MAC Football

MAC Football Power Rankings: Week 2

With the second week of MAC Football in the books it's time to take a look at the updated power rankings. Lots of movement this week, including a new king of the hill.

By Bryan M. Vance Sep 8, 2013, 5:53pm EDT

Thumbs up Dave, your Falcons are No. 1 in the MAC.

Akron

Rank	Rank (Pv)	Team	Record	What We Learned
1	2	BGSU	2-0 (1-0)	In two games this season Bowling Green has done more than looked good. In Week 2, the Falcons looked unstoppable. Not only was their defense stellar as usual, but their offense looked like one of the MAC's best. If Matt Johnson and the Bowling Green offense can be even half as productive as they were against Kent State for the rest of the season, this team could have scary potential.
2	1	NIU	1-0 (0-0)	***NIU is a great team, and yes normally a bye week wouldn't result in a team slipping down, but Bowling Green some thoroughly destroyed Kent State it'd be ridiculous not to bump them up to 1, so for now NIU is a casualty.
3	3	Ball State	2-0 (0-0)	Ball St. looked much better in Week 2, downing Army 40-14. Keith Wenning and the Cardinals were without Jahwan Edwards in this game, but still managed to hang 40. Oh and the defense looked much better.
4	4	Ohio	1-1 (0-0)	This week the Bobcats looked more like the team that was picked by the media to win the East. Tyler Tettleton looked good (minus the two late interceptions) and Ohio opened up its playbook. The real key here though was that it wasn't just Beau Blankenship in the run game. Oft-injured senior Ryan Boykin looked brilliant, providing the 'Cats with a potent 1-2 punch.
5	5	Toledo	0-2 (0-0)	Normally an 0-2 team would never be near the top of any power rankings. But normally, those two losses don't come against SEC teams. After a poor performance in Week 1, the Rockets actually gave Missouri a scare. Toledo was actually up late in the fourth, before the Tigers rattled off two late scores to win. Terrance Owens still didn't look great (3 interceptions).
6	8	Kent State	1-1 (0-1)	Kent State jumping up two spots despite losing by 19 to Bowling Green has less to do with the Golden Flashes performance than with the current state of the MAC, which is bad. Colin Reardon continues to look good at quarterback, which is a huge plus. If Dri Archer can come back next week, Kent State has the pieces to be a good mid-tier team.
7	6	Buffalo	0-2 (0-0)	I know Buffalo is better than that 70-13 loss to Baylor suggests, but it's impossible not to drop them after that. The Bulls were trounced in that game, and looked completely one-dimensional. The fact that the teams best group, the defense, was the unit that performed the worst raises some questions as well.
8	12	EMU	1-1 (0-0)	Yes, EMU is bad. Yes, EMU lost bad to Penn State. But, the Eagles put up a great fight in the first half against the Nittany Lions. Still, the MAC is in bad shape when this EMU team is in the Top 10.
9	7	WMU	0-2	This boat is taking on water quickly. Western Michigan looked better against Michigan St. in Week 1 than in Week 2 against FCS Nicholls State. Tyler Van Tubbergen was bad. While running backs Dareyon Chance and Brian Fields put up good numbers, it was against an FCS opponent that was destroyed in Week 1. Oh and WMU LOST. Don't be surprised if people jump ship soon.
10	10	CMU	1-1	CMU won, but also struggled mightily against an FCS opponent this week. Plus the fact that the team's offense is non-existent in the wake of Zurlon Tipton undergoing season-ending ankle surgery makes this team look destined for a bottom of the ladder finish.
11	13		1-1 (0-0)	Again, another MAC team that struggled against an FCS school. The Zips quarterback situation is still a mess, and defensively the team is porous. Jawan Chisholm looked good, but again, this was against James Madison.
12	9	Miami	0-2 (0-0)	The only thing keeping Miami from the gutter on these rankings is that both of its losses have came against FBS teams. Still, in both contests the RedHawks have looked miserable. The offense doesn't exist, and the defense is getting torched.
13	11	UMass	0-2 (0-0)	UMass lost what was probably the only game they could win this season, and they lost it by 10. I don't care if Maine is good, that's just bad.