2014 Season Preview thread

[Tin Man]

I'm hungry for the next chapters, BSF. Pretty please, with Smurf Turf on top!

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

I'm hungry for the next chapters, BSF. Pretty please, with Smurf Turf on top!

LOL!! Thank you sir, my apologies for not posting any the last few days

I think I'll get out of work a little early tomorrow and try to get two teams done at least

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Buffalo Bulls

Preview: Last season Buffalo was the breakthrough team in the Mac as they won 8 games and went to a bowl game, only the second in school history(should have been the 3rd though,) staring in that breakthrough was linebacker Khalil Mack who was an absolutely star for their defense, unfortunately for the Bulls, he is now gone as a top 5 pick in the NFL draft. The Bulls defense wasn't all Khalil Mack though, they still have some solid players, so expect the defense to drop off a little but not completely, story is the same for the offense which lost running back Branden Oliver and wide receiver Alex Neutz, expect the offense to pass a lot more this year as quarterback Joe Licata who was efficient returns. Now the good news for the Bulls, for what they lost there's the schedule to help them out, they avoided Northern Illinois, Ball State and Toledo as cross division opponents, and other than a home game against Baylor, the best non-conference opponent is Army, who won two games last year.

Predictions: Buffalo opens the season at home against Duquesne, and I didn't even know they played football at their school, so Buffalo should win that one, as well as a road game against Army the next week. Things get interesting though as they get a home game against Baylor, it is a long distance, and Baylor has had a weakness of playing on the road, but of course Baylor won 70-13 over them last year, it's a major talent difference, best the Bulls can hope for is to hang around early and make a name for themselves, Buffalo has yet another FCS opponent in Norfolk State after that, a game they win, Buffalo also gets a win at home over Miami of Ohio, before losing at Bowling Green. Buffalo plays at Eastern Michigan and at home against Central Michigan and manages to win those. Buffalo then loses at Ohio and at home to Akron as well before winning at home over Kent State and at UMass to end the year.

Predicted Record: 8-4(5-3)

 

[WhiteMamba]

10-2 losing to MSU and OSU

I think they beat one of these two teams in an upset then drop one or two they shouldn't lose.

 

[Wamu]

who would have thought it would be a challenge to find an Ohio State logo that isn't oversized?

Ohio State Buckeyes

Preview: Last season was one that good for most of it, but ended pretty disappointing. Ohio State went undefeated in the regular season but lost in the Big 10 championship with a chance at the national championship on the line, and then lost in the Orange Bowl to Clemson. The most glaring issue was the defense, at times it couldn't stop anyone, especially towards the end when a Michigan offense that failed to score a single touchdown in regulation against Northwestern two weeks before, put up 41 on Ohio State's defense, which included Michigan's offensive coordinator who they wanted fired(and eventually did) looking like an absolute genius calling plays against Ohio State's defense. One issue with this might have been the coaching on defense, but they also have young players starting for the defense too. This year one of the co-defensive coordinators left, and a new one is in, the young players will also be a year older, so now it will be interesting to see how this side of the ball develops, Braxton Miller and co on offense will score a lot of points in games this year so if the defense is even decent, Ohio State could have a special year. The next issue is Braxton Miller, now when he's on the field and healthy he's very good, but he did get hurt quite a bit last year and Ohio State doesn't have Kenny Guiton as a backup this year like they did last year. What will happen if Miller gets hurt again? For now though the Buckeyes are definitely contenders for the Big 10.


Predictions: The opener at Navy is a tricky one, how will the defense prepare for the triple option? Ohio State had some issues with Navy when they hosted them a few years ago, I think Navy will challenge them again, but Ohio State will again win. The next game against Virginia Tech is another interesting one, but I see Ohio State winning it. Ohio State then beats in state Kent State easily, and also wins an interesting in state game over Cincinnati. Ohio State wins over the newcomers at Maryland and at home over Rutgers. They keep going winning a tricky road game over Penn State and winning at home over Illinois. Ohio State finally sees defeat losing at Michigan State. Ohio State wins out from there, winning at Minnesota, and at home over Indiana and rival Michigan.

Predicted Record: 11-1(7-1)

OH-IO...GO BUCKEYES!!!

