from today, democracy will decide which MAC team was the best of the 2010s.
Maybe in your eyes, it’s the Cotton Bowl year that P.J. Fleck helped Western Michigan get to. Maybe you think Jordan Lynch’s 3rd-in-Heisman-voting year was particularly unique. Maybe one of the Toledo teams, hardware or not, could be the ones beating on everybody else. Maybe you really like Bowling Green, especially when its offense was nearly unstoppable. Let’s not forget that last decade started with a worst-to-first story by Miami.
What’s the best team of the last decade?
Beginning today, MAC football fans alike will get to have a March Madness tournament of our own — March MACtion. First thing’s first, we’ve got to make a bracket. That’s usually the fun part, right?
Here are all the MAC teams of the 2010s that are being considered for March MACtion. The 41-team list includes:
Note: MAC Champs in bold.
2010 Miami RedHawks (10-4, 7-1)
2010 NIU Huskies (11-3, 8-0)
2010 Ohio Bobcats (8-5, 6-2)
2010 Temple Owls (8-4, 5-3)
2010 Toledo Rockets (8-5, 7-1)
2011 NIU Huskies (11-3, 7-1)
2011 Ohio Bobcats (10-4, 6-2)
2011 Temple Owls (9-4, 5-3)
2011 Toledo Rockets (9-4, 7-1)
2012 Ball State Cardinals (9-4, 6-2)
2012 Kent State (11-3, 8-0)
2012 NIU Huskies (12-2, 8-0)
2012 Ohio Bobcats (9-4, 4-4)
2012 Toledo Rockets (9-4, 6-2)
2013 Ball State Cardinals (10-3, 7-1)
2013 BGSU Falcons (10-4, 7-1)
2013 Buffalo Bulls (8-5, 6-2)
2013 NIU Huskies (12-2, 8-0)
2014 BGSU Falcons (8-6, 5-3)
2014 NIU Huskies (11-3, 7-1 MAC)
2014 Toledo Rockets (9-4, 7-1)
2014 WMU Broncos (8-5, 6-2)
2015 Akron Zips (8-5, 5-3)
2015 BGSU Falcons (10-4, 7-1)
2015 NIU Huskies (8-6, 6-2)
2015 Ohio Bobcats (8-5, 5-3)
2015 Toledo Rockets (10-2, 6-2)
2015 WMU Broncos (8-5, 6-2)
2016 Ohio Bobcats (8-6, 6-2)
2016 Toledo Rockets (9-4, 6-2)
2016 WMU Broncos (13-1, 8-0)
2017 Akron Zips (7-7, 6-2)
2017 CMU Chippewas (8-5, 6-2)
2017 Ohio Bobcats (9-4, 5-3)
2017 NIU Huskies (8-5, 6-2)
2017 Toledo Rockets (11-3, 7-1)
2018 Buffalo Bulls (10-4, 7-1)
2018 NIU Huskies (8-6, 6-2)
2019 Buffalo Bulls (8-5, 5-3)
2019 CMU Chippewas (8-6, 6-2)
2019 Miami RedHawks (8-6, 6-2)
When will the bracket come out?
I’ll release the bracket the same day as college basketball’s Selection Sunday: March 15. This March MACtion tournament will pretty much last as long as the NCAA Tournament with Round 1 voting beginning on March 16 all the way through the Final Four in early April.
What are *your* top 20 MAC teams of the decade?
This is where I sort of need your help.
Cuts need to be made, and that list of 41 has to be cut down to 32. If you click this link here or the green box below, it’ll send you to a Google Form where you can vote for which (20) teams you think stood out above the rest.
The form will ask you to pick the 20 best MAC teams of the decade in your eyes, and if you want to rank them, you can! That part’s not required, but it’s there if you want to include notes for when I draw up a bracket.
The highest-seeded teams will end up being the most popular and most glaringly obvious to stick up top, but it’s when we start debating which 8-win teams were better than 9-win or 10-win teams where things will start to be fun. Are there any 10-win teams that the 2017 Akron Zips — the only 7-win team on here — could beat? How many of the 20 best teams of the decade ended up not going to Detroit?
What’s gonna happen between now and the start of this?
I’ll highlight and preview some of the best [STUFF] that MACtion gave us over the past decade as we look forward to the big (?) dance (???). Favorite or best players, games, moments, teams, upsets; we’re going to keep retweeting all the fun and crazy things that the MAC gave to its fans. For better or worse.
Until then, happy voting!
Twitter: @ARAlvarado13| Song of the day: “So Far to Go” -J.Dilla, Common, D’Angelo | Sign up for updates below!