Rocket Docket

MAC predictions -- Week 13

Very much looking forward to tuning into the Temple-Miami contest at 7 p.m. tonight on ESPN2. I mentioned it a little bit in my article today about the improvement of Toledo's program, but you can't say enough about the job second-year coach Mike Haywood has done to turn around the RedHawks. 

TUESDAY

Miami 24, Temple 14: As high as I was on Temple earlier in the season, I'm just as down on the Owls now. I know they've been limited without star RB Bernard Pierce, but you can't let your season go down the toilet because of one guy. Then again, maybe that's all Temple was -- just a one-man team. Either way, the Owls have been a big disappointment this season.

FRIDAY

Kent State 17, Ohio 13: How cool of a story would it be if Miami somehow won the MAC East Division title and snuck into the MAC championship game? Well, I'm predicting exactly that scenario to occur, with Miami winning tonight and Ohio losing Friday. For the RedHawks to go from a one-win team to a possible conference champion in one year, that would be one heckuva turnaround.

Northern Illinois 63, Eastern Michigan 7: The Huskies are absolutely thrashing their competition right now. NIU has outscored its last two opponents (Toledo and Ball State) 124-51, and pretty much demoralized them in the process. UT coach Tim Beckman was so distraught after the NIU loss that he put a gag order on his players. Then, after its loss to NIU, Ball State fired second-year coach Stan Parrish. Wow. Who knows what EMU coach Ron English has in store for him after this one, but I'm sure whatever it is, it won't be pretty.

Toledo 35, Central Michigan 21: The Rockets need to avoid a letdown, which is a distinct possibility since they won't be playing for any real significant goals. There are some who worry UT hasn't done enough to secure a spot in a bowl game, but it would take a one-in-a-million type scenario for the Rockets not to go bowling at this point. There's a greater possibility that the NCAA will have to pass a waiver allowing a 5-7 team to go to a bowl game than the Rockets staying home.

Akron 9, Buffalo 3: It would be awful for the MAC to have back-to-back years with winless teams, so Akron really needs to get it done against a dreadful Buffalo squad. Also, please, somebody, anybody, explain to me how Buffalo-Eastern Michigan and Buffalo-Akron ended up being televised by SportsTime Ohio for the final two weeks of the year. 

Bowling Green 22, Western Michigan 21: The Falcons are pretty dreadful, don't get me wrong, but I think they'll summon enough gusto to keep Western Michigan from clinching bowl eligibility with a narrow victory at the Doyt.

Last week: 5-1

Season record: 76-22 (.776)

MAC predictions: Week 12

A huge MAC West showdown between Toledo and Northern Illinois last week has given way to a huge MAC East showdown tonight between Temple and Ohio. Although the Huskies have all-but locked up the West, Temple and Ohio will still have some work to do no matter which team wins tonight, with Miami also lurking at 5-1.

TUESDAY

Temple 28, Ohio 24: Since this game is being played in Philly, the Owls have a perceived home-field advantage, although I wouldn't necessarily say that will be the case with rain in the forecast and Temple not drawing very well historically. Nevertheless, Temple has the better defense and should prevail with a big game from RBs Bernard Pierce and Matt Brown.

WEDNESDAY

Miami 48, Akron 10: Kudos to Mike Haywood and the Miami RedHawks for their startling turnaround this season. I'm sure Temple's Al Golden will take home Coach of the Year honors should the Owls make it to the MAC championship game, but Haywood has done a remarkable job rebuilding the Miami program in just two seasons.

Toledo 35, Bowling Green 27: As I said during the UT web chat at ToledoBlade.com today, I think this one will be closer than most think, at least for a half. The Rockets have had trouble starting fast at home, and BG will be looking to play the spoiler role. But UT just has too many horses for the Falcons to pull off the upset.

SATURDAY

Northern Illinois 42, Ball State 20: Toledo fans will be rooting hard for the Cardinals, provided the Rockets take care of BG tomorrow night, but I just don't see an upset here. The Huskies look way too polished and way too focused to have a slip-up.

Eastern Michigan 17, Buffalo 14: So, the NIU-Ball State game isn't televised, but the EMU-Buffalo game will be on SportsTime Ohio? Hmmm, yeah that sounds about right.

