MAC Football

MAC Football Power Rankings: Ohio Rises to Second Spot in Week Nine

Western Michigan has new company at the top after Ohio's upset of Toledo

By Justin Coffin Nov 1, 2016, 10:00am EDT

Rank	Wk 8 Rank	Team	Record	Points	Notes from Week Nine
1	1	Western Michigan Broncos	8-0	9 (9)	Probably a good thing for WMU to avoid the upset weekend from hell with the bye week.
2	6	Ohio Bobcats	6-3	22	Ohio went into Toledo and beat the Rockets on national television, clearing up the MAC East race as the Bobcats' to lose. Just like we all thought, right? Oh, you didn't expect that? Well, tell that to Dorian Brown
3	2	Toledo Rockets	6-2	24	The Rockets were stymied by Ohio's rush defense, and it led to their demise at home. But let's face it, we all knew Toledo had one of these games in them - it just usually happens against NIU.
4	3	Eastern Michigan Eagles	5-4	48	Uh oh, the Eagles' road to bowl eligibility just got a whole lot tougher with the loss to Miami. It's a game Chris Creighton's squad had to have to make things a bit more comfortable down the stretch, but were just unable to get it done against the RedHawk defense
T5	9	Miami RedHawks	3-6	56	Your eyes do NOT deceive you, folks. The RedHawks are winners of three straight and are totally in contention for the MAC East crown as the calendar hits November. Chuck Martin's elaborate 0-6 ruse to catch the back half of the schedule off guard has paid dividends.
T5	4	Central Michigan Chippewas	5-4	56	The Chippewas have the same record as Eastern Michigan on October 31st. This is astonishing on its own, but Cooper Rush and company will look to avoid copying their cross-state rival and beat Miami.
7	5	Akron Zips	5-4	66	Cheer up, Zips fans, you're still just a game back of Ohio with a game against them left on the schedule. Although, with that rush defense going up against Terry Swanson and Kareem Hunt this week, I'm not sure how long those division title dreams will stay intact.
8	7	Northern Illinois Huskies	2-6	70	They have just two wins on the year, and yet, somehow are staring a 3-2 MAC record dead in the face. Can you imagine if the Central Michigan game had gone their way? You'd be looking at an NIU team all but tied for second place in the MAC West
9	8	Ball State Cardinals	4-4	75	The Cardinals' lone win in conference? At Buffalo - by ten. They get Western Michigan at home this week, and better hope James Gilbert can put together another spectacular performance if they're to hang with the 17th ranked Broncos
10	10	Kent State Golden Flashes	3-6	82	Paul Haynes' team won a weird game on Saturday. The final score looked pretty normal at 27-24, but what wasn't normal (aside from the part where Kent State actually had more points than the other team) was how the game started. It was 3-2 Flashes at one point with Kent punting from the CMU 37. WATTBA
11	12	Buffalo Bulls	2-6	91	This was honestly a second win I never saw coming from Buffalo. They still weren't very good through the air against Akron, but you don't really need to be when Jordan Johnson is busy laying waste to everyone in his way.
12	11	Bowling Green Falcons	1-7	106	The Falcons are 16 point underdogs at Northern Illinois on Tuesday. This might get worse before it gets better.