MAC division races are underway

[BGSU33]

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college ... -amer.html" target="_blank

Some teams have yet to play a MAC game but after a month and change into the season, and after looking at the body of work thus far, I think it's more than safe to say the MAC race is wide open.

Before the start of the season I thought we'd see a repeat in the MAC Championship from last year with BG from the East and NIU from the West. And I thought we'd see BG claim another Championship.

But right now, as much as I would love to see BG repeat, I don't even see us getting out of the East let alone duplicating another MAC title. Akron has become the favorable pick to win the East right now but I'm thinking Ohio. Ohio has owned Akron over the years, is playing good defense and is flying under the radar. As for the West, I'm calling for Toledo. The Rockets are already 2-0 in the MAC and haven't seemed to miss a beat after losing their starting QB and I think this is the year they finally get past NIU.

[Flipper]

You're picking Ohio....I'm stunned.

OU has done nothing..zip...zero...nada to warrant such lofty expectations. I would take Akron more seriously than the kitties...but I stil think we're the favorite.

[Schadenfreude]

I think Akron has to be the favorite at this point, but I still think Bowling Green has a legitimate shot to win the East.

[thewebboy]

Did we ever get an explanation why we play cross-division games versus Toledo, WMU and Ball State, yet we don't play Kent or Miami in our own division.

[kdog27]

I could see this being a year where 3 teams tie at 6-2 or 5-3. I can't claim to know much about other MAC teams aside from looking at scores but I don't see a clear favorite in there. I'm not ruling out any team just yet. I think BG is definitely capable of beating all 7 teams they play but Knapke needs to grow up fast for that to happen.

[Schadenfreude]

Did we ever get an explanation why we play cross-division games versus Toledo, WMU and Ball State, yet we don't play Kent or Miami in our own division.

We will play Kent State, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Bowling Green. As for Miami...

In a 12-team league, a balanced schedule would include five division games and three crossover games. Since we have seven teams in the East but just six in the West, the MAC decided to just have everyone in the East still play just five division games, and skip one divisional rival. The opponent BGSU skips this year is Miami.

[factman]

Would someone explain to me why it is more important to play a cross divisional game than it is to play EVERYONE in your own division?

[Schadenfreude]

Would someone explain to me why it is more important to play a cross divisional game than it is to play EVERYONE in your own division?

I assume it's the math of the thing. If the East plays a divisional round robin, that means each team would only available for two crossover games. That's 14 total crossover games total that the East could provide in an eight-game conference schedule with the West needing 21. Do you have the East supply the extra crossovers and play a 9-game conference schedule while the West only plays an 8-game schedule? Do you have have the West play a home and home within the division?

Skipping a divisional opponent is the least bad option, I guess.

[MarkL]

2007 was the first year with 7 in the east but only 6 in the west. The schedule had everybody in their own divisions playing each other plus an uneven number of cross division games. The result was most teams played 8 conference games where a select few (4 I think) only played 7. As it happened, the teams meeting in the MAC championship game were in the select few to only play 7. It's only one year therefore a small sample size, but the schedulemakers decided that teams playing one fewer conference game were at an unfair advantage so the new format began in 2008.

What I don't get is every year since 2008 except for 2012-13, we have missed an east team. In 08-09 it was Temple, 10-11 it was Akron, and 13-14 that team down south. And in 2011, Greg Christopher or Dave Clawson must have peed in somebody's drink at the conference office because we played the best three from the west and missed the worst in the east.

[ziggy17]

Ultimately, I still believe the divisions still come down to our road trip to Akron and the game between TSUN and NIU which I believe is in DeKalb.

[mscarn]

2007 was the first year with 7 in the east but only 6 in the west. The schedule had everybody in their own divisions playing each other plus an uneven number of cross division games. The result was most teams played 8 conference games where a select few (4 I think) only played 7. As it happened, the teams meeting in the MAC championship game were in the select few to only play 7. It's only one year therefore a small sample size, but the schedulemakers decided that teams playing one fewer conference game were at an unfair advantage so the new format began in 2008.

What I don't get is every year since 2008 except for 2012-13, we have missed an east team. In 08-09 it was Temple, 10-11 it was Akron, and 13-14 that team down south. And in 2011, Greg Christopher or Dave Clawson must have peed in somebody's drink at the conference office because we played the best three from the west and missed the worst in the east.

The paragons of fairness in the conference office that have us avoiding Miami and playing Ball State must be the same ones that think having nearly every D-I team on real TV except UMass and BG last week was great as well:

Tennessee at Georgia
Tulane at Rutgers
North Carolina at Clemson
Wyoming at Michigan State
Texas Christian University at Southern Methodist
Iowa at Purdue
Vanderbilt at Kentucky
Western Michigan at Virginia Tech
Colorado State at Boston College
Army at Yale
Maryland at Indiana
Gannon University at Clarion
Liberty at Indiana State
Minnesota at Michigan
Florida State at North Carolina State
Western Kentucky Univ. at Navy
Temple at Connecticut
Texas at Kansas
Louisiana Tech at Auburn
Nicholls State at Central Arkansas
Cincinnati at Ohio State
Missouri at South Carolina
Boise State at Air Force
Rice at Southern Mississippi
Central Michigan at Toledo
Duke at Miami
New Mexico State at Louisiana State
Memphis at Mississippi
Texas at Tulsa
Illinois at Nebraska
Oregon State at USC
Nevada at San Jose State