JoeFalcon wrote:Falconfreak90 wrote: That's a great point, Joe. I didn't think of that angle. The West is the better of the two right now, but not by much.
Definitely. The 3 co-champions of the East (BG, Miami and Buffalo) from last year return most of their players. ESPN predicts Kent to get to their first bowl in 36 years while Akron and Temple have compiled the best recruiting classes in the league over the past couple years if the experts are to be believed. CMU and BSU are solid but not unbeatable, and the rest of the West division teams are dangerous but filled with plenty of question marks.
Certainly. The two divisions are pretty comparable.
West
Central Michigan - great offense, serviceable defense
Ball State - same as CMU, minus big wins at home
Western Michigan - same as Ball State, minus consistency
Toledo - great offense, horrific defense
Eastern Michigan - crap
Northern Illinois - crap, but with a renewed purpose (new coach + possible post tragedy motivation)
East
Miami - bad offense, good defense
Temple - same as Miami, minus winning culture
Bowling Green - great offense, mediocre defense
Buffalo - same as Bowling Green, minus winning culture
Kent State - mediocre offense, mediocre defense
Ohio - same as Kent
Akron - crap
Central Michigan is the closest thing to a complete team in the MAC, and they are the two time defending MAC Champs. Outside of them, I don't see what the big difference between the two divisions is. The West has two really poor teams in EMU and NIU, and while the East could have as many as four bad teams in a worst case scenario, the good teams in the East certainly match up with the good teams in the West.