2014 MAC Preview

Two previews down, eight to go. We've already looked at the Sun Belt and Conference USA, with that we move to the next tier of conferences and the bottom conference... the Mid American Conference (MAC). I know many of you don't think much about the lower tier of conferences and that very much includes the MAC but much like the Sun Belt (Sun Beast) in the earlier part of the 2000s the MAC (#MACtion) has gained steams as a grass route culture with fun and entertaining weeknight football. This has been helped by BCS busters like NIU and strong competition at the top of the league.

Subtractions/Additions

The Mid-American Conference hasn't seen a change to the members of the conference in a couple years. This streak will falter next season with the departure of UMASS but that is for this then this is about now.

Recent History

NIU has been the class of the MAC for the last three seasons through coaching turnover and mostly behind the incredible play by the now departed Jordan Lynch. Last years title game, however, flipped the script with an underrated Bowling Green team upsetting the presumably BCS bound Huskies in the MAC championship game. One has to wonder if we watched a passing of the torch and a new king of MACtion take the stage.

Coaching Changes

The "cradle of coaches" has been pillaged in recent years by the big boys as many successful MAC coaches were hired away to Big 5 jobs. This season however only saw one coach leave to take a bigger job. Dave Clawson after leading Bowling Green to a conference title left the small school in Ohio to take on the tough and harrowing job at Wake Forest. Clawson went 18-8 overall and 13-3  in conference play the last two season after turning around struggling program. Clawson is replaced by Dino Barbers the Eastern Illinois coach who had success with Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm won the conference in his two season at EIU and made the FCS playoffs twice before departing for Bowling Green. Done with the success stories the other departures were coaches of teams that made up the dregs of the MAC. Ron English's run at Eastern Michigan came to an inglorious end after a 7-30 run in conference that saw EMU finish last in the West division every year but one. English is replaced at EMU by Crish Creighton the head coach from Drake who lead that squad to two conference titles and moderate success at the FCS level. Creighton inherits some talent from English but this is still a major project for the next couple of season. From one bottom dweller to another we head to Miami (OH) who fired Don Treadwell after an 0-5 start and a 8-16 record before that. Treadwell is replaced by Chuck Martin the Notre Dame offensive coordinator who had a surprising amount of success last season despite Tommy Rees as the QB and a lack of explosive playmakers on offense. Martin has his work cut out for him though at a school that needs a lot of breaks to get back to contention. Lastly is the change at the helm of the soon departing UMASS Minutemen. Charley Molnar was fired after a pair of 1 win seasons at the new to FBS level UMASS. Molnar is replaced by Mark Whipple who didn't coach last season, who led UMASS to an FCS title in 1998 and has bounced around the college and NFL ranks since. The hope if for Whipple to return at least a sense of the old success to a program that doesn't have any room to really get worse. With the coaching changes out of the way lets get to our breakdown of the league and the teams.

Team Write-ups (Division, 2013 W-L, Total Returning Starters, Returning Off (Starters (QB), % yards), Returning Def (Starters, % tackles) *coach records are career numbers

Toledo Rockets: (West, 7-5, 7 (N), 55.6%, 9, 80%) Toledo finished 2013 behind NIU and Ball State in the West division. Both sides of the ball bring back a considerable amount of talent from last season and what really brought it home for me was the returning talent on the Rockets. With 9 returning starters and 80% of the tackles returning Matt Campbell's third season in Toledo should be a big leap forward from last season. Current Head Coach: Matt Campbell (17-9) Since: 2012

Bowling Green Falcons: (East, 10-4, 7 (Y), 73.9%, 6, 60.3%) Bowling Green was last seasons conference champions upsetting NIU and Jordan Lynch in Detroit to take home the conference crown. This years team will rely on a talented and experienced offense to start the season strong as the defense replaces the center of the line and much of the secondary. Dino Barbers and staff come into a good situation with a talented roster and offense. Current Head Coach: Dino Barbers (19-7) Since: New Hire

Ball State Cardinals: (West, 10-3, 6 (N), 52.8%, 6, 73.2%) Ball State finished ahead of Toledo last season but lost a good amount from last season. Ten starters to replace on the 22 man depth chart and no quarterback returning on offense means a slow start is to be expected. The defense has similar losses but brings back a couple major contributors which should help to soften the blow. Current Head Coach: Pete Lembo (104-49) Since: 2011

Ohio Bobcats: (East, 7-6, 3 (N), 30.6%, 8, 73.5%) Frank Solich followed up a disappointing 2012 in which they were a dark horse BCS buster with a solid if not spectacular 2013. Solich is faced with a difficult task in 2014 the offense lost just about every major contributor and must repopulate the two deep. The defense has talent and is going to have to be rock on which this team is built especially early in the season when the team is assimilating a new quarterback and most of his key contributors. Current Head Coach: Frank Solich (124-69) Since: 2005

