Bilo's College Football PASS/FAIL Reports Week 7: MAC

MAC

PASS: Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Central Michigan, Ball State

Western Michigan is probably the best Group of Five program going right now, and will stay in our top five once the PRS rankings come out Monday night. They completely dominated Akron from start to finish. WMU won 41-0, and the Broncos are clearly the best team in the MAC.

Chris Chreighton is running a miracle at Eastern Michigan, and if a program is looking for a coach, he certainly should run while things are good. EMU beat Ohio to get to within one game of being bowl eligible. Nobody saw this coming.

Miami (Ohio) finally landed their first win of the season, as they came out on top of the MAC toilet bowl, beating Kent State 18-14 at home. It may be one of the last winnable games on the schedule.

Toledo let Bowling Green hang around all day, but finally held the Falcons off when it mattered, winning 42-35 to remain unbeaten in MAC play. They still have a clash with Western Michigan coming up.

Central Michigan is now 5-2 after a 3OT win over Northern Illinois on the road. The Chippewas are also one game away from bowl eligibility, which is a great mark for the MAC having so many teams ready to qualify early.

Ball State landed their first MAC win of the year, beating Buffalo 31-21 today. The Cardinals are still in good shape to get bowl eligible, as they have four wins currently. They are still just 1-2 in league play after the win, but it was a must win day for Mike Neu’s Cardinals.

FAIL: Akron, Ohio, Kent State, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Buffalo

Akron was fortunate today despite losing to WMU 41-0, as Ohio also lost to EMU. That means that both the Zips and Bobcats remain tied for the East Division lead. Both played unimpressive football on every level today, but are still in the hunt for a MAC title game birth.

If you are Kent State, you absolutely cannot afford to lose to Miami (Ohio) in a battle of bottom feeders. The Golden Flashes are now two losses from being ineligible for bowl play, which would lead to the likely firing of Paul Haynes. This was not a good loss today on any level.

Bowling Green fell short, again. The Falcons lone win remains a one point win over FCS North Dakota, and are now one loss away from being out of bowl contention. That loss should happen within the next week or two.

Northern Illinois has been crashing all season. A win would have been great at home over CMU, but the Huskies fall kept them at the bottom of the East, and keeps them one loss from being out of the bowl picture. Rod Care’s seat is getting a lot warmer.

Buffalo is a mess. The Bulls dropped to 1-5 with their loss today to Ball State, and the Bulls remain winless in MAC play. Lance Leipold may have to blow everything up and start over after this season.