2024 MAC Football Power Rankings: Week 12

The top of the leaderboard is starting to coalesce around one another as six teams put themselves in position to win it all.

Welcome to the 12th edition of our blog’s Power Rankings!

Let’s get right into the new and (hopefully) improved rankings!

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13. Kent State Golden Flashes (LW: 13)

• High vote: 12 (once)
• Low vote: 13 (five)
• Average vote: 12.83

Kent State lost again. It does feel bad to be so frank about it, but your record says what you are at the end of the day, and to this point, they haven’t logged a single win. That could change this week against Akron as rivalry games tend to bring out the best in players. Kenni Burns will need this win if he wants to prove his experiment can work, with doubts already starting to crop up in his second season and firings cropping up earlier in the season than usual across the landscape.

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12. UMass Minutemen (LW: 12)

• High vote: 12 (five)
• Low vote: 13 (once)
• Average vote: 12.16

UMass lost a brutal game to Liberty in overtime, one where they held control of the pace at several junctures and even had chances to win outright. Unfortunately, they were completely squandered by the usual suspects (a porous defense and undisciplined special teams) and it resulted in the firing of local legend coach Don Brown. Godspeed to interim head coach Shane Montgomery, as he draws the tough assignment of taking on an angry Georgia at Sanford Stadium.

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11. Akron Zips (LW: 11)

• High vote: 10 (twice)
• Low vote: 11 (four)
• Average vote: 10.66

The Akron Zips are certainly a scrappy bunch, they’ve proved that much in the conference season. That’s been par for the course under Joe Moorhead’s stewardship, with the Zips getting that close on a near week-to-week basis. At some point, this team will have to do it consistently for fans and prospects to start buying into what Akron is building. A rivalry game against Kent State brings an opportunity to build that momentum; a loss could spell trouble for a coaching staff who has struggled with game management.

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10. Central Michigan Chippewas (LW: 10)

• High vote: 10 (four)
• Low vote: 11 (twice)
• Average vote: 10.33

Central has lost their last five games and it could be a struggle to get to a fourth win considering the state of their roster. It’s hard to quantify just how many expected contributors have been lost to long-term injuries and how it has affected them, especially on offense— but there are no excuses at this level, only execution, and a loss to Toledo last week secured three consecutive losing seasons for the first time in 20 years. Head coach Jim McElwain is 1-4 in the Victory Cannon game and has fallen to a losing tally over six seasons; he’s in a must-win position to prove he can turn things around on Senior Night in Mt. Pleasant.

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9. Ball State Cardinals (LW: 9)

• High vote: 8 (twice)
• Low vote: 9 (four)
• Average vote: 8.66

After nine years, there’ll be a new face in charge of the Cardinals, as offensive line coach Colin Johnson— a former Ball State football captain in his playing career— takes charge of his alma mater in light of Mike Neu’s firing on Monday. The Cardinals have looked pretty punchy in MAC play, but one way or another, just can’t get over the finish line, with a record of 2-4 in the MAC despite every game finishing within eight points. The Cardinals will have a few extra days to prepare under Johnson before their game Saturday, as they’ll have a chance to spoil BGSU’s title aspirations.

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8. Eastern Michigan Eagles (LW: 8)

• High vote: 7 (once)
• Low vote: 9 (once)
• Average vote: 8

Eastern is facing the grim reality they might not see the postseason, riding a three-game losing streak into their game against Buffalo this week. In fact, since their 4-1 start, the Eagles have lost four of their last five games, with the lone win coming over Central Michigan in a game where CMU was down to their third QB. Their prior two games saw them struggle til the end against Akron and pulling some desperation heaves just to remain competitive with Toledo before having the bottom fall out from under them against the Ohio Bobcats last weekend. A win would bring some relief, but it could be time to start asking if EMU has reached their ceiling under Chris Creighton.

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7. Buffalo Bulls (LW: 7)

• High vote: 4 (once)
• Low vote: 9 (once)
• Average vote: 7

The Bulls have gone through some growing pains under first-year head coach Pete Lembo, but they managed to accomplish their goal of reaching a bowl bid last week, taking down Ball State in overtime in one of the most dramatic MAC games of the 2024 season. At least one voter likely put them down a peg due to struggling against a moribund Cardinals team, but there’s enough belief in this Bulls team to where they’re solidly in the middle of the table by nearly two full points over the next-best team. They take on the aforementioned EMU with a chance to improve their already impressive season.

