PASS: Western Michigan, Miami (OH), Toledo, Ohio, Akron, Northern Illinois
Western Michigan held off one of their toughest tests this week, and will likely remain at our number two spot in the PRS rankings by beating up on Eastern Michigan 45-31 this week. Western has shown no signs of taking anyone lightly on their schedule, and that has served them well on the way to an 8-0 start. The Houston loss this week also ensures that WMU could be fighting Boise State for a NY6 game.
Miami needed to get a win for Chuck Martin, and they picked one up over Bowling Green to now get to 2-2 in MAC play. The bad news is that this was probably the final winnable game on the schedule for them. They are now just 2-6 overall, and Martin will remain on the Hot Seat.
Toledo got off to a slow start against Central Michigan, and led just 3-0 at the half, but they blew it open moving forward, beating the Chippewas 31-17 at home, and that keeps the Rockets just a half game behind WMU in the West. By winning out for both Toledo and WMU, they could be playiing for a birth in the MAC title game in the regular season finale with the Rockets visiting the Broncos.
There was nothing pretty about the way Ohio beat Kent State this weekend (14-10), but a win is a win at this point of the season, and The Bobcats find themselves in a tie for the East lead with Akron. Ohio is finding inventive ways to win this season, and have not had it easy in any given week.
Akron, in the meantime, has been a quiet leader in the East, and if they stay in this tied position with Ohio, they will also be playing for a birth in the MAC title game in the season finale in Athens.
Northern Illinois is playing for pride right now, but the team is showing signs of life lately, ad the Huskies beat Buffalo 44-7 this week at home. The Huskies are still 2 games out in the West, and one more loss will have them without a bowl, but they need to keep winning.
FAIL: Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State, Ball State, Buffalo
Despite falling to WMU this week, Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton needs to be lauded for an impossible job he has done at EMU. The Eagles are 5-3, and are one win away from playing in a bowl this season. This is beyond amazing at one of the toughest jobs in America.
Bowling Green has hired the wrong guy to lead this program. Mike Jinks was a misfire, and the Falcons could have done better. The talent in this program is better than a one win team, with that one win coming by one point over FCS North Dakota. The loss to Miami this week was just another terrible performance, and this team should be better.
Central Michigan is going to finish somewhere in the middle of the league again this season, despite having some serious talent. CMU is 2 games out in the West, and is likely a non player at this point in the conference race.
Kent State is still sinking, coming off a 14-10 loss to Ohio. It is my belief that once the Golden Flashes lose their seventh game, Paul Haynes will be let go. That should be next week after Kent State loses to Central Michigan on the road.
Ball State's loss to Akron has dropped the Cardinals to dead last place in the West after the promising way in which the season began. The Cardinals are now just 1-3 in league play, and are a major non player in the conference race now.
Buffalo has been a mess all season. I keep waiting for Lance Leipold to run some magic, but this roster is garbage. He will likely get two years from now to get this going, but no more.
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