Western Michigan 31, Kent State 28: This is the "battle for bowl eligibility game," with the loser's postseason fate (or lack thereof) sealed and the winner living to fight for another day. In reality, I don't see either of these teams achieving bowl eligibility, and even if one of them does, there's no guarantee they'll even go bowling.

Last week: 5-1

Season record: 71-21 (.772)

MAC predictions: Week 11

Well, the day has finally arrived. The MAC West showdown between Toledo and Northern Illinois takes place at 7 p.m. tonight at Huskie Stadium, and it should be a great game. It also kicks off what will be a huge stretch of games over the next few weeks in the MAC, with contenders/pretenders getting sorted out.

TUESDAY

Northern Illinois 24, Toledo 21: The line for this game is 11 points, which I find way too high. Not that I condone betting, but I'd definitely take the points because I don't see either team running away with this one. Both teams have solid defenses that should keep the score close, with the game-deciding edge going to NIU because of veteran QB-RB tandem Chandler Harnish and Chad Spann.

WEDNESDAY

Miami 35, Bowling Green 31: This is another game where I think it'll be closer than the experts think. The young Falcons may have taken a significant step forward with their win at Central Michigan over the Halloween weekend, and keeping it close against an up-and-coming Miami program would be another solid step for them. Getting a win over the rival RedHawks would be an even bigger jump.

FRIDAY

Buffalo 27, Ball State 24: You have to wonder how this game ended up on national TV (ESPNU) and how much the World Wide Leader wishes it wasn't. All kidding aside, this actually might turn out to be a decent game because of how evenly matched (i.e. not very good) these two teams are.

SATURDAY

Army 34, Kent State 28: It's Veterans Day this week, so I'm giving the nod to the Black Knights. Thanks to all the troops out there for all that you do.

Western Michigan 35, Eastern Michigan 14: Every time I see Eastern Michigan play in person, I always expect to see an abysmal football team that just is heads and shoulders worse than its opponent. But to be honest, I never have that feeling after watching the Eagles play. Sure, Toledo dismantled EMU 42-7 on Oct. 30, but the Eagles definitely have some talent they can build around, namely sophomore QB and Clyde grad Alex Gillett.

Navy 42, Central Michigan 22: Sticking with the Veterans Day theme again here. Plus, Navy is a really solid football program.  

MAC predictions -- Week 10

Well, as I wrote in my End Zone this morning, this is the point in the MAC's schedule where things start getting goofy and there seems to be conference games every night of the week (besides Sundays and Mondays), starting tonight with Ohio and Buffalo at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. 

THURSDAY

Ohio 41, Buffalo 13: I have to admit I've been very surprised by Ohio's recent play. I came away from the Rockets' win in Athens totally unimpressed with the Bobcats in early September. Their defense looked so-so and their offense was abysmal. But since then, they've righted the ship and appear to be on a crash course for a return to the MAC championship game. Just like Tuesday's game between Toledo and Northern Illinois will likely decide the West Division, so too will Ohio's matchup at Temple on Nov. 16 probably decide the East.

FRIDAY

Western Michigan 45, Central MIchigan 42: When Toledo beat Western Michigan (coincidentally, the week after beating Ohio), I felt then that the Broncos were a sleeping giant. Alex Carder looks like the next elite MAC QB, in the same mold as CMU's Dan LeFevour, Ball State's Nate Davis, and his predecessor at WMU Tim Hiller. The Chippewas, meanwhile, have completely fallen off the wagon this season without LeFevour and with a new coach, Dan Enos. 

SATURDAY

Ball State 22, Akron 6: Although this isn't Akron's best remaining shot at winning a game this season (the Zips wrap up their season at home against dreadful Buffalo), the window is closing quickly. Like I've said before, for the sake of the respectability of the conference, you never want to see a MAC team go defeated.

Temple 38, Kent State 21: I've gone from being very impressed to now being lukewarm about the Owls. Maybe it's the recent Big East expansion talk including Temple (which I find laughable) or the fact that the Owls only led 6-0 at halftime last weekend. Whatever it is, Temple looks beatable and is no longer a lock in my eyes to even qualify for the MAC championship game, let alone win it.

Last week: 6-1

Season record: 63-19 (.768)

MAC predictions -- Week 9

Just scores and no analysis again this week. Had a funeral to go to yesterday, then covered the Walleye game. Promise to try harder next week.

