2024 MAC Football Power Rankings: Preseason

There’s a unanimous #1 and it’s just who you would expect it to be.

It’s officially the end of the preseason, which means all the trappings that come with it. Game previews, time-and-date reminders, and most importantly: the Power Rankings.

We’ve been at this a long time now, and there’s nothing much more fun than the debate over who goes where in the rankings. We hope you join along with us as we rank all 12 members (and one future member) all season!

Without further ado: the new and improved rankings!

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13. Kent State Golden Flashes

• High vote: 10 (once)
• Low vote: 13 (twice)
• Average vote: 12

The Flashes showed, well, flashes of potential in the 2023 season despite losing basically every major contributor on both sides of the ball, but your record does say what you are at the end of the day, and right now, this is a 2-10 football team who still has a lot to prove.

They’re a thorny matchup with everyone, but until they start to get results, they’ll stick here for now. Chrison McCray will likely carry an offense in transition, while the defense will lean on its strong linebacker corps until the secondary gels. Don’t get the #13 ranking twisted, though: Kenni Burns is building something to keep an eye on over in Kent.

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12. UMass Minutemen

• High vote: 9 (once)
• Low vote: 13 (twice)
• Average vote: 11.4

It’s been a while since we ranked the Minutemen… In fact, the last time they were in our rankings, we still utilized the tier set-up!

There’s optimism in Amherst regarding the 2024 edition of the football team, with several impact transfers— especially on defense— hoping to make UMass more competitive before their formal entry to the MAC.

Last season saw the independent squad finish with a 3-9 record, pulling off upsets of Army and New Mexico State in the process. The offense is a bit of a mystery, but there’s great potential for growth under Don Brown in Year 2.

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11. Ball State Cardinals

• High vote: 9 (once)
• Low vote: 12 (once)
• Average vote: 11

The Cardinals were a strange outfit in 2023, struggling right up until about halfway through the season. After inserting Kiael Kelly at QB, they’d go on to win three games and show a bit of spunk when combined with a defense which did everything it could to remain competitive.

It’s a new season, however, and a complete reset on offense as Kelly moves to cornerback and Kadin Semonza takes the helm at QB. Combine that with uncertainty at the skill positions and it’s hard to see this team progress at the present. They’ll do their best though, with the season starting next week due to a schedule blip.

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10. Akron Zips

• High vote: 8 (once)
• Low vote: 13 (once)
• Average vote: 10.4

Akron is very similar to Ball State in that they are experiencing a near-compete re-set on the offensive side of the ball— though it should be noted the Zips were much more productive than the venerable Cardinals on that side.

The Zips also have bonafide defensive contributors such as CJ Nunnally IV, Darrian Lewis and Bryan McCoy who could make some hay assuming the offense gels together. The combination makes makes them an intriguing candidate for improvement— assuming they can get out of a hellacious out-of-conference schedule intact.

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9. Buffalo Bulls

• High vote: 9 (twice)
• Low vote: 11 (twice)
• Average vote: 10

The Bulls start from square one with a new head coach in Pete Lembo, who formerly was the head man of fellow MAC program Ball State before a sojourn as a special teams coordinator for close to a decade.

The cupboard isn’t bare, though, as the Bulls will be built upon a tough, opportunistic defense that returns such contributors as Red Murdock, Shaun Dolac and Marcus Fuqua leading the charge. The offense will also lean on the potential of QB CJ Ogbonna, who at his ceiling could prove to be an excellent dual-threat. There’s a lot to like here if it works like it’s supposed to.

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8. Eastern Michigan Eagles

• High vote: 7 (twice)
• Low vote: 10 (once)
• Average vote: 8

EMU regressed in 2023 after a strong 2022, and the upcoming season could once again see the Eagles struggle for air.

There’s certainly talent on the roster, with Buffalo QB Cole Snyder transferring in as a steadying force to toss to deep threat JB Mitchell and Akron transfer Oran Singleton, but the sheer loss of talent on the defense with no proven help outside of Coastal Carolina transfer JT Killen will be hard to replace. Bryce Llewelyn could be an intriguing transfer in the secondary, though, that’s worth keeping an eye on.

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7. Central Michigan Chippewas

• High vote: 7 (three)
• Low vote: 8 (twice)
• Average vote: 7.4

The Chippewas were one of the most back-and-forth teams in the MAC in 2023, wielding one of the conference’s strongest offenses while simultaneously putting out the conference’s most miserable defense, which is genuinely impressive considering the amount of struggling defenses in the MAC.

Losing seasons aren’t tolerated by a prideful Mt. Pleasant fanbase, and this season will see the Chips start on the back foot with QB Bert Emanuel Jr. and WR Tyson Davis injured for a TBD amount of time on offense and a slight scheme change on defense. This team could truly finish either way, it’s just a matter of the game-to-game dynamics.

