The MAC has been up and down for many years, rarely a middle of the pack conference among the non-elite. There was a time when Toledo and Miami of Ohio were regulars in the major polls. Miami actually beat Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina in three consecutive bowl games. The MAC has produced the New Year’s Day Bowl team that was guaranteed to the top Group of 5 team.
There have been years where this league was considerably weaker than the better Group of 5 conferences, and there have been a couple teams that have come and gone from the league. Over the Winter, the MAC appeared to be expanding to 14 teams with the additions of Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State. The two Conference USA schools and rivals chose to remain where they were.
Here is the official media poll for the Mid-American Conference
| Mid-American Conference | |||
| Votes | |||
| # | East | 1st Place | Overall |
| 1 | Miami (O) | 20 | 139 |
| 2 | Kent St. | 3 | 116 |
| 3 | Buffalo | 0 | 78 |
| 4 | Ohio | 0 | 72 |
| 5 | Bowling Green | 1 | 71 |
| 6 | Akron | 0 | 28 |
| # | West | 1st Place | Overall |
| 1 | Northern Illinois | 11 | 122 |
| 2 | Toledo | 9 | 120 |
| 3 | Central Michigan | 4 | 112 |
| 4 | Western Michigan | 0 | 56 |
| 5 | Eastern Michigan | 0 | 52 |
| 6 | Ball St. | 0 | 42 |
| Championship | Overall | ||
| Northern Illinois | 9 | ||
| Toledo | 6 | ||
| Miami (O) | 5 | ||
| Central Michigan | 4 |
Here are the preseason PiRate Ratings for the MAC.
| Mid-American Conference | ||||
| East Division | ||||
| Team | PiRate | Mean | Bias | Average |
| Miami (Ohio) | 91.5 | 94.5 | 94.3 | 93.4 |
| Kent St. | 87.3 | 90.1 | 87.6 | 88.3 |
| Bowling Green | 87.7 | 86.4 | 86.8 | 87.0 |
| Ohio | 84.2 | 86.9 | 86.4 | 85.8 |
| Buffalo | 83.0 | 85.7 | 84.7 | 84.4 |
| Akron | 78.2 | 79.2 | 77.8 | 78.4 |
| West Division | ||||
| Team | PiRate | Mean | Bias | Average |
| N. Illinois | 97.8 | 98.2 | 98.3 | 98.1 |
| Central Mich. | 93.0 | 95.3 | 96.3 | 94.9 |
| Toledo | 93.4 | 94.6 | 95.3 | 94.4 |
| Western Mich. | 92.1 | 93.4 | 93.5 | 93.0 |
| Eastern Mich. | 88.3 | 88.9 | 88.0 | 88.4 |
| Ball St. | 84.6 | 85.9 | 84.7 | 85.0 |
| MAC | 88.4 | 89.9 | 89.5 | 89.3 |
The PiRate Ratings are predictive in nature. However, they are only designed to look forward one week. Nevertheless, here are the predicted won-loss records for the MAC.
| East | MAC | Overall |
| Miami (O) | 7-1 | 8-5 |
| Kent St. | 5-3 | 6-6 |
| Ohio | 3-5 | 5-7 |
| Bowling Green | 3-5 | 4-8 |
| Buffalo | 1-7 | 3-9 |
| Akron | 0-8 | 1-11 |
| West | MAC | Overall |
| Northern Illinois | 8-0 | 11-2 |
| Toledo | 6-2 | 8-4 |
| Central Michigan | 6-2 | 8-4 |
| Western Michigan | 5-3 | 7-5 |
| Ball St. | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| Eastern Michigan | 2-6 | 4-8 |
Northern Illinois picked to beat Miami (O) in the MAC Championship Game.
Coming Tomorrow: The Sun Belt Conference
The Pi-Rate Ratings 