Buffalo Bulls picked 5th in the East

Bowling Green I get. They are the king of the hill and "Falcon Fast" will once again present a challenge to pretty much every team in the East. They would probably be my pick to win the division.

Ohio is a mainstay near the top of the division even though they have struggled in recent years. Still the MAC East is a jumble and you have a coach who has proven himself in the conference. I can see someone picking them as a maybe team and others pick them near the top.

Akron is getting picked on Bowden's name alone. It's been trendy the last couple of season to float Akron towards the top of the conference. Granted they are not the dumpster fire of a program we saw in 20XX but despite "progress" I don't see how they get two votes to win the division.

In any normal year Akron would be the odd ball selection. But this year somebody accidentally handed out at least three Irish coffees. That's the only way UMass gets *THREE* first place votes. The Minutemen got more votes than either Ohio or Akron. Hell! They got as many votes as Ohio and Akron combined.

Consider this. With *THREE* first place votes UMass is still 4th in the conference. I'm guessing their average sans the AA crowd would be around where Miami is.

As to Buffalo 5th seems fair(ish). I expect better of UB this season but we have a new coach, lost a ton of guys on D, and three linemen who all ended up in NFL camps this spring with one of those linemen now on a practice squad in the CFL.

That's a lot of unknown for UB.

The West shook out a lot like I expected. You can *ALWAYS* count on CMU getting one vote in the poll. It's uncanny and I want to know who it is. We're talking about a team who lost talent, real talent. We're talking about a team who's coach left the program to be an assistant coach in the SEC with *0* notice.

Were talking about a team that has not been relevant in the MAC West since what, 2009?

Whoever you are CMU guy I tip my hat to your blatant but consistent poor picks. If you had a lick of sense or integrity your outsider pick should be Ball State but we enjoy the running joke of your annual CMU picks.

Ok But CMU homerism aside. This may be PJ Fleck's "show me" season. 8 folks pick him to win the division and he has been stockpiling talent for a few seasons.

Despite the Flashyness of Fleck I am somewhat surprised to see NIU picked third and only four brave souls picking them to win the division?

Unlike Toledo the Huskies have shown they can win the big game to take the division (usually over Toledo). Unlike WMU their success is not the potential of good recruiting classes it's dominance of the MAC for years. The Huskies would be my pick

My Picks?