Northern Illinois 38, Western Michigan 31

Temple 42, Akron 3

Kent State 27, Ball State 24

Central Michigan 22, Bowling Green 17

Miami 20, Buffalo 17

Toledo 38, Eastern Michigan 17

Ohio 34, Louisiana-Lafayette 14

MAC predictions -- Week 8

I'm on my way out the door to cover the Maumee-Springfield football game tonight, but I wanted to post my predictions for the weekend before I go. 

Temple 38, Buffalo 20

Miami 34, Ohio 21

Bowling Green 27, Kent State 24

Western Michigan 42, Akron 10

Northern Illinois 28, Central Michigan 9

Virginia 31, Eastern Michigan 21

Toledo 45, Ball State 24

Last week: 5-2

Season record: 52-16 (.765) 

MAC predictions -- Week 7

I dropped the ball last week by forgetting to post my MAC predictions before heading out to Boise, and for that I sincerely apologize. A small part of me is happy I didn't however, because there were several outcomes I didn't see coming (i.e. Northern Illinois over Temple and Ohio over Bowling Green) and my predictions record from Week 5 was atrocious.

Central Michigan 27, Miami 21: This game is a bit of an enigma, because Central Michigan (1-2) is currently lower than Miami (2-0) in the standings right now, although I still view the Chippewas as the better team. It's obviously a rebuilding year in Mount Pleasant, while the RedHawks are definitely on an uptick. Still, I think the Chips will get it done against Miami.

Temple 38, Bowling Green 3: The Falcons are as bad as I've seen them in quite some time, while Temple is out for blood after last week's loss to NIU. Sounds like the recipe for a blowout. 

Ball State 19, Eastern Michigan 12: This might be one of Eastern's last real chances to win a game this season, with upcoming matchups at Virgina, vs. Toledo, at Western Michigan, at Buffalo and vs. Northern Illinois. The Eagles also have the MAC championship game listed on their online schedule, but I'd say that might be out of the question at this point. 

Ohio 31, Akron 6: The Zips have been outscored 227-101 this season, the widest scoring disparity in the MAC this season besides EMU. It's been a rough go for rookie coach Rob Ianello at Akron, but the Zips need to find a victory soon because having two winless teams in the MAC just looks terrible in terms of national respect for your conference.

Notre Dame 45, Western Michigan 10: The Broncos are the first MAC team to play the Fighting Irish since the conference formed in 1947. Western Michigan did play Notre Dame in 1919 and 1920, however, and endured a pair of shutouts. The Broncos should manage to get on the board tomorrow, but I don't see this one being very competitive. By the way, just throwing this out there, but Toledo AD Mike O'Brien should really look into scheduling a home-and-home with Notre Dame. Maybe he already has, I don't know, but the Irish have a huge fan base in Toledo and it'd be a huge game for the Rockets.

Northern Illinois 35, Buffalo 14: The Bulls have scored just 96 points this season, an average of 19.2 points per game. Northern Illinois, by contrast, has scored a MAC-best 170 points this year, an average of 28.3 points per game. Enough said.

Toledo 3, Kent State 0: Ok, the final score probably won't be this low, but I am expecting a defensive battle tomorrow night. Both teams' offenses leave plenty to be desired, while Kent State has the MAC's best defense on paper and UT might have the conference's best defense on film. 

Last week: 6-2

Season record: 47-14 (.770)

MAC predictions -- Week 5

Can't believe we've already reached Week 5 of the season. It's legitimate to be discussing bowl possibilities, but not OK to call any MAC squad a lock yet for postseason play. Rockets are definitely one of those possibilities right now, though.

Temple 24, Army 21: This one will be closer than most people think, mostly because of Bernard Pierce's likely absence for the Owls due to an ankle injury suffered last week. I don't see Army pulling the upset, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens. This will be a real test for Temple. 

Eastern Michigan 23, Ohio 22: Here's my upset special of the week. I don't see the Eagles going winless again this season, so this appears as good of an opportunity as any to get second-year coach Ron English his first career win. Plus, it was pretty impressive to see Eastern put up three touchdowns on Ohio State last weekend.

Kent State 24, Miami 17: The Flashes have struggled without RB Eugene Jarvis, but I think they'll have enough to get past Miami.

Western Michigan 38, Idaho 27: I'll be honest -- I don't know much about Idaho, but I do know teams traveling more than two time zones in either direction usually don't fare well. I'm taking the Broncos, who have a stud QB prospect in Alex Carder.