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6. Western Michigan Broncos (LW: 4, down 2)

• High vote: 3 (once)
• Low vote: 7 (once)
• Average vote: 5.66

The Broncos are reeling after back-to-back losses, and now have their backs against the wall in the MAC title race depending on how results fall over the week. The concerning part about both losses is their offense has seemed to devolved. Both NIU and BGSU were able to force several turnovers— notably against Hayden Wolff— and make WMU rely on a defense which is not exactly the most efficient or effective in the conference. Predictably, they lost by multiple scores in both games. They do get a potential reprieve against rival Central on Tuesday— but that defense is still a Top 5 unit in the MAC and won’t be an easy out.

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5. Northern Illinois Huskies (LW: t-6, up 1)

• High vote: 4 (three)
• Low vote: 6 (once)
• Average vote: 4.66

NIU just seems to play at their best when cornered. After their loss to Ball State three weeks ago essentially put them in an early hole for a trip to Detroit, they’ve posted two wins of 13+ points to maintain their eligibility so to speak— including dragging WMU down into the mire two weeks back. They’ve scored 42 and 29 points in the last two games after struggling to reach double-digits in their prior two losses as well. It sure seems that NIU might have finally found their complimentary football at the right time. They have to win out to have a chance at glory, and beating Miami this week would go a long way towards that.

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4. Toledo Rockets (LW: 5, up 1)

• High vote: 3 (once)
• Low vote: 5 (three)
• Average vote: 4.33

The Rockets, similarly to NIU, must win out to have a chance at going to Detroit after two early losses in the MAC slate. They’ve done a good job of that to this point, sitting on a two-game winning streak with results against CMU and EMU to set them up for this week against the Ohio Bobcats— who have just one league loss to this point. Toledo was an early favorite to win the conference for good reason; they’re one of the best-coached and talented rosters in the league. If they can take down Ohio this weekend and some other results go their way, only a game vs. a listless Akron stands in their way of a potential trip to Detroit.

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3. Bowling Green Falcons (LW: 2, down 1)

• High vote: 2 (twice)
• Low vote: 6 (once)
• Average vote: 3.16

BGSU took a big win over Western Michigan to regain their composure and put themselves right back into the thick of the MAC title race last week. It’s rare to see a team drop a position after such a win, but that more speaks to the strength of the top of the conference than anything BGSU did. They’ll certainly get their chance to try and influence the proceedings as well, as a game against an interim-led Ball State this Saturday will set the plate for a potential winner-take-all matchup against Miami two weeks from now— regardless of if the RedHawks enter with one or two league losses.

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2. Ohio Bobcats (LW: 3, up 1)

• High vote: 2 (once)
• Low vote: 5 (once)
• Average vote: 3

The Bobcats eviscerated Eastern Michigan last week to move up to 5-1 in conference play. They’re one of two programs to sit at that mark, with the team which beat them (Miami) being the other one. This sets up the Bobcats to essentially control their destiny by winning out against Toledo this Wednesday and Ball State next week to wrap up the season. Ohio boasts the third-ranked total offense and total defense in the MAC with the league’s fourth-ranked special teams units in both kickoffs and punts as well, so if they play to their potential, they can start to book their tickets north.

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1. Miami RedHawks (LW: 1)

• Unanimous #1

Once again, our voters gave Miami the unanimous mandate after a week which saw the RedHawks be joylessly efficient against a Kent State team which punched them in the mouth at the game’s start in a 35-7 game which wasn’t as close as it looked. Miami is riding high after taking a league-opening loss to Toledo to fall to 1-4 overall, winning their last five games to qualify for the postseason and place themselves in the front seat for a third trip to Detroit in the last six years. They’ve done it once again thanks to their defense , ranking second in the MAC in scoring defense and third in total defense. NIU and BGSU are up next to end the season; if they lose one or both games… it’s anybody’s game as to who sits here next week.

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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!