AP Poll: Toledo Ranked 23rd; NIU, Kent State On The Doorstep

After 10 weeks, it took an eight-game winning streak but Toledo is finally ranked, and 23rd at that. NIU is 26th, Kent State is 27th and Ohio is 32nd, so that's a mighty set of four games. The Coaches Poll is similar Toledo is 25th, NIU 26th, Ohio 32nd, Kent State 33rd. It's a long-time coming for the Rockets who haven't been ranked since the end of the 2001 season after beating Cincinnati in the Motor City Bowl.

With NIU as the next team in, they don't play until next week, being Toledo. Assuming that one of the other teams gets dropped — and #22 Mississippi State plays #5 LSU, so it's likely — then it serves to reason that NIU and Toledo are likely to be ranked next week. It would be the first game between two ranked MAC teams since the 2003 MAC Championship Game between #14 Miami and #20 Bowling Green. We've come a long way.

For no reason other than I was curious, I decided to see which voters dipped into the MAC koolaid and ranked our fair schools.

Four ("Zealots")
Ray Ratto (Toledo 16, Kent State 17, Northern Illinois 20, Ohio 23)
Hays Carlson (Toledo 21, Ohio 23, Northern Illinois 24, Kent State 25)

Three ("Loyalists")
Bob Asmussen (Toledo 18, NIU 19, Kent State 25)
Ben Frederickson (Toledo 17, NIU 23, Ohio 25)
Pete DiPrimio (Toledo 17, Ohio 22, Kent State 25)
Harry Plumer (Toledo 18, Kent State 22, Northern Illinois 23)
Keith Sergeant (Toledo 19, Kent State 22, Northern Illinois 24)
Greg Auman (Toledo 20, Ohio 22, Kent State 24)
Tom Murphy (Toledo 21, Northern Illinois 22, Ohio 25)
Brandon Marcello (NIU 21, Toledo 23, Ohio 25)
Ira Schoffel (Kent State 21, Toledo 23, Ohio 25)
Garland Gillen (Toledo 23, Kent State 24, Northern Illinois 25)

Two ("Converts")
Bill Rabinowitz (Toledo 19, Kent State 25)
Brent Axe (Toledo 21, Kent State 22)
Ferd Lewis (Toledo 21, Kent State 25)
Scott Wolf (Northern Illinois 22, Toledo 23)
Erik Gee (Kent State 22, Northern Illinois 24)
Harold Gutmann (Toledo 23, Northern Illinois 24)
Mitch Vingle (Toledo 23, Northern Illinois 24)
Carrie Anderson (Kent State 23, Ohio 25)
Doug Lesmerises (Kent State 23, Toledo 25)

One ("Decent Human Beings")
Jeremy Sampson (Toledo 20)
Jimmy Burch (Northern Illinois 20)
Kyle Ringo (Kent State 21)
Cecil Hurt (Northern Illinois 22)
Bob Condotta (Toledo 22)
Doug Doughty (Toledo 22)
Joe Giglio (Toledo 22)
John Shinn (Toledo 22)
Phil Miller (Northern Illinois 22)
Mike Hlas (Northern Illinois 22)
John Silver (Toledo 23)
Anthony Gimino (Toledo 23)
Charles Davis (Kent State 23)
Tom Mulhern (Northern Illinois 23)
Robert Cessna (Ohio 23)
Austin Meek (Toledo 24)
Chadd Cripe (Toledo 24)
Eric Hansen (Toledo 24)
Joe Walljasper (Toledo 24)
John Adams (Toledo 24)
Kyle Meinke (Toledo 24)
Steve Sipple (Kent State 24)
Rob Long (Kent State 24)
Adam Zucker (Kent State 25)
Glenn Guilbeau (Toledo 25)
John Clay (Kent State 25)
John Werner (Kent State 25)
Jon Wilner (Toledo 25)
Keith Pompey (Toledo 25)
Matt McCoy (Kent State 25)

Zero ("Haters")
Andy Staples, SI.com
Chris Fowler, ESPN
Chris Murray, Reno Gazette-Journal
Dirk Facer, Deseret News
John Hunt, The Oregonian
Josh Kendall, The State (Columbia, SC)
Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman
Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times
Seth Emerson, Macon Telegraph/Columbus Ledger-Enquirer