 

[Wamu]

Michigan Wolverines

Preview: Last season was a pretty disappointing season for Michigan, they really had several weird games(so weird I'm definitely going into detail.) they opened 2-0 and looked really good on both sides of the ball, suddenly the following week they came within a play of losing at home to Akron, and then the week after needed a comeback to beat a horrible UConn team. Michigan then appeared back on the right track after the game against Minnesota, but then lost in overtime to Penn State for their first loss. Michigan then scored 63 points in a ridiculous 63-47 shootout against Indiana, then promptly only scored 6 points while getting crushed by Michigan State. Michigan lost again, and then went overtime in an ugly game against Northwestern(seriously it was 9-9 entering overtime) that made the Indiana game seem like years ago, Michigan then lost the final two regular season games and lost big to Kansas State in their bowl game. Michigan was mainly hampered by a struggling offensive line, they return 4 starters(maybe only 3 one just got arrested) and Gardner is back looking to become more consistent than he was last year, where he sometimes looked unstoppable and other times didn't look like he should even be a college quarterback. Good news is the schedule isn't very difficult Michigan draws Minnesota and Northwestern from the West division. The non-conference though brings some haunting memories for Michigan fans, Michigan lost to Appalachian State the last time they played them, and everyone knows the story behind that. Michigan also has home game against Utah, they opened against them the following season and ended up losing that game along with having an embarrassing 3-9 season that year. Michigan has a lot of storylines with them this year as you can tell by this really long preview.


Predictions: I can't see a repeat of last time Michigan played Appalachian State unfortunately, as Michigan wins, Michigan does lose at Notre Dame in the final game between the two for the foreseeable future, Michigan then beats Miami of Ohio pretty easily, but does lose to an improved Utah team at home to finish the non-conference 2-2. Things get better for Michigan though, they win easily at home over Minnesota, and at Rutgers, they also get a big home win over Penn State. Michigan does lose at Michigan State after the bye week though. Michigan then beats Indiana in a game that will probably not have as crazy of a score as last year's game, and then wins a pretty tough one at Northwestern. Michigan wins at home over Maryland but to the displeasure of their fans loses on the road at Ohio State.


Predicted Record: 8-4(6-2)

I hope they don't win a game.

 

[Wamu]

Now that I'm settled after vacation, time to resume this thread with the Mac conference.

Akron Zips

Preview: Akron had been very far down for quite a while now, but last season was one where Akron showed a lot of improvement under Terry Bowden, Akron showed signs early when they grabbed headlines by coming within a play of upsetting Michigan. Akron truly showed how improved they were at the end of the year though when they won 4 of their last 5 games including a surprising win over Toledo in the season finale. With a good amount of returning starters and Terry Bowden still around as the head coach, Akron seems on track to be the Mac team that improves suddenly to bowl eligibility, though the schedule isn't overly easy.

Predictions: After an easy season opener against Howard which Akron wins, Akron has games at Penn State, at home against Marshall and at Pitt which are all good opponents, though not completely out of reach for Akron to pull the upset, but I have Akron losing all 3 of them. Akron then gets home wins over Eastern Michigan and Miami of Ohio, before getting a road win at Ohio and losing on the road to Ball State and at home to Bowling Green. Akron then wins at Buffalo, before winning at home over UMass and at Kent State to gain bowl eligibility.

Predicted Record: 7-5(6-2)

Go Zips!

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Central Michigan Chippewas

Preview: Central Michigan has been far away from the teams they had a few years back when Brian Kelley and then Butch Jones were their head coaches, Central Michigan was consistently a contender in the Mac and even hung around the top 25 for a lot of those years. Things have changed quite a bit for them since then under Dan Enos, Central Michigan hasn't been close to that, not even being bowl eligible under him most years, he's holding on to this job by a bowl win two years ago, so now this year is the year that will decide whether his tenure will continue, Central Michigan returns a lot of starters from last year(including WR Titus Davis), among the most in college football, Enos needs to make a step up this year or he's likely done. For Central Michigan, it's apparent their season could be decided early, they play 3 power 5 teams early in the year, but those teams are Purdue, Syracuse, and Kansas, the toughest of those is Syracuse but Central Michigan gets them at home, Central Michigan could manage to win all 3 of these games and propel into contention for the Mac, or they could lose all 3 and see themselves struggling for bowl eligibility and Enos struggling for his job.

