The Awful Rankings: Who Is the Worst Team In the MAC?

Typically, the good teams steal all the headlines, and for good reasons. Those teams typically are the ones worth talking about. But not today! Today we're talking about the awful teams, and you're in luck, because the Mid-American Conference has a handful of teams this year that are exceptionally bad. Those teams are, presented in alphabetical order: Akron, Eastern Michigan, Miami, UMass, and Western Michigan. Together these teams have a combined zero wins against FBS competition so far. But who is truly the worst? Let's look at the case for each team.

Akron Zips (1-5, 0-2)

Wins: James Madison, Losing to Michigan by 4.

Embarrassing Losses: 43-3 to Ohio. At home.

Notable Stats: 103rd in scoring defense (34.7 ppg), 92nd in team defense (436.2 ypg), 112th in total offense (322.0 ypg)

Why They're the Worst:

If you throw out the close loss to Michigan, it has been business as usual for Akron. Losing by a combined 93 points in its other four games, and barely squeaking by FCS foe James Madison. The Zips offense is right there with some of the other notable bad teams in the MAC. Through six games, their LEADING rusher is averaging less than 50 yards per game. Ouch. To make matters worse, when Akron does get in scoring range, its field goal kicker is just 3-8 on the year.

Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-4, 0-2)

Win: Howard

Embarrassing Losses: at Buffalo, at Ball State

Notable Stats: 112th in scoring defense (38.0 ppg), 98th in total defense (445.4 ypg), 105th in total offense (336.2 ypg)

Why They're the Worst:

The Eagles needed a comeback to win against Howard, a traditionally not good FCS team, and haven't won a game since. They've lost four straight games by a combined 115 points, or 28.75 points per game. The Eagles' offense has somehow manage to only crack the red zone 10 times through the first five games, and much like Akron, are a disaster in the kicking game, going just 1-5 on the year. Their punter comes out an average of six times per game, and is averaging only 38.6 yards per kick, so the defensive stats could be even worse if their punter could kick the ball. Special teams, not so special.

Miami RedHawks (0-5, 0-1)

Wins: None

Embarrassing Losses: Marshall, Illinois, Central Michigan, The coach in week 5.

Notable Stats: 106th in scoring defense (35.6 ppg), 119th in total defense (506.0 ypg), 122nd in total offense (198.4 ypg)

Why They're The Worst:

The stats pretty much speak for themselves, in the bottom 20 in the three categories above, with the offense one of two teams in college football that averages LESS than 200 yards per game. To give you an idea of how bad the RedHawks are on offense, UMass is the next team ahead of them in the rankings, but averages nearly 65 yards more per game. They haven't scored more than 14 points in a game all year, somehow putting up only nine against a terrible CMU defense. And if all that wasn't enough, they just fired their coach. Yeah, it's been a rough year for Miami. But part of that could be because the roster features 51 freshmen out of the 100 players on the team. It can only go up from here.

UMass Minutemen (0-5, 0-1)

Wins: None

Embarrassing Losses: Maine

Notable Stats: LAST in the NCAA in scoring, 116th in total defense (484.4 ypg), 121st in total offense (262.8 ypg)

Why They're the Worst:

If you can believe it, despite averaging nearly 65 yards per game more than Miami, they have actually scored fewer points this year, and also haven't topped 14 in a game. The passing game has been non-existent, going for just 148 yards per game. They have five total touchdowns on the season, and are 0-3 on field goal attempts this year. Even more stunning, they have entered the red zone just five times this year. I'm not a math/stats major, but getting into the red zone once a game is not good. UMass has yet to score a point in the third quarter this season. It's punted 34 time already, and averages just 36.4 yards per punt. Oof. This Saturday against Miami is going to be epic.

Western Michigan Broncos (0-6, 0-2)

Wins: None

Embarrassing Losses: Nicholls State, at Iowa

Notable Stats: 114th in scoring defense (38.2 ppg), 116th in turnover margin (-1.3 tpg), 114th in total offense (321.3 ypg)

Why They're The Worst:

The worst defense in the MAC in terms of scoring, the worst offense in the league at turning the ball over, and the third worst defense at giving up yards even with all the turnovers giving their opponents a short field. And they lost to Nicholls State, a school who hadn't won a game against an FBS OR FCS team since 2010! At home! At the moemnt the Broncos have played the most games of anyone on this list, meaning they have the worst record in the MAC. And this, for the love of God, this:

This has prompted me to coin the hashtag #LOLTHEBOAT

So, you've seen each team's case, who do you think is the worst in the MAC?