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6. Western Michigan Broncos

• High vote: 5 (two)
• Low vote: 6 (three)
• Average vote: 5.6

Don’t let the record from 2023 fool you: this is a team that’s ready to make a run.

The Broncos surprised everyone in MAC circles last season eve before a game was played, convincing eventual Day 2 NFL Draft pick Marshawn Kneeland to stay in Kalamazoo despite Autonomous school offers, and then whipped out freshman back Jalen Buckley for a 1,000+ yard season on the ground. Instability at QB ultimately drowned them last season, but Hayden Wolff emerged from the fracas and is set to lead the Broncos in 2024. If the defense can weather a few important losses, they could be looking at the postseason.

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5. Northern Illinois Huskies

• High vote: 4 (twice)
• Low vote: 6 (twice)
• Average vote: 5

The unkillable Huskies are once again back in Top 5 consideration after finishing last season 7-6 with a bowl win over Arkansas State in the Camellia Bowl. We had more or less left the team for dead after a 1-4 start to the season which saw them beat Boston College and lose to an FCS team in consecutive weeks, but they turned the ship around and finished 6-2 to end the year.

Rocky Lombardi departs, leaving uncertainty at QB, but Antario Brown and his 1,300+ yards from last season returns, as does supersenior receiver Trayvon Rudolph. The defense will have to endure multiple losses on the defense between NFL UDFA cycle and transfer, but those have been typically strong units under Thomas Hammock.

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4. Ohio Bobcats

• High vote: 4 (three)
• Low vote: 5 (twice)
• Average vote: 4.4

There’s still a lot of faith in the Bobcats despite the sheer amount of talent which departed in the offseason. The most impactful of the departures is Kurtis Rourke, who left for the greener grass of Indiana in the offseason after a down season in Athens.

Losing senior leadership like that will always hurt, but they do return some promising pieces, both on offense in QB Parker Navarro, OL Parker Titsworth and RB Rickey Hunt Jr., and on defense in DL Bradley Weaver and defensive backs Adonis Williams Jr. and Roman Parodie. The ‘Cats have a pretty tough conference schedule, traveling to Miami and Toledo, but the rest of it is pretty favorable, giving them a chance at the MAC title if they can persevere through it.

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3. Bowling Green Falcons

• High vote: 2 (twice)
• Low vote: 3 (three)
• Average vote: 2.6

Perhaps the biggest shock on the Power Rankings board is BGSU vaulting up to the third position. (Two of our voters even put them at #2!) They lived in the middle of the sheet for most of 2023, but their second-half ascent clearly left and impression, and they return a lot of the pieces which made it all work.

Both QBs (Connor Bazelak and Camden Orth) return to play their respective packages, while do-it-all H-back Harold Fannin Jr. and dual-threat back Terion Stewart are ready to hold the offensive load. DB Jordan Oladokun and LB Demetrius Hardamon highlight the defensive returnees for a unit which was one of the best at forcing turnovers last season. Can they repeat 2023’s performance despite the loss of senior defensive talent? That’s the major question to answer in 2024.

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2. Toledo Rockets

• High vote: 2 (three)
• Low vote: 3 (twice)
• Average vote: 2.4

The Rockets are going to have a complete re-set on the offensive line and backfield, but the amount of talent they roster should allow them to navigate the speedbump of adaptation just fine.

Tucker Gleason takes the ball at QB for the departed Dequan Finn, while Jacquez Stuart finally gets his chance to start at HB after five years of service for Toledo. All-MAC receiver Jerjuan Newton returns as well, making Toledo as formidable as anyone on that side of the ball. On defense, Maxen Hook is set to take the leadership mantle as the eyes of the NFL world are upon him. Look out for edge rusher Deshawn Holt and D-lineman D’Andre Ragin to make instant impacts as well. This Toledo team has been the most consistent in the league for the better part of five seasons, and we see no reason for that to change if healthy.

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1. Miami Redhawks

• Unanimous #1

Who else could it possibly be?

The RedHawks won the MAC title last season and return most every major contributor who made it happen in 2023 for the upcoming campaign, including LB Matt Salopek, reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year, and the indomitable QB Brett Gabbert.

Miami returns around 75 percent of their production from last season— though it should be noted they did lose leading rusher Rashad Amos, leading receiver Gage Larvadain and Lou Groza Award winner Graham Nicholson to the transfer portal, while CB Yahsyn McKee (graduation) and Lou Groza Award winner Graham Nicholson (transfer). That amout of returning experience alone should put them in prime position to repeat as MAC champions, even with the losses— and potentially insert themselves into the College Football Playoff narrative if they put up some impressive performances. It’s an all-or-nothing season for Miami in 2024, and right now, we believe in them.

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For transparency, here is our anonymous chart for this week. Did we get it right? Did we miss the mark? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments section!