Rival Week : Football guess who!

I’m sorely tempted to call “The Buffalo Bills” our rival in football, because they end up sucking most of the energy out of the atmosphere in the fall...

But let’s be real, our rival is Ohio.

For Basketball we went through why other schools should be our rival but for football let’s talk about why some schools are NOT our rival.

Northern Illinois : The huskies stole a coach from us in the 60’s, have beat us like a drum in MAC play and even had an epic comeback to snatch a conference title from us a couple of years back.

But we don’t play them enough to call them a rival, and despite their success as a football school they just don’t feel like an opponent I care too much about.

Bowling Green : We end every season against them, usually that last game means something for bowl standings etc.

But only once in a blue moon are both teams having solid seasons at the same time.

Akron : They are just bad..

Ball State : After 2008 I feel sorry for them, they’ve had some good seasons but they seem to always be a bridesmade.

EMU : Once the Ontario Sandwich becomes a thing they jump to the front of the line. In the meantime I tend to root for them as a MAC underdog that is program building. If I can root for them it’s not a rival

Miami : Close, oh so close, I’d put them high up on the list but it feels like in general the schools keep missing eachother

Kent : See Akron... Maybe they are turning a corner but they have to be close to the worst team in the MAC over the past 10 years

Other Directional Michigan : Just don’t care

Toledo : We simply don’t play them enough, though it is fun while we do.

Ohio: (let’s check off the boxes)

• Play them every year
• Often the two teams are battling for position in the MAC and this is a make or break game
• Teams usually play well on the road
• Fans hate each other
• Classic bad call in the lore

Am I wrong, who would you pick?