MRO STAFF
Fans across the country may be in for a treat Wednesday when six MAC teams meet in a trio of games. It’s a mixture of rivalry, incentive and pride that starts at 7 p.m. ET.
Eastern Michigan will be at Miami in one early game, while Western Michigan and NIU also kick off at 7 p.m. ET. An hour later, Toledo (8-2, 5-1 MAC) and Bowling Green commence in their Battle for the I-75 Trophy.
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Fans across the country may be in for a treat Wednesday when six MAC teams meet in a trio of games. It’s a mixture of rivalry, incentive and pride that starts at 7 p.m. ET.
Eastern Michigan will be at Miami in one early game, while Western Michigan and NIU also kick off at 7 p.m. ET. An hour later, Toledo (8-2, 5-1 MAC) and Bowling Green commence in their Battle for the I-75 Trophy.
(CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE . . . )
The rivalry game might be just the medicine for Toledo, which took a big hit last when when Ohio thumped the Rockets 38-10 in Athens. It was the first MAC loss for the preseason media favorites to win the MAC Championship.
Bowling Green’s title chances may have gone by the wayside weeks ago, but the Falcons (2-8, 2-4 MAC) are certainly capable of putting points on the board. Couple that with home field advantage in a big rivalry, and chances are the two teams will put on a good show.
Bowling Green’s title chances may have gone by the wayside weeks ago, but the Falcons (2-8, 2-4 MAC) are certainly capable of putting points on the board. Couple that with home field advantage in a big rivalry, and chances are the two teams will put on a good show.
Meanwhile, Eastern Michigan at Miami features two teams with a lot of frustration on their record. Both have come oh-so-close to several more victories.
Miami is the home team, but two of its most frustrating defeats came at Yager Stadium. One was two area rival Cincinnati, while the other was against Bowling Green. In both cases, the RedHawks were on the bring of victory when disaster struck.
More recently, MU has won its last two home tilts, including a 24-14 victory over Akron last week. Gus Ragland, who missed three full games (two losses) was back at QB for the RedHawks last week. Though probably not 100 percent, he was good enough to engineer a win.
Winning is critical for Miami, which still has a shot at becoming bowl eligible for a second consecutive year. It took six straight wins to get the RedHawks to a bowl last year, and it will take three straight (four out of five) down the stretch to reach 6-6 this time around.
Eastern Michigan can’t get there, but it has a lot of frustration from so many closes losses. Getting a lead will be important for EMU, but they still must “finish.”
A key for both teams will be avoiding turnovers. Quarterback Brogan Roback tossed five interceptions in the Eagles last outing – a 42-30 loss at Eastern Michigan. For its part, several Miami losses had a strong connection to untimely turnovers or (more often) interceptions.
How close could this game be? The ESPN Power Index sees it as an almost dead even matchup (MU 50.2///EMU 49.8)
Meanwhile, one of the hotter teams over the past six weeks will host Western Michigan on senior night in DeKalb. Northern Illinois (7-3, 5-1 MAC) has won five of its last six, with the only loss coming at Toledo (27-17) two weeks ago. WMU bounced back with a 63-17 bashing of Ball State last week.
Although Toledo holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, NIU can win out for at least a piece of the West Crown. With a little help, it might do even better. However, it needs to take care of business with WMU Wednesday and a hot Central Michigan team in the regular season finale.
As for Western Michigan, the Broncos have been up and down over the last month, splitting four games with wins over Eastern Michigan and Kent State and losses to Akron and Central Michigan. Aside from last week’s 48-20 thrashing of Kent State, the previous three games were all decided by seven points or less.
Miami is the home team, but two of its most frustrating defeats came at Yager Stadium. One was two area rival Cincinnati, while the other was against Bowling Green. In both cases, the RedHawks were on the bring of victory when disaster struck.
More recently, MU has won its last two home tilts, including a 24-14 victory over Akron last week. Gus Ragland, who missed three full games (two losses) was back at QB for the RedHawks last week. Though probably not 100 percent, he was good enough to engineer a win.
Winning is critical for Miami, which still has a shot at becoming bowl eligible for a second consecutive year. It took six straight wins to get the RedHawks to a bowl last year, and it will take three straight (four out of five) down the stretch to reach 6-6 this time around.
Eastern Michigan can’t get there, but it has a lot of frustration from so many closes losses. Getting a lead will be important for EMU, but they still must “finish.”
A key for both teams will be avoiding turnovers. Quarterback Brogan Roback tossed five interceptions in the Eagles last outing – a 42-30 loss at Eastern Michigan. For its part, several Miami losses had a strong connection to untimely turnovers or (more often) interceptions.
How close could this game be? The ESPN Power Index sees it as an almost dead even matchup (MU 50.2///EMU 49.8)
Meanwhile, one of the hotter teams over the past six weeks will host Western Michigan on senior night in DeKalb. Northern Illinois (7-3, 5-1 MAC) has won five of its last six, with the only loss coming at Toledo (27-17) two weeks ago. WMU bounced back with a 63-17 bashing of Ball State last week.
Although Toledo holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, NIU can win out for at least a piece of the West Crown. With a little help, it might do even better. However, it needs to take care of business with WMU Wednesday and a hot Central Michigan team in the regular season finale.
As for Western Michigan, the Broncos have been up and down over the last month, splitting four games with wins over Eastern Michigan and Kent State and losses to Akron and Central Michigan. Aside from last week’s 48-20 thrashing of Kent State, the previous three games were all decided by seven points or less.
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