Bowling Green 35, Buffalo 20: The Falcons are calling this one a "must-win" and should be able to accomplish that objective against an offensively-challenged Buffalo squad. But BG "must tackle" well, something the Falcons haven't done much of at all this season. 

Central Michigan 56, Ball State 21: I'm already starting to salivate over a possible MAC West championship game between the Chippewas and the Rockets on Black Friday at the Glass Bowl. I'm sure it'll be freezing, I'm sure it'll be televised, and I'm sure I'm being premature in writing about this. Either way, memo to CMU and UT, let's make this happen.

Northern Illinois 26, Akron 7: The Huskies picked up one of the MAC's two road wins over the Big Ten last week by knocking off the reeling Golden Gophers of Minnesota. Northern Illinois seems to have finally gotten on track and is starting to look like the championship contender many, including myself, expected it to be.

Toledo 27, Wyoming 21: The Rockets have all the momentum on their side riding a three-game winning streak, while Wyoming is licking its wounds with a three-game skid. This won't be a cake walk for UT, but the Rockets should be able to take care of business, provided they come better prepared than they were in a homecoming debacle last season against Western Michigan.

Last week: 10-1

Season record: 39-6 (.867)

MAC predictions -- Week 4

Can't believe the season's already a quarter of the way through. Also hard to fathom Toledo is 2-0 on the road and could possibly have a .500 record -- or better -- after its brutal six-week start to the season. I've picked the Rockets to lose every game so far this season (and it cost me a perfect record on last week's predictions), not because I'm a hater but because they genuinely were the underdog in every matchup. Now this week I'm tempted to pick them over Purdue, but then that'll probably jinx them and they'll end up losing. What to do, what to do ...

This week's slate of games represents the annual unofficial MAC/Big Ten Challenge, and I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one David knock off a so-called Goliath tomorrow. 

Connecticut 19, Buffalo 6: I wouldn't expect a barnburner in this one, unless of course you love poor offense and defense-dominated matchups. If so, this one's for you.

Michigan 35, Bowling Green 24: BG kicker Bryan Wright will nail a field goal at his former "House" but it won't be enough for the Falcons. UM just has too many weapons offensively -- OK, really just one but he's a BIG weapon -- for BG to contain.

Northwestern 156, Central Michigan 0: That probably won't be the final score but as an NU alum, I wouldn't hate it if it was! By the way, here's a fun fact for you: Between 1964-2007, Northwestern suffered at least one nonconference loss in every season (and I can attest to this, more than one most seasons), but the Wildcats can sweep through their non-conference schedule for the second time in the last three years if they beat the Chippewas.

Iowa 42, Ball State 13: This will be a nice bounce-back game for the Hawkeyes after last week's loss at Arizona. By the way, I said a couple weeks back that I wasn't sold on the Wildcats being the best team to ever visit the Glass Bowl. Well, so far this year, they're making me look silly with that statement.

Missouri 28, Miami 10: Did you know there's actually a town named Miami, Missouri? Ok, it's more like a blip on the map with a population of 160 (thanks Wikipedia). As for the game, the RedHawks and Tigers will be meeting for the first time, with Mizzou holding a 10-4 record all-time against MAC schools. Miami hung with Florida, but I still don't expect an upset here. 

Ohio State 56, Eastern Michigan 3: One of my colleagues Matt Markey called this game "the biggest mismatch of the college football season" and unless Alabama and Western Kentucky are getting together anytime soon, I'd have to say he's right. 

Penn State 20, Temple 13: This is one of the MAC-Big Ten matchups where I wouldn't be surprised to see an upset. The Nittany Lions just haven't been all that impressive this season, while Temple has been downright stingy defensively. I'll give Penn State the nod because this game is being played in State College, but Temple will be within striking distance.

Indiana 31, Akron 7: Yep, there is an Akron, Indiana, and yes, it's named after Akron, Ohio. Don't expect the Zips to get much love at Memorial Stadium, however, with the Hoosiers trying to open with a 3-0 record for the second straight year. Akron isn't generating much fanfare anywhere these days, with first-year coach Rob Ianello already calling for patience with his soon-to-be 0-4 program. 

Marshall 26, Ohio 16: The Herd might very well be the best 0-3 team in America after losses to Ohio State, West Virginia and Bowling Green. Ohio, conversely, might be the worst 1-2 team in America after beating Wofford, then looking sloppy in losses to Toledo and Ohio State. 

