MAC Blogger Roundtable: Week 3

This week’s host is Mike Trumbell of The Chip Report, a Central Michigan blog.
We’ll get right into the questions and my answers:

1) This week featured some out of conference games in which MAC schools had some strong showings but were unable to finish. Do these close calls do it for you or do these teams need to complete the upset to earn conference respect?

TFF: They need to complete the upset.

2) What Senior is really standing out as a pro prospect?

TFF: Adrian Robinson, rush endy. Will follow Muhammad Wilkerson or Jacquaiwn Jarrett as a first- or second-round NFL draft pick from the defensive side of the ball.

3) With CMU traveling to Kalamazoo to take on the Broncos this weekend I thought it fitting to ask, which MAC rivalry is most heated and why?

TFF: Kent and Akron used to be. I’m thinking CMU an WMU now. If Akon an Kent were ever 1-2, that would be it.

4) Which bottom feeder from last season has looked most improved?

TFF: Eastern Michigan. I know the sked is not OSU’s, buit they are impressive. A lot is working against them, but Ron English is doing a much better job this year.

5) List your MAC power rankings

1-Toledo

2) Northern Illinois

3) Temple

4) Ohio

5) Bowling Green
6) WMU
7) CMU
8) Ball State
9) Miami
10) Kent State
11) Eastern Michigan
12) Buffalo
13) Akron
Temple Football Forever’s picks this week:
(odds are from the New York Daily News, HOME team in CAPS)
FRIDAY
Boise State 31, TOLEDO 20 _ Rockets easily cover the 17 1/2.
SATURDAY
CINCINNATI 41, Akron 3 _ Bearcats cover the 30-point spread.
BOWLING GREEN 35, Wyoming 21 _ Falcons have no problem covering the 8 1/2.
TEMPLE 24, Penn State 20 _ Owls shock the world, but not their own fans who watched as they beat Fiesta Bowl-bound UConn by two scores last year. Temple is anywhere between a 9 1/2 to 8-point underdog.
Central Michigan 14,  WESTERN MICHIGAN 7 _ Anything can happen in a rivalry game and I’m picking 6 1/2-point underdog Chips to win this one outright.
Miami 10, MINNESOTA 7 _ MAC champ, a 3-point underdog, pulls off the 3-point upset win on the road.
OHIO U. 24, Marshall 17 _ Bobcats might be Frank Solich’s best team and the 2-point spread seems small to me.
BALL STATE 17, Buffalo 10 _ Cards beat Indiana and Buffalo isn’t as good as Indiana. They cover the 4 1/2.
Season record straight up: 14-4
Season record against spread: 12-2
(A lot of MAC games have appeared with no lines and those are included in the straight-up record.)
Our only loss against the spread last week was USF covering the 22 against Ball State.
We correctly predicted a straight up and against the spread upset when we picked Louisiana Lafayette, a 6  1/2-point dog, to beat Kent State, 24-20. LL won, 20-12.

3 thoughts on “MAC Blogger Roundtable: Week 3

  1. Did you mean to leave off picks for NIU, EMU, and Kent State?

  2. no i just went down the list of games in the NYDN and those didn't appear there. Sorry.I'll get those teams next week as the Philly Daily News puts them all in there.

  3. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the crowd breakdown. As of Thursday afternoon, the ticket office reported 14,000 students have picked up their tickets and they are expecting 18-20K TU alumni on top of that.Ut might not be 50/50 but it will be a lot closer to 50/50 than 75/25. Based on those figures alone (and considering not one extra Temple fan between now and tomorrow is a late commit), it's 51/49 PSU. Or 48/48 with 4K neutral fans joining in cheering for the upset in the final minutes, just like an NCAA hoops crowd.

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