clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2013 - A Year In Review: Hustle Belt and the Mid-American Conference

With 2013 set to wind down, we take a look back at the highs and lows of the year for the MAC and us here at the Belt.

Times Square will be packed as people count down to 2014.  We take a look back at 2013 now
Times Square will be packed as people count down to 2014. We take a look back at 2013 now
Maddie Meyer

What a year 2013 has been. We've been through a lot as MAC fans and 'Belters, but the ride was amazing. We've seen BCS games, a change in regime, arrests and suspensions, and hirings and firings. We now take a look back at 2013 from the Hustle Belt point of view.

January

NIU kicked off the year with its Orange Bowl appearance. Of course, it wasn't as strong a showing as we all had hoped, but we all won in the end.

They followed that up with a stunning victory over Kent State in basketball.

And Anton Samuel painted the picture on the wall for us, leaving BGSU for a semester.

February

We almost lost UMass to the FCS after just one season. Who would've WMU beaten if they left?

Ohio and Akron played in the MAC Basketball game of the year.

RIP Bracketbusters

Also, RIP Harlem Shake. And thank God it's gone.

Akron-Ohio Round II went to OT, but Akron survived to keep a long winning streak alive

March

Then Buffalo ended that winning streak.

DJ Cooper, NCAA assist record holder

Alex Abreu, Drug Trafficker

We said good-bye to the CCHA one last time with all 3 MAC teams making the quarterfinals

Even without Abreu, Akron dominated everyone in the MAC Championships

RIP Bob Nichols

April

Miami's football season began to slide, as Nick Harwell was arrested and subsequently suspended

We looked at MAC Alums in professional baseball

Realignment is both cool and sad. RIP CCHA, but peace out Temple, it's been cool and stuff

NUMBAH ONE DRAFT PICK! SUCK IT OTHER CONFERENCES! Yep, Eric Fisher went #1 to the Chiefs, and then preceded to help them win a bunch of games and make the playoffs.

Glenn Bryant joined the arrested/suspended group

Hey, look at all of those potential pros we produced!

May

We lost Darius Paul to Illinois as he decided to join his brother Brandon. Another WMU MAC Freshman of the Year gone.

Softball catch of the year was right here in the MAC

Skydive with Ron English for $5,000. I can't type that without laughing

Bye Nick Harwell

Akron is a bad place to live. Another arrest, this time by Seth Cunningham

Welcome back Quincy Diggs!

Toledo is selling beer at football games, and we just love it!

We introduced our summer series, the top 68 players in the MAC

June

Scott Stricklin left us just one year after leading Kent State to the College World Series

R.I.P. Charlie Coles, you will be missed dearly

DJ Cooper didn't get drafted,so he went to Europe instead.

July

NHL Draft was awesome, for a little bit

Our most talked about individual piece of the summer: Non-conference football games as Ocarina of Time Dungeons

Western Michigan hockey lost their first round draft pick and a solid defender within days of each other

Anton Samuel transferred to FIU

We had a regime change as we said goodbye to founder Matt Sussman and hello to Bryan Vance

August

Noah Keller went to jail for vandalism

Having two favorite teams (one being an AQ team) isn't something to do. Support your MAC teams!

We looked at the positional rankings for the conference!

More tragedy as Central Michigan lost a soccer player in a car accident (hold that theme for a minute, as awful as that sounds)

MAC Soccer Previews! Boy were we wrong (especially me)

We turned 3! We're practically potty trained now, right?

We created our own football awards. Be jealous

Western Michigan was doomed from the start in football

Bowls were being created and destroyed, but we came out on top. Get your passports and sunglasses now

Kent State lost Dri Archer early, and it ruined everything (Game Preview, but we all know what happened on the first series)

September

The Hustle Belt MAC Pick'em said good-bye, as Yahoo! killed it

This happened:


Matt Shoemaker made it to The Show

UMass alumni weren't happy with Charley Molnar, and wanted him to leave everyone alone

Dri Archer came back and showed us everything we missed

October

Jordan Lynch started to become a legitimate Heisman candidate

And melted our hearts doing it

Miami didn't wait long. Fired Don Treadwell and Jon Klacik mid-season

Cameron Stingily was arrested, but not suspended.

We counted down thetop 25 basketball players in the MAC

You could buy stuff from the Rubber Bowl.

Keith Harris Jr was out for the season, hardly anyone noticed because of Jordan Lynch

R.I.P. Demarius Reed. You were taken too soon

Akron FINALLY beat an FBS team. Unfortunately it was Miami

In one of the most exciting games of the year, Toledo downed BGSU 28-25

November

Ron English went on a tirade and got himself fired.

BGSU shelled Ohio 49-0

In the MAC Game of the Year, NIU held on to down Ball State and stay undefeated

WMU shocked the women's soccer world with the biggest upset in history, downing 2-seed Marquette in the first round

Diesel announced his retirement. We're going to miss his high-fives

UMass announced Charley Molnar would stay as head coach

Bowling Green clinched the MAC East by beating Buffalo

December

The Falcons stunned NIU, and cost us all a lot of money

UMass started firing assistant coaches and players were transferring too

Welcome to the MAC Chuck Martin!

The MAC made it 5 bowl games. We haven't done too well so far though

Jordan Lynch: Heisman Finalist

Good-bye Dave Clawson, it's been fun. Enjoy that crappy ACC

EMU hired Chris Creighton to replace Ron English

Dino Babers is the 3rd MAC hire of the year, replacing Clawson. He's a cool dude

Akron mourned the loss of both Alan Arrington and T.J. Bowden after both died in car accidents.

Charley Molnar was fired the day after Christmas. We're still stunned


So 2013 was a year to remember, but we move on to 2014 and all the joys it brings. From all of us here at Hustle Belt, we hope you enjoyed this year and hope you continue to follow us for the best MAC coverage out there.

Happy New Year everyone!