Predictions: Central Michigan opens the season with a win over Chattanooga, then plays that 3 games stretch I just talked about, At Purdue, home against Syracuse and at Kansas, I believe Hazell will have his opportunity to show some progress with Purdue in the game against Central Michigan so its a loss for Central Michigan, and I see Syracuse and Kansas beating them as well. It doesn't really get much easier, Central Michigan then plays at Toledo who could be tougher than the power 5 opponents they just played, Central Michigan loses that one, and then gets a home game against Ohio, and they finally get a win in that one, before losing at Northern Illinois. Central Michigan then loses at home to Ball State and at Buffalo, finally the schedule gets easier as the last 3 games are at Eastern Michigan, and at home against Miami of Ohio and Western Michigan, I believe this allows Central Michigan to at least end the year on a 3 game winning streak.

Predicted Record: 5-7(4-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Eastern Michigan Eagles

Preview: Eastern Michigan has been one of the worst programs of FBS for a while now, they haven't made a bowl game since 1987 and haven't had a winning season since 1995. Now previous head coach Ron English peaked at 6-6 before they fell back to the depths of the bottom of the Mac, now enters Chris Creighton who previously coached at Drake. I didn't know Drake had a football program so this hire was really out there, but as it turns out Chris Creighton is a very good program builder despite always coaching in places that aren't going to attract good players. Now there is a lot of optimism, but part of it is Creighton hasn't coached players with this much size, speed and talent before, but he definitely hasn't coached against players with the size, speed and talent he's about to face. The new gray field is a unique look that will spark more interest in the program. What I'm getting at is the future is looking better than it has in a while for Eastern Michigan but this won't be an easy year.

Preview: Eastern Michigan opens the year with a win over Morgan State, before losing 4 consecutive road games to Florida, Old Dominion, Michigan State and Akron. Eastern Michigan finally gets their second home game of the year against Buffalo but they lose that one before getting a conference win at UMass, Eastern Michigan then plays at home against Northern Illinois and Central Michigan and loses those. They then lose at Western Michigan and Ball State before returning home and losing to Toledo.

Predicted Record: 2-10(1-7)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Kent State Golden Flashes

Preview: two years ago Kent State was a Mac Championship game win away from a BCS bowl bid, hard to believe right? Really does feel like a while ago when it was only two years ago. Kent State's first season under Paul Haynes was nothing like the season they had before under Darell Hazell, sure Kent State's best player, combine star Dri Archer was hurt for most of the year, but they definitely fell back to where they normally are as a football program that 2012 season was their first bowl bid since 1972 when Don James was their head coach, and players on their team were Jack Lambert, Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel. The two game winning streak to end last season showed a little promise, but I don't see bowl eligibility being likely.

Preview: Kent State opens at home against Ohio, now lately Kent State has had good success against the Bobcats, winning 4 of the last 5 against them so I'll continue with this trend and pick Kent State to win this one, Kent State then loses at home to South Alabama, then on the road to Ohio State, Virginia and Northern Illinois. After that rough stretch Kent State gets to recover at home against UMass and Army, I think Kent State wins over UMass but loses to Army. Kent State then plays at Miami of Ohio who I think will show improvement so Kent State loses that one and then loses at home to Toledo, and on the road to Bowling Green and Buffalo before ending the season with a loss to Akron.


Predicted Record: 2-10(2-6)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Miami of Ohio Redhawks

Preview: Last season things fell apart for Miami of Ohio, they went 0-12 and were very close to being the worst team in college football. Obviously with such a drop a coaching change was made, and Miami Ohio made a good one, hiring Chuck Martin from Notre Dame, he might actually be a better head coach than offensive coordinator, he had a ridiculous record at Grand Valley State before joining Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. Miami Ohio does bring back some starters and upgrades the QB position with the transfer of Andrew Hendrix who followed Martin here. Miami Ohio most likely won't be bowl eligible but an improvement should be made here.

Predictions: Miami opens at home against Marshall and that will likely be a loss, before they play Eastern Kentucky and get a win over them. Miami plays 3 straight road games against Michigan, Cincinnati and Buffalo and loses those. Miami gets a home win over UMass, before losing at Akron and Northern Illinois. Miami gets wins at home over Kent State and Western Michigan, then loses at Central Michigan and at home to Ohio to end the year.

