Talking MACtion

The Buffalo Bulls are coming off of another disappointing MAC Championship loss. The Bulls were undefeated in 2020 and were unable to top Ball State in the big dance. 2021 could be another strong year behind Kevin Marks who is coming back. Week 1: Wagner W Week 2: Nebraska L Week 3: Coastal Carolina L Week 4: Old Dominion W Week 5: Western Michigan W Week 6: Kent State W Week 7: Ohio W Week 8: Akron W Week 9: Bowling Green W Week 10: Miami OH L Week 11: NIU W Week 12: Ball State L Overall: 8-4 MAC: 6-2 Window: 7-9 wins I see the 2021 Bulls taking a step up. The returning production is there outside of Jaret Patterson, with Kevin Marks and Kyle Van Trease back. I see this team within striking distance of the MAC Championship Game. 

The Huskies are trending down, with a 0-5 2020 combined with little offensive production returning. NIU will be a different animal with a whole non Zoom off season so do not be shocked by antyhing this team does.  Week 1: Georgia Tech L Week 2: Wyoming L Week 3: Michigan L Week 4: Maine W Week 5: Eastern Michigan L Week 6: Toledo L Week 7: Bowling Green W Week 8: Central Michigan W Week 9: Kent State L Week 10: Ball State L Week 11: Buffalo L Week 12: Western Michigan W Overall: 4-8 MAC: 3-5 Window: 3-5 wins Thomas Haddock and the Huskies will trend in the right direction, but still fall short of a bowl game this year. 

The Eagles are returning a lot of production from 2020, and having a full off season could benefit this team greatly.  Week 1: Saint Francis W Week 2: Wisconsin L Week 3: UMass W Week 4: Texas State L Week 5: NIU W Week 6: Miami OH L Week 7: Ball State L Week 8: Bowling Green L Week 9: Toledo L Week 10: Ohio L Week 11: Western Michigan W Week 12: Central Michigan L Overall: 4-8 MAC: 2-6 Window: 3-5 wins I think the Eagles are going to take a step back this year and fall back into some disfunction on defense. 

The CMU Chips are returning a lot of production this season, which makes them my way too early MAC West Champions. A lot of their success depends QB Daniel Richardson exploding in this Jim McElwain offense. Week 1: Missouri L  Week 2: Robert Morris W Week 3: LSU L Week 4: FIU W Week 5: Miami OH W Week 6: Ohio W Week 7: Toledo W Week 8: NIU L Week 9: Western Michigan W Week 10: Kent State L Week 11: Ball State W Week 12: Eastern Michigan W Overall: 8-4 MAC: 6-2 Window: 7-9 wins The Chippewas are my early pick to win the West. McElwain is a fantastic coach who won his first year, and after going 3-3 last year they will bounce back with a lot of production. 

The 2021 Rockets will look bright again as Jason Candle dominants another off season of recruiting. The Rockets are continuing on a path of success that has still yet to produce as many championships as set possible by the Candle era of recruiting power.  Week 1: Norfolk State W Week 2: Notre Dame L Week 3: Colorado State W Week 4: Ball State L Week 5: UMass W Week 6: NIU W Week 7: Central Michigan L Week 8: Western Michigan L Week 9: Eastern Michigan W Week 10: Bowling Green W Week 11: Ohio W Week 12: Akron W Overall: 8-4 MAC: 5-3 Window: 7-9 wins The Rockets are going to get back to a Bowl Game once again in 2021, but not a MAC Championship game. This team is going to be good, be led by a strong Eli Peters under center and Jason Candle will find himself over .500 once more.

The Broncos had a good season last year, going 4-2 in their shortened season with some very dramatic wins. Western Michigan still has not gotten back to the mountain top since PJ Fleck left for the Big 10. Tim Lester is still trying to get over the hump, and this may not be the year to do so. Week 1: Michigan L Week 2: Illinois State W Week 3: Pitt L Week 4: San Jose State L Week 5: Buffalo L Week 6: Ball State W Week 7: Kent State L Week 8: Toledo W Week 9: Central Michigan L Week 10: Akron W Week 11: Eastern Michigan L Week 12: NIU L Overall: 4-8 MAC: 3-5 Window: 4-6 wins I see the 2021 Broncos taking a step back. The returning production is not there, and this team still has a young signal caller that can be mistake prone when defenses can prep in a non COVID season.

The Cardinals did it! Mike Neu finally did what he set out to do and captured the 2020 MAC Championship. Ball State took down the Buffalo Bulls 38-28 in upset fashion. Going into 2021 does raise some questions as to how high this team can continue to go. COVID brings a lot of questions as to how a regular season could have gone so expectations will be high for Neu and the Cards. Week 1: Western Illinois W Week 2: Penn State L Week 3: Wyoming W Week 4: Toledo W Week 5: Army L Week 6: Western Michigan L Week 7: Eastern Michigan W Week 8: Miami OH L Week 9: Akron W Week 10: NIU W Week 11: Central Michigan L Week 12: Buffalo W Overall: 7-5 MAC: 5-3 Window: 6-8 wins I see the 2021 Ball State squad having another good year. This team is riding some serious momentum and while I do not see them steamrolling everyone, they can have another great season. Especially if a lot of their Seniors come back for the 2021 year.