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While BG is resting up on a much-needed bye week, the rest of the MAC will be in non-conference action. There are four MAC vs. Big Ten matchups and I think Ball State (at Indiana) and Ohio (at Northwestern) have the best shots at getting the MAC's first wins against a Big Ten team this season. I'm also curious to see what happens in the Toledo/Fresno State game. Here's what's on tap:

Ball State at Indiana
Ohio at Northwestern
Central Michigan at Purdue
Temple at Penn State
Miami at Cincinnati
Buffalo at Missouri
Eastern Michigan at Maryland
Fresno State at Toledo
Kent State at Louisiana-Lafayette
Akron at Army
Indiana State at Northern Illinois
Tennessee Tech at Western Michigan

I like Ball State to beat IN.

Akron *should* beat Army.

Miami at Cincy...man, the Redhawks could be in for a long season. Cincy might spank them.

If I had to throw out some predictions on those games, just by W's and L's, here's how I would see it:

Ball State at Indiana
Ball State wins. Not much commentary on this one.

Ohio at Northwestern
Ohio finally wins a close game instead of losing a close game.

Central Michigan at Purdue
Purdue is good, but so is Central. Perhaps CMU will finally show up for a big game instead of beating up on the little guys and narrowly beating somebody that is mediocre. I'm picking CMU.

Temple at Penn State
Although Temple is showing promise this season, I just can't see them winning this one.

Miami at Cincinnati
If only Miami had an offense. This one may get ugly.

Buffalo at Missouri
Again, same as Temple. Buffalo is showing some promise, but I'm not sure they can beat Mizzou. However, this game might be closer than most think. Mizzou wins.

Eastern Michigan at Maryland
This one is no contest. EMU may be "better", but not by what I've seen.

Fresno State at Toledo
Toledo is going down in this one. No question. Fresno is just too good for UT.

Kent State at Louisiana-Lafayette
This is one that is a toss-up. UL-Lafayette sucks. Kent isn't much better. Can I predict a tie? No? Ok, then Kent wins.

Akron at Army
If Akron plays like it did against Syracuse, they will win. Otherwise, Army will put these guys through basic training. I'm predicting Akron wins.

Indiana State at Northern Illinois
NIU wins, or else they aren't as good as they have people believing.

Tennessee Tech at Western Michigan
Western Michigan wins this, no contest.

BGSU33 wrote:While BG is resting up on a much-needed bye week, the rest of the MAC will be in non-conference action. There are four MAC vs. Big Ten matchups and I think Ball State (at Indiana) and Ohio (at Northwestern) have the best shots at getting the MAC's first wins against a Big Ten team this season. I'm also curious to see what happens in the Toledo/Fresno State game. Here's what's on tap:

Ball State at Indiana
Ohio at Northwestern
Central Michigan at Purdue
Temple at Penn State
Miami at Cincinnati
Buffalo at Missouri
Eastern Michigan at Maryland
Fresno State at Toledo
Kent State at Louisiana-Lafayette
Akron at Army
Indiana State at Northern Illinois
Tennessee Tech at Western Michigan

I like Ball State over Indiana and Ohio over Northwestern. CMU loses to Purdue. Temple, Miami, Buffalo, Toledo, and EMU all get kicked in the butt. Kent sucks, so they'll probably lose too. Akron, NIU and WMU will get victories.

Poor Buffalo!

Ineedbotox wrote:Poor Buffalo!

Don't give too much pity their way, we have to go out to Missouri next year.

bgsufalcon24 wrote: Don't give too much pity their way, we have to go out to Missouri next year.

For someone that puts so much stock in 15 year trends (see: Buffalo, Kent, Akron), you should be well aware that Missouri is our bitch.

Ball State at Indiana - Indiana is better than you think. Close game, but I give it to Indiana. Ball State just has that Ball State factor of shooting themselves in the foot at the worst possible time. I sense that the gun is locked, loaded, and aimed at the big toe.

Ohio at Northwestern - NW can be surprisingly good once in a while. Their offense should be fine, defense probably not so much. If Ohio shows up like they did at Ohio State, its an OU win.

CMU at Purdue - Uh, third time's the charm? Nope. CMU shows up against Purdue just like they always do in the big games under their new coach.

Temple at Penn State - Penn State is the real deal this year. They're using that super-successful offense that made the 05 team so special. Best team in the Big 10 thus far, I'd put them in my top 10 and I wouldn't be shocked to see them undefeated at the end of the season. Temple is actually a good team but will look pathetic tomorrow.