Predicted Record: 4-8(3-5)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Northern Illinois Huskies

Preview: Things have been going pretty well for Northern Illinois, they had been dominating the Mac, and though they lost in the Orange Bowl, they won over Iowa in the opener and looked set to make a BCS bowl for the second year in a row, which would solidify them as a top mid major program win or lose, unfortunately it wasn't to be Northern Illinois saw Jordan Lynch shut down by the Bowling Green defense in a surprising blowout loss in the Mac Championship game, the loss to Utah State in their bowl game made it worse. So now with Jordan Lynch who was the majority of Northern Illinois' offense last year, gone, the question is what will they do? Northern Illinois had been having a talented team compared to Mac standards but this year while they will still be in contention for the Mac Championship, because you can't count them out, but beating the power 5 programs they play likely isn't likely.

Predictions: Northern Illinois opens the season against something called the Presbyterian Blue Hose, they should win that one, Northern Illinois then loses at Northwestern, wins at UNLV, and loses at Arkansas. Northern Illinois recovers from those 3 road games with some of the easier opponents in the Mac, 3 home games in a row against Kent State, Central Michigan and Miami, which they should win all 3, then a road game against Eastern Michigan that is also a win, finally it's weekday Maction which starts with a road game at Ball State, Northern Illinois loses that one, Northern Illinois does win at home over Toledo, and on the road against Ohio and Western Michigan to end the regular season.

Predicted Record: 9-3(7-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Ohio Bobcats

Preview: Solich has had very good success at this program, his highest point was upsetting Penn State two seasons ago, and at one point being ranked in the top 25, unfortunately that season was unraveled by a ridiculous amount of injuries, last year injuries hit Ohio late in the year once again, by the way they made bowl games both of the last two years, so the fact that those seasons were still disappointments shows how far this program has come under Solich. This season they lose Tyler Tettleton along with some other good players, so it will be a challenging one, especially since the schedule isn't favorable early, but the season could be saved if Ohio has built up better depth these last two years.

Predictions: Ohio opens with 3 straight road games, which are against Kent State who has had Ohio's number lately, at Kentucky, and at Marshall who Ohio has been very good against lately, but Marshall will have a very good team, so a win over them isn't likely. So I'm seeing Ohio starting 0-3, before pulling it together with wins over Idaho and Eastern Illinois, Eastern Illinois was lethal against the FBS last year but Dino Babers is no longer there, Ohio loses at Central Michigan and at home to Bowling Green as well, before finally the schedule eases up, Ohio wins at Western Michigan, at home over Buffalo, before losing at home to Northern Illinois, and ending the regular season with a win at Miami.

Predicted Record: 6-6(4-4)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Toledo Rockets

Preview: Toledo's program has been good the past few years, and they've been able to capture headlines by giving a tough challenge or upsetting some of the major programs in college football, and a few years ago with some crazy shootouts in weekday Maction. Head coach Matt Campbell took over the program in good shape but has only made it better, he hasn't gotten too much credit for it either, and with how Tim Beckman is struggling at Illinois, Campbell may have been the one behind Toledo's rise. The rise Toledo was on was a little stunted last season when things went wrong for them in the second half against Northern Illinois and they were then surprised by Akron, this resulted in Toledo missing out on a bowl game. This season QB Terrance Owens and RB David Fluellen are gone, those two were very good players for Toledo, but everyone else comes back and promising Alabama transfer Phillip Ely could fill the quarterback spot. How Toledo's season goes will be determined by how they play in a tough 4 games to start out the year.

Predictions: Toledo's aforementioned first 4 games are brutal, the opener is against New Hampshire, most would think this is an easy win, but New Hampshire is a top 5 FCS school and is very dangerous if overlooked, Toledo usually doesn't overlook these teams though(as evidenced by beating an Eastern Washington team last season that upset Oregon State two weeks prior) so I have Toledo winning their opener, but they go on the road the next two games, at Missouri, who loses a lot but will still be solid, and Cincinnati who is a top contender to be the non-power 5 qualifier, I have Toledo losing both of those games. Toledo then returns home for a game against Ball State and I have them winning that one. Toledo then wins at home over Central Michigan and at Western Michigan. Then Toledo has another challenge at Iowa State, usually Toledo could beat them but Iowa State should be improved on offense under Mark Mangino, I may regret not picking Toledo to upset a major program later, but I have them losing this one as well. Toledo then wins at home over UMass, and at Kent State, before a big road game against Northern Illinois and it's tough to see Toledo winning there, so I have them losing that one, before upsetting Bowling Green at home, as Toledo has been having great success in that rivalry lately. Toledo ends the regular season winning at Eastern Michigan.


