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Those guys. You know who I'm talking about. Yeah, them; they're back in the top of our power rankings for the first time this year.
| Rank | Team | Points | Preseason | Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 1 | Northern Illinois (7) | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | Toledo (4) | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Bowling Green (3) | 35 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Western Michigan | 60 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Central Michigan | 69 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Ohio | 88 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| 7 | Akron | 93 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | t8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| 8 | Buffalo | 109 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | Ball State | 130 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 10 | t8 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| 10 | Kent State | 147 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 11 | Miami | 151 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 |
| 12 | Massachusetts | 168 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | Eastern Michigan | 173 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
They may have suffered a 10-point loss to Central Michigan back in October, but after a win over both Toledo and Western Michigan, the Northern Illinois Huskies are in the driver's seat and decide their own fate for the MAC West title for the sixth year in a row.
Bowling Green received three first place votes from our voters which -- uh, okay. The Toledo Rockets took care of business last Tuesday in the Battle of I-75 matchup at Doyt Perry Stadium with a 44-28 ball game. Matt Johnson was held to 274 passing yards in that game where the Rockets caused five turnovers. The Rockets haven't received a first place vote since before they played against NIU, but now they have four as they sit at No. 2 in our rankings. The Falcons sat at the top spot for two weeks but now they've slid to 3.
Even though they were up 19-14 at one point in the game on Wednesday, the Western Michigan Broncos ended up falling to Northern Illinois 27-19 and are out of the MAC West race. The Broncos started off with six straight wins in the MAC, but they basically sit at four in our power rankings after losing a pair to both NIU and BGSU. Central Michigan also stays stagnant at five, beating Kent State last week to become bowl eligible in their first season with John Bonamego as the head coach.
The Ohio Bobcats fell to eight not too long ago in our rankings, but with a pair of wins over Kent State and Ball State they are back up to six. The Bobcats will face NIU on Tuesday night.
Akron got to bowl eligibility with a big win over Buffalo; Zips up to seven while Buffalo moves down two spots to eight.
Voters: Alex Alvarado, Brandon Fitzsimons, Brandon Hickey, Keith Scheessele, James Jimenez, Matt Gritzmacher, Kaleb Carter, Norman Miller, Justin Coffin, Russ Johnson, Chris Manning, Nick Fries, Matt Hammond, Matt Daley