Miami at Cincinnati - Cincinnati got straight up humiliated last week and lost their starting QB. Tony Pike is a big QB, big arm, beautiful spiral and release but he makes retarded decisions. I love the Bearcats, but I see them winning only about 17 - 13 or so against a pretty good Miami defense.

Buffalo at Missouri - Mizzou is my #3 team in the nation behind Oklahoma and USC. Buffalo can make it a game for a while but Mizzou will pull away in the third.

Eastern Michigan at Maryland - Maryland pulled a nice upset at Cal, but I don't see them winning too many more this year. EMU is going to explode on offense on some team but not this one. Maryland wins but its a pretty close game.

Fresno State at Toledo - high scoring game. Fresno has allowed 20 points all year long. That number will be at least 55 after tomorrow but they still win. Toledo is a solid offense but that RB won't look anywhere nearly as good against FSU as against EMU, but the Toledo passing offense will look pretty good.

Kent State at Louisiana-Lafayette - ULL got steamrolled by Southern Miss yet damn near beat Illinois. ULL gets their first win of the season. Eugene Jarvis gets his yards but not his points.

Akron at Army - Akron wins but not by all that much. Syracuse vicariously makes Army look really good.

Indiana State at Northern Illinois - EMU beat ISU 52-0. Northern Illinois does about the same I think.

Tennessee Tech at Western Michigan - Probably about like what NIU will do to ISU.

Let's see how smart or dumb I look tomorrow.

TG1996 wrote:

bgsufalcon24 wrote: Don't give too much pity their way, we have to go out to Missouri next year.

For someone that puts so much stock in 15 year trends (see: Buffalo, Kent, Akron), you should be well aware that Missouri is our bitch.

I realize we beat them in 2001 and 2002, but Missouri is about 100x better now than they were then. They weren't #4 in the nation or anything like that, that's for sure. For us to beat them again would require a near-perfect performance.

bgsufalcon24 wrote:

TG1996 wrote:

bgsufalcon24 wrote: Don't give too much pity their way, we have to go out to Missouri next year.

For someone that puts so much stock in 15 year trends (see: Buffalo, Kent, Akron), you should be well aware that Missouri is our bitch.

I realize we beat them in 2001 and 2002, but Missouri is about 100x better now than they were then. They weren't #4 in the nation or anything like that, that's for sure. For us to beat them again would require a near-perfect performance.

Daniel is a senior, if Maclin goes early I would like our chances

bgsufalcon24 wrote:I realize we beat them in 2001 and 2002,....

I said 15 years. We beat 'em in '95, too.

Ball State at Indiana - Ball State

Ohio at Northwestern - Tough to call but I'll go for OU on this one.

Central Michigan at Purdue - Purdue has some difficulty - historically - with the spread. I like CMU.

Temple at Penn State - Penn State is the logical choice, but don't underestimate the Owls having a MAJOR chip on their shoulders fro this one.

Miami at Cincinnati - As it pains me to type it, Cinci in this one. Miami is a young team so they have a chance. Talent can - and is - negated by coaching.

Buffalo at Missouri - Missouri by two TDs.

Eastern Michigan at Maryland - The angry turtles by a bunch. EMU has a excellent sports program with a football problem.

Fresno State at Toledo - Fresno going away unfortunately. I don't see Toledo scoring a whole bunch on Fresno's defense. UT is going to have to more rely on their defense to keep them in the game. Fresno has too much of a balanced attack with Matthew rusihing (5yds APC) and Brands-Tater at QB (126 QB eff.) I'm hoping for some Glass Bowl voodoo to prove me wrong.

Kent State at Louisiana-Lafayette - Cajuns in a close one.

Akron at Army - Akron by 10

Indiana State at Northern Illinois - NIU going away. NIU isn't great but the Sycamores are down right awful.

Tennessee Tech at Western Michigan - WMU by a couple/three TDs[/quote]

Ball State will fall.
CMU will rise.
That's the only way to see it when your married to a Hoosier.

TG1996 wrote:

bgsufalcon24 wrote:I realize we beat them in 2001 and 2002,....

I said 15 years. We beat 'em in '95, too.

Huh, didn't know about that one. Awesome.

To answer Cincy's post, isn't Jeremy Maclin a sophomore? He wouldn't even be eligible to go pro after this year, unless maybe he redshirted prior to last season (not sure what the rules are on that).

FortWayneFalcon wrote:Ball State will fall.
CMU will rise.
That's the only way to see it when your married to a Hoosier.

Uh, aren't BSU students mostly Hoosiers, too? My wife is a Hoosier and attended, roots for, and swam for, UT. Go Cards!