We’ve talked about star players and surprise teams already, so now it’s time to answer the question that all Sun Belt fans want answered: which team is going to win the conference championship? Our staff provides their respective picks below.
Question: Which team will win the MAC this year?
Bart Doan
On Twitter @TheCoachBart
At some point, it becomes a waste of time trying to fudge ways to go against the grain and the smart play is just to keep plugging along until something doesn’t work. In 2015, even with Northern Illinois down to a skeleton crew on defense and at quarterback, the Huskies took the MAC West for the sixth consecutive time.
In other words, picking NIU ain’t broke, so I’m not going to dry and fix it.
Star quarterback Drew Hare should be back after a gruesome Achilles injury that knocked him out last year. Rod Carey’s team arguably boasts the deepest and best group of running backs in the conference. It seems like a broken record to talk about NIU running up and down the field, but the current incarnation of star RB is Joel Bouagnon, who rushed for nearly 1,300 yards last season.
Oh, and they add Indiana transfer Tommy Mister to the mix.
The front four is loaded with experience and cornerback Shawun Lurry is back and may be the best at his position in the country. That’s right. The country.
You add all of this together, plus NIU’s magnetism to winning the MAC West, and so long as injuries don’t hold them back, they should make it lucky number seven. Hell, even if injuries happen, they may do it. But it’ll be tough to win the conference overall. So take NIU to stay healthy and win it all, and we’ll say they do it over Bowling Green.
Joe Dexter
On Twitter @BuckeyeRadio
It’s never very smart to predict a conference champion based on its offense and head coach, but the only person that valued my smarts over my boldness is my mother.
She has no choice in the matter.
Anytime you can combine a duo like Corey Davis and Zach Terrell on offense in a conference like the MAC, the chances have to be in your favor to have one of the most dominating offenses.
P.J. Fleck continues to build the program from the ground up and finally, we might be able to see a championship-caliber defense on display.
Only six starters return on that side of the ball, but the depth has improved drastically at so many positions over the last few years.
The key offensively will be the run game, which has made tremendous strides over the last three seasons. In 2013, the Broncos averaged just 3.8 yards per carry. Last season, the Western offense averaged more than five yards per pop and totaled 1,254 more yards on the ground than two years ago.
Losing Willie Beavers on the offensive line will be huge when it comes to protecting the quarterback and the running game. Yet, the Broncos have a combined 76 starts returning up front and should have faith in the highly touted newcomers on the offensive line.
What might also help WMU’s chances is playing Northern Illinois and Toledo at home, while only facing Bowling Green if it makes it to the MAC Championship.
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
Football fans in Northwest Ohio will like my answer to this question.
Although it will lose Matt Johnson, Roger Lewis, Gehrig Dieter, and Travis Greene – in addition to head coach Dino Babers – Bowling Green will win the East for the fourth year in a row. Despite these losses, the Falcon offense will thrive under the leadership of new head coach Mike Jinks, thanks to a veteran offensive line that returns 140 career starts. Whether it’s with Fred Coppet (825 yards, 5.69 yards per carry in a backup role last season) on the ground or James Knapke or James Morgan through the air, BG’s offense will keep the sticks moving all season long.
In the West, Toledo will capture the division crown and play for its first conference title since 2004. Once again, the Rockets are loaded on offense, with Logan Woodside (2,263 yards passing, 19/8 TD-to-INT ratio in 2014), Kareem Hunt (led the MAC in rushing yards per game the past two seasons), Cody Thompson (league-best 22.3 yards per catch last season), and All-MAC tackle Storm Norton returning. On the other side of the ball, UT’s defense will be much better than many experts predict with the arrival of new coordinator Brian George – whose Kent State defense finished second in the MAC last year, allowing just 4.86 yards per play – and a number of talented transfers who should step in contribute right away.
Look for the Rockets – who have won six straight in the series – to win should be an exciting MAC Championship Game.
Kevin Causey
On Twitter @CFBZ
A new head coach puts Bowling Green in a difficult position. Coming off a 7-1 MAC record in 2015 and a conference championship, the Falcons now turn to Mike Jinks from Texas Tech. Will the offense flourish under Jinks and can the defense return to where it was in 2013. I like the Falcons, partially because they are in the weaker division. They will win their half of the MAC.
On the other side you have NIU, Toledo, CMU and WMU. PJ Fleck had a miraculous turnaround at Western Michigan from 2013 to 2014 and in 2015 he proved it wasn’t a fluke. Now he tries to build on what he’s created by winning a MAC Championship in year four.
With Zach Terrell at the helm, I think Fleck and WMU get it done this season. Call it a gut instinct but I think we see the Bowling Green/NIU deathlock at the top of the conference broken this season.
