| MAC Week 5 Power Rankings |
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| Written by John Sahly |
| Monday, September 29 2008 |
 Now we're starting to get somewhere in the Mid-American Conference.
It appears after a few weeks that the MAC West is a stronger division, but the East has a couple of teams yet to play a MAC game.
Here is how the MAC stands after five weeks.
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Ball State (5-0, 2-0 MAC) Last week: 1.
Ball State deserves a top 25 ranking after what it has accomplished so far. The Cardinals blew out Kent State 41-20 and got three rushing touchdowns out of running back MiQuale Lewis. |
| 2 |
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Western Michigan (4-1, 2-0 MAC) Last week: 3.
It wasn't pretty but it didn't need to be. Western Michigan did what it had to do to beat Temple, 7-3. Quarterback Tim Hiller completed passes to seven different teammates. |
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Central Michigan (3-2, 2-0 MAC) Last week: 4.
CMU quarterback Dan LeFevour was 21-of-26 in the Chippewas' two-point victory against Buffalo. The rest of the numbers weren't fantastic in the passing game, but LeFevour guided his team to a win. That's all that matters. |
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Buffalo (2-3, 1-1 MAC) Last week: 2.
Quarterback Drew Willy almost led his team to another comeback victory. The Bulls have a bye this week then host Western Michigan in two weeks in a huge conference game. |
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Bowling Green (2-2- 0-0 MAC) Last week: 5.
All things considered, going 2-2 through a brutal non-conference schedule (at Pittsburgh, Minnesota, at Boise State and at Wyoming) was pretty impressive. Bowling Green starts its MAC schedule with Eastern Michigan and a road trip to Akron, so expect the Falcons to start to climb in the power rankings in the next few weeks. |
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Northern Illinois (2-2, 1-1 MAC) Last week: 10.
The big climb might not last, and games in a few weeks against Miami and Toledo will certainly determine that, but for now the Huskies did what they needed to do against some bad teams. |
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Miami (1-3, 0-0 MAC) Last week: 9.
For the RedHawks' sake, hopefully they used the bye week to fix their offense. Only 19.3 points per game won't cut it in MAC play. |
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Akron (2-3, 0-1 MAC) Last week: 7.
I don't know how they do it, but the Zips continue to impress me with their ability to stay in games they shouldn't. A two-point loss to Cincinnati is nothing to be ashamed of. |
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Ohio (1-4, 0-1 MAC) Last week: 12.
Finally, the Bobcats get a win. This team is better than its record. Three straight road games won't help, though. |
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Toledo (1-3, 1-0 MAC) Last week: 6.
What happened, Toledo? How do you lose at home to previously winless Florida International? The Rockets dominated almost every single statistic and still got rolled. |
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Temple (1-4, 0-2 MAC) Last week: 8.
I know, the close losses mean the team was right there. But eventually the Owls have to win those games. That's a big part of becoming a good team. |
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Kent State (1-4, 0-1 MAC) Last week: 11. Not having running back Eugene Jarvis hurts. Kent State needs to find a way to get its offense going before this season really goes under. |
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Eastern Michigan (1-4, 0-2 MAC) Last week: 13. Getting shutout, at home, on Homecoming. Embarrassing. This is a bad football team that makes crucial mistakes and can't play defense. |
John Sahly covers the Northern Illinois beat for the Daily-Chronicle
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