Minnesota 27, Northern Illinois 23: The Huskies are in the midst of a three-game road trip, with four of their first five games played away from Huskie Stadium. It won't get any easy against the Golden Gophers, who hung with Southern Cal last week following a miserable loss to South Dakota the week before.

Ok, so I haven't picked any MAC teams to knock off a Big Ten opponent yet, which means ... (drumroll, please) ...

Toledo 21, Purdue 20: I probably shouldn't believe in jinxes or any other bad omens, but I will feel guilty if the Rockets end up losing. This is the first week where I firmly believe UT has a great chance of knocking off its opponent. The Boilermakers' passing attack has been uninspiring (the Rockets' main defensive weakness), but they have showed some promise with the ground game. Provided that UT's offense scores some points (a big if) and the run defense continues to perform, the Rockets should escape West Lafayette with their third straight road win, which would be the first time they've accomplished that feat since 1995.

Last week: 10-1

Season record: 29-5 (.853) 

MAC predictions -- Week 3

Not a great week for my predictions last week, and an even worse one for the MAC. The league suffered two losses to FCS programs ... ouch. Ball State and Akron, please step your game up.

Ohio State 45, Ohio 10: After seeing the Bobcats in person last week, I came away very unimpressed. Starting QB Boo Jackson looked lost at times while filling in for an injured Phil Bates (thumb) against Toledo, so I can't imagine what he'll look like against the Buckeyes.

Purdue 35, Ball State 14: Ok, so the Cardinals will have a tough time stepping their game up this week. Purdue has been very underwhelming in its first two contests (a loss to Notre Dame before edging Western Illinois), but Ball State, well, check out the Liberty game.

Temple 14, Connecticut 13: The Owls are the best team in the MAC right now, while UConn has been shaky at best. You can call this one an upset if you want, but you can't deny Temple looks like it's going places.

Penn State 31, Kent State 10: The Flashes will be without RB Eugene Jarvis, who also sat out last week with a groin injury. On the other side, RB Evan Royster needs to show the Nittany Lions they can count on him.

Illinois 27, Northern Illinois 13: Huskies coach Jerry Kill was released from the hospital late last night, and whether or not he will coach in this game is still up in there air. I know Kill is a fighter, but it might be best for him to take this week off and get better. Best wishes to him in his recovery.

Miami 24, Colorado State 17: This game has been billed by ESPN.com as the "Pillow Fight of the Week." The Rams have been outscored 75-9 in losses to Colorado and Nevada. Now, they have to travel two time zones east for this contest. I'd say that favors the RedHawks.

Central Michigan 34, Eastern Michigan 16: The Eagles' losing streak stands at 14 games, and there's no end in sight (at least not this week or next at Ohio State). But if there's a silver lining for EMU fans, it's that Western Kentucky became a FBS program a few years back, and the Hilltoppers own the nation's longest current skid at 22 games.  

Central Florida 19: Buffalo 3: The Golden Knights bring one of the nation's top ranked defenses to Buffalo, which has struggled with sophomore QB Jerry Davis behind center. The Bulls couldn't get anything going offensively last week at Baylor, and that will most likely continue against UCF.

Kentucky 66, Akron 10: The Wildcats hung 62 on Western Kentucky last week, so there's no reason to believe they can't put even more points on the board this week against the Zips. Akron has struggled of late, but first-year coach Rob Ianello might not have seen rock bottom yet.

Bowling Green 28, Marshall 27: The Herd hung with Ohio State for a quarter, then should have beaten West Virginia last week. The Falcons have struggled to find an identity in losses to Troy and Tulsa. My head is telling me Marshall, but my gut is saying BG. All indications point to a good turnout at the Doyt, which could tip the scales and give the Falcons their first win of the season.

Western Michigan 31, Toledo 28: This could prove to be the game of the day in the MAC. Arizona QB Nick Foles tore apart the UT defense in Week 1, then the Rockets responded by making Ohio QB Boo Jackson look like a pee-wee signal-caller last week. Broncos sophomore QB Alex Carder looks like a mixture of the two (talented and can make the big play; but young and will make mistakes). If Carder takes care of the ball, I'll give the nod to the Broncos winning on a last-second FG.

Last week: 7-3

Season record: 19-4 (.826)