Northern Illinois Huskies: (West, 12-2, 9 (N), 66.8%, 6, 56.6%) This comes down to how effectively the Huskies replace Jordan Lynch. Lynch was the, pardon the pun, linchpin of the NIU offense and quite possibly the stabilizing force that kept the Huskies from stumbling through three straight coaching changes. Rod Carey is back this season for his second year at the helm in DeKalb but he needs to find a way to replace such a talent and not lose to much of what has been successful for NIU in recent memory. Current Head Coach: Rod Carey (12-3) Since: 2013

Buffalo Bulls: (East, 8-5, 6 (Y), 30%, 4, 55.5%) Buffalo loses a lot from last years team and the biggest hit of all may be the loss of Kahlil Mack from the defense. It is tough to overestimate the loss of an NFL level player on a lower tier team. Now combine the loss of Mack with the loss of 70% of the offensive production and you have a recipe of regression in 2014. Current Head Coach: Jeff Quinn (18-33) Since: 2010

Kent State Golden Flash: (East, 4-8, 7 (Y), 66.9%, 7, 59.9%) 2013 was a disappointment in year one for Paul Haynes. Akron's 2012 vaulted into an above average team nationally but 2013 saw them return to a level similar of the last decade. This year brings a new set of challenges for Haynes, with the loss of all-purpose monster Dri Archer and four of their five top defensive linemen there are holes to fill on just about every level of the team. There is returning talent, however and a return to .500 is a realistic upside in year 2. Current Head Coach: Paul Haynes (4-8) Since: 2013

Akron Zips: (East, 5-7, 8 (Y), 91.6%, 5, 65.1%) Akron is coming off a year in which the defense got better, the offense got worse and the team stayed at about the same level overall. The offense brings back most of the important parts, an intriguing running back (Jawon Chisholm), last years best receiver (Zach D'Ordazio) and the entirety of last years linebacking corps. Bowden seems to have something brewing but the defense needs to replace the lost parts but has enough returning talent to at least be competent on a MAC level. Current Head Coach: Terry Bowden (146-80-2) Since: 2012
Central Michigan Chippewas: (West, 6-6, 11 (Y), 83.9%, 8, 72.3%) Year five for Don Enos looks like a pivotal one, he has taken CMU from 3-9 to 3-9 to 7-6 to 6-6. If he can keep the success in the .500 region he should earn enough to make it to year six in Mt. Pleasant. For his sake this team looks like it should be able to build off the last two with the entire starting offense returning, with only a couple skill players having left, and three quarters of the defense which wasn't good but should advance some with another year to grow together. All in all I think this team has a good shot of being above .500 but sits a distant third in the west division. Current Head Coach: Don Enos (19-30) Since: 2010

UMASS Minutemen: (East, 1-11, 7 (Y), 74.8%, 5, 63.4%) Whipple was the last successful coach at UMASS, granted they were still an FCS team them and Whipple hasn't had a head coaching job since then, but this is about everyone trying to recreate past successes. We'll leave it there as UMASS hasn't had much success since their move to the FBS. Current Head Coach: Mark Whipple (121-59) Since: New Hire

Miami (OH) Red Hawks: (East, 0-12, 8 (N), 84%, 7, 73.8%) Maybe it's unfair to put a team that didn't win last season above EMU & WMU but unlike both of those teams this bad team brings back a majority of their defense. Martin had a top 35 offense in F+ last season with Tommy Rees behind center and no playmakers to speak for, if he can take some experience on offense and have an offense that is outside of the bottom quarter the Redhawks could steal a couple games this season. Current Head Coach: Chuck Martin (74-7) Since: New Hire

Eastern Michigan Eagles: (West, 2-10, 9 (Y), 91.5%, 6, 65.7%) Creighton takes over a team that has gone 29-99 since the turn of the century. Creighton brings a good amount of success with him from the lower ranks but he's going to need a lot of luck, patience and skill to turn this program in the right direction. Like many other bad teams we have already talked about Eastern Michigan brings back a good amount of talent from last season, especially on offense, but is low level talent with experience a blessing or just an undertalented roster with experience. Current Head Coach: Craig Creighton (139-46) Since: New Hire

Western Michigan Broncos: (West, 1-11, 8 (Y), 49.6%, 4, 52.4%) P.J. Fleck's first season in Kalamazoo did not go well, but it was not expected to. Fleck inherited a team that lacked talent and a track record of success. The offense returns a QB and much of the roster but any playmakers are pretty much gone. This is a long trudge up hill, let's watch and see if progress can be made in year two. Current Head Coach: P.J. Fleck (1-11) Since: 2013

2014 Predicted Standings

East: 1) Bowling Green 2) Ohio 3) Kent State 4) Buffalo 5) Akron 6) UMASS 7) Miami (OH)

West: 1) Toledo 2)Ball State 3) Central Michigan 4) Northern Illinois 5) Eastern Michigan 6) Western Michigan