MACtion Week 6 Weekend Watchability

We’ve been fortunate in this short season so far that most weekends had more than their fair share of dramatics and excitement. Some we went into them expecting them, others crept up on us. Take last week, where there was only a handful of ranked opponents playing each other and the point spreads climbed into double-digits across the board.

What we got instead of chalk started with an upset of the USC Trojans at the hands of Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars. On through the weekend we saw close games and noteworthy upsets. Such is the case when you expect a status quo weekend. Let’s hope that holds true for the Mid-American Conference this weekend. On paper, it’s not an eye popper. Good thing for us, the games aren’t played there.

Must See Games
Western Michigan Broncos @ Buffalo Bulls (SAT 3:30PM)
Eastern Michigan Eagles @ Toledo Rockets @ (SAT 12:00PM)

Raise your hand if you saw the WMU/Buffalo game as a “Must Watch” when the season started. Put your hand down, you’re a liar. But this game is going to be massive for one of the two in that they’ll be 4-2 and 2-0 in the MAC and one would have to consider the winner the front runner for their division.

Eastern Michigan went on the road and nearly pulled the upset against the Kentucky Wildcats. Fans are excited in Ypsi and there’s positive momentum for the first time in years. For Toledo, this is the first major potential issue to a MAC Championship. EMU’s defense is exceptionally strong. Strong enough to neutralize Logan Woodside and the Rockets? That’s why we’ll be watching.

Worth a Watch
Central Michigan Chippewas @ Ohio University Bobcats (SAT 2:00PM)

Will the real CMU please stand up? Three straight losses after the “upset” of the Kansas Jayhawks have Chips fans reeling, and this road date with presumptive East favorite Ohio doesn’t really inspire a ton of confidence. But if there ever was an opportunity for Coach Bono and the Chips to turn it around, this is it. For Ohio, this is their chance to take a firm hold on their division and basically say to the others, come and get it if you dare.

If there’s nothing else on...
Kent State Golden Flashes @ Northern Illinois Huskies (SAT 3:30PM)
Ball State Cardinals @ Akron Zips (SAT 3:30PM)

It’s the group of four fanbases that had higher hopes for this season than what they’ve been delivered. Sorry, no refunds. After this weekend, the two winners have some hope that their season is still salvageable. The two losers have some uphill work to do and can probably only hope for a middle of the pack finish at best.

Are you sure you want to do that?
Bowling Green Falcons @ Miami-Ohio Redhawks (SAT 2:30PM)

I mean, it’s football, so there’s about a million other things that you could do worse than watching this game. But if you’re going to be watching television, there’s myriad games that are better for you than this. It says something when Miami, one of the most up and down teams of the young season is a two touchdown favorite. Bowling Green just isn’t very good this year and watching a middling MAC squad curbstomp a bad one just isn’t my idea of fun.