2024 MAC Football Power Rankings: Week 9

Ball State ends up causing some shuffling after upsetting NIU for the Bronze Stalk once again.

Welcome to the 10th edition of our blog’s Power Rankings!

This week was Statement Week, and with it, even more confusion about where the conference at-large sits.

We expected one or two teams to clinch the postseason last week, but neither one did, forcing the league to bunch up closer to the middle once again. Games were either huge blowouts or squeakers, not only pulling teams closer to the middle— but also greatly pushing the top and bottom of the polls away from each other. We could see meaningful changes once again after the first batch of weeknight results, due in part to five teams being within 1.5 points of each other.

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 (six)
• Average vote: 12.85

Kent State got the doors blown off by Western Michigan in a game where they were never really in contention, giving up 38 unanswered in the first half before a last-gasp touchdown with 10 seconds to go in a game they lost 52-21. Their losing streak extends to 17 games.

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12. UMass Minutemen (LW: 12)

• High vote: 12 (six)
• Low vote: 13 (once)
• Average vote: 12.14

The Minutemen took care of business against a pretty strong FCS side in Wagner— though they were a little cold out of the gate. The 35-7 victory was a positive result to put in the bank, but they’ll need to be perfect when they travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State this week.

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11. Akron Zips (LW: 11)

• High vote: 10 (five)
• Low vote: 11 (twice)
• Average vote: 10.71

The Zips got a win!

It was a bit of a shocker too in that it was a game where they largely dominated the pace of play, bursting out to an 18-0 lead based in part on an early two-point conversion, and then had to batten the hatches on a furious comeback attempt. Their postseason hopes are alive for now, but they have to keep winning to do it.

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10. Central Michigan Chippewas (LW: 9, down 1)

• High vote: 9 (twice)
• Low vote: 11 (once)
• Average vote: 9.85

A dark cloud looms over Mt. Pleasant, as a completely depleted offense mustered only 168 total yards, while the defense gave up 518 yards, five touchdowns and six field goals. This is a team broken both physically and spiritually, with this blowout loss coming off a loss where they blew a three-score lead late. It’s hard to see a win on the schedule from this point on.

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9. Ball State Cardinals (LW: 10, up 1)

• High vote: 7 (once)
• Low vote: 11 (once)
• Average vote: 8.85

Ball State is going streaking, baby! They claimed their fifth Bronze Stalk trophy over NIU in the last six years, and collected a second-straight conference win in the process. If the bounce of a ball goes different vs. WMU, we’re looking at Ball State being tied for the MAC lead at 3-1. Maybe they’ve finally found something here to build on.

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8. Eastern Michigan Eagles (LW: 7, down 1)

• High vote: 6 (once)
• Low vote: 9 (twice)
• Average vote: 7.71

EMU regressed in a bad loss to Akron last week, falling 18-0 early on before making a comeback rally in the second half. The typically reliable special teams misfired several times, while the offense really struggled to get going in the first half in a performance which reminded fans of 2023’s lost season. They’re still eligible to be the first MAC team to qualify for a bowl game, but they also have a very weak resume to this point.

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

• High vote: 3 (once)
• Low vote: 8 (once)
• Average vote: 5.42

NIU took an unacceptable loss to Ball State on Saturday night, looking like a solved team against a meh Ball State squad. It continues to be perplexing why NIU can’t find any rhythm on offense despite the talent available to them; it squanders a defense which is not only the best in the conference, but amongst the best in the country. The Huskies are essentially a dice roll team at this point, it’s hard to learn anything about them.

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t-6. Buffalo Bulls (LW: 7, up 1)

• High vote: 3 (once)
• Low vote: 7 (twice)
• Average vote: 5.42

Buffalo took an absolute beating against Ohio in a game which could have been key to their MAC title aspirations. The offense, which was lights out a few weeks ago, was the biggest regression mark, melting down completely in the middle quarters with nine points while Ohio accumulated 30 points. A pick-six to open up the fourth quarter didn’t help matters either. A very mysterious teams continues to perplex.

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5. Bowling Green Falcons (LW: 6, up 1)

• High vote: 2 (once)
• Low vote: 9 (once)
• Average vote: 4.85

BGSU took a key victory with high stakes on the line against Toledo, steering the ship back into the contending seas after a shaky loss the week before. BGSU not only won, they looked like a dangerous squad in the process, dismantling a stronger-on-paper Toledo team in all three phases. It was an encouraging performance for a team which has staked its claim in the title conversation.

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4. Ohio Bobcats (LW: 8, up 4)

• High vote: 3 (four)
• Low vote: 7 (twice)
• Average vote: 4.57

Ohio beat up a vaunted Buffalo defense en route to the third conference win of the season, with Coleman Owens leading the way at 168 total yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon. Three different Bobbies scored on the ground, and the defense even picked up nine points to help the scoring charts on a 100-yard pick-two and a 30-yard pick-six. Outside of their one conference stumble to Miami, Ohio has excelled.

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3. Toledo Rockets (LW: 2, down 1)

• High vote: 2 (twice)
• Low vote: 7 (once)
• Average vote: 4.14

The Rockets suffered a pretty bad loss to rival BGSU and are still technically in the hunt for the MAC title race at 2-2 in league play, but they’d likely have to win out and hope at least one team loses to jump up. They’ve more or less lost their safety net at this point and will have to be at their best as they move forward. They’re still at #3 mostly on pedigree, but their average indicates voters are starting to lose their faith.

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2. Miami RedHawks (LW: 3, up 1)

• High vote: 1 (twice)
• Low vote: 6 (once)
• Average vote: 2.85

The RedHaws absolutely murdered the Chippewas last week, scoring on all but one possession and collecting five tackles-for-loss, including two sacks. The game was in little doubt from the start, as despite the 16-7 halftime score, Miami had marched into CMU’s redzone in all four scoring possessions. It was, in fact, Miami’s conservative nature that ensured the 46-7 score wasn’t worse than it actually was. They’re all the way back as far as the MAC title race goes.

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1. Western Michigan Broncos (LW: 1)

• High vote: 1 (five)
• Low vote: 2 (twice)
• Average vote: 1.28

WMU retains the #1 spot for this week’s rankings after absolutely spanking Kent State in their crisp yellow duds. They looked every part the conqueror, averaging 9.5 yards per play on offense and notched four rushing touchdowns and three passing touchdowns in the process. The defense also balled out with 10 tackles-for-loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles (both recovered) and two interceptions on the night.

At 4-0, they’re in control of their own destiny and avoid Toledo and Miami— though the ever-tricky NIU and BGSU are still in the way.

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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!