Talking MACtion

The Redhawks will have to lean on a more experienced Gabbert under center to have a big 2021 as the offense is one more year older. Week 1: Cincinnati L  Week 2: Minnesota L Week 3: LIU W Week 4: Army L Week 5: Central Michigan L Week 6: Eastern Michigan W Week 7: Akron W Week 8: Ball State W Week 9: Ohio W Week 10: Buffalo W Week 11: Bowling Green W Week 12: Kent State W Overall: 8-4 MAC: 7-1 Window: 6-8 wins I see the 2021 Miami OH team going back to the MAC Championship Game.  

Dustin Crum is coming back. That is the most important news for the Golden Flashes as Crum is by far the most talented QB in the MAC. It will be very interesting to see if the defense has improved for this year to take a step forward. Week 1: Texas A&M L Week 2: VMI W Week 3: Iowa L Week 4: Maryland L Week 5: Bowling Green W Week 6: Buffalo L Week 7: Western Michigan W Week 8: Ohio L Week 9: NIU W Week 10: Central Michigan W Week 11: Akron W Week 12: Miami OH L Overall: 6-6 MAC: 5-3 Window: 5-7 wins I see the 2021 Kent State squad staying fast on offense but still need to bolster up the run game and work on pressuring the QB. 

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.