MAC Football

2016 MAC Football Power Rankings: Number One Gets College GameDay

ESPN's College GameDay decides to drop by the MAC for this week's number one versus number 12 match up

By Justin Coffin Nov 15, 2016, 12:00pm EST

Tom Flacco is obviously elite

Rank	Wk 9 Rank	Team	Record	Points	Notes from Week 10
1	1	Western Michigan Broncos	10-0	9 (9)	Not even all the rain in Northeast Ohio could stop the Broncos on election night against Kent State. WMU recovered from a slow start to down the flashes by two touchdowns, and their reward is a date with College GameDay in Kalamazoo. It's an odd selection, considering the Broncos are 34 point favorites over Buffalo, but why question a good thing?
T2	2	Ohio Bobcats	7-3	23	The Bobcats were idle last week, but they face a Central Michigan team this week that's desperate to get bowl eligible and join its directional Michigan rivals. Also on the line is the MAC East title, thanks to Miami's unbelievable run to second place in the East.
T2	3	Toledo Rockets	8-2	23	The Rockets finally shook off their NIU curse, albeit in unconvincing fashion. Toledo was a Ryan Graham deep ball away from potentially losing that game, and its hopes for a MAC West title all in a span of a few minutes. At the end of the day, the Rockets emerged from Guaranteed Rate Field victorious, and have a date with Western Michigan for a MAC West title game - provided they can get past Ball State
4	4	Miami RedHawks	5-6	42	Miami beat Buffalo this week, which is not at all impressive at face value, but it did put the RedHawks one win closer to something no team has ever done before. Gus Ragland and company have the week off, but next week with a win over Ball State they would become the first team to win six in a row after beginning a season 0-6.
5		Eastern Michigan Eagles	6-4	45	EMU bested Ball State in what was easily the best mid week game of the year behind Brogan Roback's absurd 71 pass attempts. The Eagles fell behind early but rallied back to defeat the Cardinals and are now, improbably, bowl eligible in 2016. Next up is NIU, and it might be EMU's best shot at a seventh win in years. Coach of the year for Chris Creighton, anyone?
6		Central Michigan Chippewas	5-5	64	I don't think many people saw Central Michigan in this position after the first few weeks of the season. Cooper Rush has simply been human, and injuries have devastated the Chips at the skill positions. Now the Chips are staring at a schedule that includes MAC East leading Ohio and Eastern Michigan. If CMU finds itself Bowl eligible at the end of the season, they'll certainly have earned it.
7		Northern Illinois Huskies	3-7	65	Oh, NIU. Your dark reign of terror was unpleasant for everyone else in the MAC, and we're all glad you stopped being a bully for a season and allowed everyone to take out a decade's worth of anger on you. Your altruism knows no bounds. The Huskies get Eastern Michigan next in what is probably a coin flip.
8		Ball State Cardinals	4-6	74	At 1-5 in conference, Ball State is your last place team in the MAC West, and before you yell at us for having them at eighth, I ask "have you seen the MAC East?" James Gilbert has been a bright spot in an otherwise weird season, and if the Cardinals ever get consistent quarterback play they will be competitive throughout the league.
9		Kent State Golden Flashes	3-7	78	Well, they tried. The suspension to Nate Holley definitely didn't help the Flashes against Western Michigan, but some good defense and an election night rain storm kept things interesting into the second half. But even a rush defense as good as Kent State's wears down against the relentless stable of running backs the Broncos can throw at you. Next up is Bowling Green, where Nick Holley and the Flashes are favored by three.
10		Akron Zips	5-6	80	Akron lost to Bowling Green, that's the bad news. The good news? This team is somehow still third in the MAC East. Small miracles!
11		Bowling Green Falcons	2-8	98	I bet you can guess which part of Bowling Green's offense had a field day against Akron. That's right, it was the running backs. Fred Coppet and Donovan Wilson had big days on the ground, and got the Falcons their second win of the year, allowing Mike Jinks to breathe just a little bit easier.
12		Buffalo Bulls	2-8	101	The Bulls have got to be one of the biggest underdogs in College GameDay history, but maybe that' s just the motivation the Bulls need to pull off one of college football's biggest upsets in 2016.