Predicted Record: 8-4(7-1)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Wow I had all these teams done, but it still takes a while to get a good preview posted LOL

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Massachusetts Minutemen

Preview: Things haven't gone well for UMass since jumping to FBS, they have only gotten 2 total wins since then, and as shown by a 24-14 loss to Maine last year, their talent probably wouldn't be great in FCS. Mark Whipple is the new coach, tasked to get UMass more competitive at the FBS level, he did have success here several years ago when UMass was in FCS, so perhaps the future could hold some success, for now this season will be a challenge, and wins will be hard to come by, the non-conference is rough for a team like this as they play all power 5 opponents.

Predictions: Those non-conference games are UMass' first 4 games of the year, surprisingly the first two Boston College and Colorado are at home, techinically at least, the stadium UMass plays in is actually further from UMass then it is to Boston College. The next two are on the road to Vanderbilt and Penn State, James Franklin must like playing UMass. UMass of course loses all 4 of those games, along with the home game against Bowling Green that follows. Next comes road games, against Miami of Ohio and Kent State, while both are on the road, this will be the first real chance for UMass to show progress, I think they could be competitive in these games but I'm picking losses in both again. UMass then has a home game against Eastern Michigan their best chance to win, but I think Eastern Michigan will make better progress on improving this year so UMass loses that one. The road game at Toledo will be a loss, and despite a week and a half off before the game UMass loses at home to Ball State, UMass loses at Akron and at home to Buffalo to end the year.

Predicted Record: 0-12(0-8)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Western Michigan Broncos

Preview: Before last season new head coach PJ Fleck brought the greatest excitement the program had seen in a long time, and after somehow only losing by 13 points in the opener to Michigan State, things quickly spiraled downward, Western Michigan lost at home to Nicholls State, who was fresh off getting blasted by Oregon, and it didn't get much better from there as they struggled to only one win. More optimism was brought in though when he brought home the conferences top recruiting class. Fleck clearly has the off the field portion of this job now, this season he's going to be looking to get a few more wins. I can see that happening, but bowl eligibility seems out of reach.

Predictions: Western Michigan opens the season at Purdue, which is winnable but I'm predicting a loss there, then Western Michigan plays at Idaho which I do see them winning, along with the next game against Murray State. Western Michigan then hits a very difficult stretch of games, the first being at Virginia Tech, then the next being at home against Toledo before two road games against Ball State and Bowling Green, all of which will be losses. Western Michigan loses at home to Ohio, before losing at Miami of Ohio, the losing streak ends after a bye at home against Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan then loses at Central Michigan and at home to Northern Illinois to end the year.

Predicted Record: 3-9(1-7)

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

An interesting note

Some of the teams that are in the Mac East, don't play each other in conference play this year, I haven't seen divisional opponents not play each other like this before

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

East

1. Bowling Green Falcons 10-2(7-1)
2. Akron Zips 7-5(6-2)
3. Buffalo Bulls 8-4(5-3)
4. Ohio Bobcats 6-6(4-4)
5. Miami of Ohio Redhawks 4-8(3-5)
6. Kent State Golden Flashes 2-10(2-6)
7. Massachusetts Minutemen 0-12(0-8)


West

1. Northern Illinois Huskies 9-3(7-1) (Beat Toledo head to head)
2. Toledo Rockets 8-4(7-1)
3. Ball State Cardinals 9-3(6-2)
4. Central Michigan Chippewas 5-7(4-4)
5. Western Michigan Broncos 3-9(1-7)
6. Eastern Michigan Eagles 2-10(1-7)


Mac Championship: Bowling Green over Northern Illinois

 

[theSabanator20]

An interesting note

Some of the teams that are in the Mac East, don't play each other in conference play this year, I haven't seen divisional opponents not play each other like this before