One week remains in the regular season for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) football season. As one program needs only a single victory to secure its spot, others will fight tooth and nail to reach Detroit, Michigan. While the pathway might look simple on paper, the margin for error has never been smaller.
The final outlook for the race to the MAC title game is here in the newest addition of ‘Around The MAC’.
Western Michigan
The goal for the Western Michigan Broncos (7-4, 6-1) is simple: win their final game of the season against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-7, 3-4), and a spot in Detroit is theirs. Despite being in the driver’s seat, head coach Lance Taylor stresses the importance of the team getting off to better starts.
“This must be our best week of practice and prep,” Taylor said in the weekly press conference. “This team is very well coached; they have an explosive offense and a defense that can create havoc.”
The Broncos’ main area of strength on offense relies on their rushing attack, sitting second and averaging 181.1 yards a game. Meanwhile, the Eagles’ defense sits last in run defense, allowing 227.9 yards per game.
Central Michigan
One spot behind the Broncos are an in-state opponent in the Central Michigan Chippewas (7-4, 5-2). However, being second is not a guarantee by any means, as their final home game of the season will come against the Toledo Rockets (7-4, 5-2).
The home turf from Mount Pleasant, Michigan, is one of the strong suits for the Matt Drinkall-led group, as they are undefeated with four straight wins.
The scenario for the Chippewas will be a win-and-in situation, as the matchup on Tuesday will serve as an elimination game between the schools.
Ohio
The road for the defending conference champions is anything but easy. The Ohio Bobcats (7-4, 4-2) must win their final matchup against the Buffalo Bulls (5-6, 4-3), and they also need help, help-specifically a Central Michigan loss, to remain in the title hunt.
Head coach Brian Smith knows what’s at stake, but his message remains consistent.
“We’re controlling what we can control,” Smith said. “We try to eliminate any outside factors and influences; the positive thing about the deciding games in terms of what ends up shaking out if we do end up winning are after us anyways.”
Miami
Despite all the distracting noise around the quarterback controversy, Chuck Martin and the Miami RedHawks (6-5, 5-2) pushed through the adversity and defeated Buffalo, 37-20, a crucial victory that kept their hopes alive.
Now the focus shifts to the final game of the regular season against the Ball State Cardinals (4-7, 3-4) on Saturday Nov. 29. In Martin’s eyes, this is not a matchup they can overlook.
“We got one more week in our journey,” Martin said. “It’s the MAC, they found a way to beat Ohio, and we didn’t. That’s all I need to know.”
A win this week could send Miami to its third straight conference title game.
Toledo
A 38-9 win over Ball State on Saturday kept Toledo’s hopes alive. Now the Jason Candle led-Rockets face a must win scenario against Central Michigan.
If Toledo wins–and if Ohio, Miami, and Western Michigan also win–the result would create a three-way tie for the remaining title game spot, with the RedHawks holding the tiebreaker.
If the Rockets lose to the Chippewas, they would need Buffalo to defeat Ohio to stay alive, depending on how the remaining tiebreaker scenarios unfold.
