Bull Run MAC Power Rankings : Preseason

By Tim Riordan@UBBullRun Aug 27, 2021, 11:05am EDT

NCAA Football: Arizona Bowl-Ball State vs San Jose State

Team	Pre	Δ	Comment
Ball State	-	-	Kind of a no brainer to start them off at #1. They are the returning champion who brings back a lot of their roster while many of the other contenders have been decimated
Kent State	-	-	This could the best season since Darrell Hazell took them to the MAC title game and the Go-Daddy Bowl. IF they do play at that level it's also likely Sean Lewis's last dance in Kent
Toledo	-	-	Toledo is always good, so they may give BSU a run for their money but they, and #4 WMU are probably going to come up just a little short.
Western Michigan	-	-	Western Michigan is back, and really almost managed to win the MAC West last year, so it's reasonable to expect that they will once again challenge for the west.
Ohio	-	-	Gone is Frank, but the rest of his staff remains. Tim Albin has been in Athens since 2005 so this is the smoothest coaching change we've seen in some time. Ohio will push for the East
Miami	-	-	Miami is returning a great roster, and has been solid for years. They have the advantage of not facing Kent until the last game of the season so that could be the "winner goes to Detroit" game
Northern Illinois	-	-	Ok... hear me out... I think NIU played way better than their record last year and did so in pretty challenging circumstances. I could be dead wrong but I think they will surprise a lot of people this season.
Buffalo	-	-	The very late departure of Lance Leipold and the subsequent flight of top talent to Lawrence to join him drops Buffalo down, a lot. Kevin Marks' legs give UB a chance though
Central Michigan	-	-	You know it's going to be an off season when their one reliable "mac championship" vote in the preseason poll does not show up this year.
Eastern Michigan	-	-	I don't know what to make of EMU, they are no longer the doormat they once were but I just see too much on top of them this season.
Akron	-	-	Rebuild Akron, rebuild.
Bowling Green	-	-	Rebuild Bowling Green, rebuild.