clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2016 MAC Football Power Rankings Week Three

MAC teams from Michigan are now 8-1, the Toledo Rockets are quietly dominating everyone, and Akron shows up in the top four.

Rank Wk 2 Rank Team Record Points Notes from Week Two
1 1 Western Michigan Broncos 3-0 11 (9) Until this weekend, Western Michigan had never beaten two Big Ten teams in the same season. After routing Illinois on the road, the Broncos actually received some votes in the AP poll
2 2 Toledo Rockets 3-0 24 Just your casual 52-17 beat down of Fresno State at home lands Toledo in our second spot this week. Logan Woodside has been better than many of us expected, carrying a quarterback rating of 200.2 through three games
3 3 Central Michigan Chippewas 3-0 26 (1) No Hail Mary hangover here. The Chippewas let UNLV hang around for one half this week, but pulled away to a 44-21 victory, not allowing a single point in the second half.
4 T5 Akron Zips 2-1 44 It's official, Akron is the new favorite in the MAC East. A bad four quarters against Wisconsin two weeks ago turned into a slow start against Marshall, but the Zips went on to handle the Thundering Herd to the tune of a 65-38 victory. It was one the most shocking and impressive score of the entire college football day, and could mean Akron is here to stay.
5 T5 Ball State Cardinals 2-1 54 Ball State is 2-1 after their thumping of Eastern Kentucky. Riley Neal had his first true good game of the season, and more of the same must happen if the Cardinals expect to survive in the MAC West.
6 4 Ohio Bobcats 1-2 60 Frank Solich's squad had a tough match up with Tennessee on the road, and looked like it had a real chance to pull off the upset. The offense ran out of firepower late, though, and failed to score in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats' out of conference schedule comes to a close next week against Gardner-Webb, which should be their first home win of the season.
7 7 Eastern Michigan Eagles 2-1 64 Welcome to the Eastern Michigan roller coaster ride. Every game the Eagles have played in has been decided by double digits, with quarterback Todd Porter and company coming out on top twice. It's not all good news for EMU, however, as Shaq Vann is lost for the season to injury.
8 8 Bowling Green Falcons 1-2 90 Bowling Green played on a waterbed and got rolled in the overwhelming tide of the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee on the way to a double-digit loss at home. Not a good look for the defending MAC champs, especially coming off a narrow FCS win.
9 11 Kent State Golden Flashes 1-2 95 Mylik Mitchell is the Flashes' only hope for offensive success this season. 27 points against Monmouth is nothing to write home about, but a little offense is all it will take to help out that stout defense.
10 10 Miami RedHawks 0-3 97

Well, the RedHawks definitely played better against a talented Western Kentucky team, but are still without a win through the first three weeks. I wonder what we'd be thinking about this Miami team had they won their FCS game? A better-than-expected showing at Iowa and a one touchdown loss should spell good things for this team, not bad. And yet, here we are.

11 9 Northern Illinois Huskies 0-3 98 This is...well this is weird. The Huskies had much higher expectations than 0-3 and have a lot of people wondering if they can even beat Western Illinois this week. It's been a big out of conference season for FCS teams in general, and NIU needs to avoid becoming another victim for everyone to believe they can even smell another division title.
12 12 Buffalo Bulls 0-2 117 Tyree Jackson is a raw talent, and definitely wasn't enough for Buffalo to really compete with Nevada last week. Next week it's 3-0 Army headed to UB Stadium, the Bulls' toughest test so far.