2024 Conference Preview: Mid-American Conference

What does #MACtion have on the docket in 2024?

Miami coach Chuck Martin talks to a crowd of players after a summer camp. Credit: Ryan Dickey on Flickr.

Get in here everyone - it’s time to preview the best conference in the nation. The one that trumps all others. The undisputed king of college football. Of course, we can only be talking about #MACtion.

Let’s take a step back. No, the MAC is not the best conference in the nation, but boy is it fun. I’ve called myself a “MACtion Aficionado” and spent more time watching midweek MACtion than most other writers. This is the conference that I feel best encapsulates college football as a whole. It’s regional, has bitter rivalries, is incredibly parity-driven, and is full of plain old wackiness.

Crème de la crème

Like I said, the MAC is not the best conference in the nation, and a playoff bid is likely not on the table this year. But, as the conference moves to a division-less format in 2024, I think there’s two teams in the top tier.

The first is the team that, if I wanted to predict anything about MACtion I would call the conference championship favorite, Miami of Ohio. They have perhaps the best quarterback in the conference in Brett Gabbert, younger brother of Missouri star and longtime NFL journeyman Blaine Gabbert, although he’s dealt with injuries the past two seasons. The RedHawks also have the highest percentage of returning production at 66 percent - tied for 40th in the nation. Even with Gabbert, though, Chuck Martin’s squad is going to rely on one of nation’s top units in their defense. SP+ pegs the Miami defensive unit as 26th in the nation with a 62 overall ranking for the team. In a conference with ugly outdoor battles on cold Tuesday nights in Ohio and Michigan, defense wins championships.

On the other side of the coin, we have the MAC program that’s brought in the most talent over the past few seasons, but doesn’t have much to show in their trophy case: Toledo. The Rockets have been a great program under Jason Candle, nearly pulling upsets over Notre Dame in South Bend and Illinois in Champaign in each of the last two seasons. But in both, the Rockets have come up short. They’ll turn the page on the Dequan Finn era with his transfer to Baylor and breakout tailback Peny Boone is also off in the portal to Louisville. Where Miami has a high returning production rank, Candle’s Rockets clock in at 42 percent at 122nd. Their offense is even worse at 32 percent. With a lackluster transfer class that ranked ninth in the conference, can Candle’s staff coach their way to Detroit?

Let’s make a run, shall we?

Part of what makes MACtion special is the fact that literally anybody in the conference can win it. Even though there’s two clear top programs, I’d put money on the fact that either one or both don’t make it to Detroit. So who does? I think this tier is the best guess at the programs best positioned to make that jump.

We start with Toledo’s arch rival - Bowling Green. Head Coach Scot Loeffler has quietly built a solid program after woeful mismanagement under Mike Jinx and the Falcons have gone bowling each of the past two seasons. The portal left Bowling Green relatively alone, only losing impact contributors in edge rusher Cashius Howell (Texas A&M) and running back/returnman Ta’Ron Keith (Western Kentucky). Loeffler didn’t swing a massive transfer class of his own, but perhaps he doesn’t need it? They’ve got a solid veteran under center in Connor Bazelak, who alongside tailback Terion Steward and tight end Harold Fannin Jr., makes up what may be the MAC’s best overall offensive unit. The Falcons just need Bazelak to find consistency in his senior season and for the defense to step up in big moments like they did last season.

Down south in Athens, Ohio - birthplace of NCAA legend Joey Burreaux - the Ohio Bobcats are entering into the post-Rourke era as this is the first season one of the Rourke brothers isn’t under center for Ohio since 2017. They turn to Parker Navarro, a dual threat graduate student who stepped in for six games in relief of Kurtis Rourke last season. The Bobcats brought in a high-volume class with 21 transfer signees this offseason, but most are FCS jumps with only a few Power Four drop backs. They also lost 25 players to the portal, though, which contributes to the Bobcats’ 127th ranking in returning production. There’s a lot of moving parts here, but Tim Albin is a solid coach. Can he bring this team together to make a run, or are they going to battle for a bowl game? Either one wouldn’t surprise me this year.

Western Michigan, on the other hand, is one of the schools with the most returning production across the board. The Broncos bring back 73 percent of their production from last season, albeit that’s production from a 4-8 season. I assume the Broncos will turn to Hayden Wolff, who started the final seven games where Western went 2-5. Head coach Lance Taylor is an offensive guy that focuses on a strong running game and I think we’ll see the same out of Western’s stable of backs. Neither of SP+ or FPI is high on the Broncos, ranking them in the conference’s middle tier, but the MAC always has one surprise team each year. Why not Western in 2024?

They are who we think they are

The MAC is known for parity, wild battles in the middle of the week and being completely unpredictable. So are there any teams that we can predict year in and year out? Surprisingly, yes.

We start this section with another of the Directional Michigan schools, traveling to Central Michigan. The Chippewas are in hot water right now for allowing - or not, depending on who you ask - Connor Stalions onto their sidelines last season. Even without that, we can start to peg Jim McElwain’s program as one that relies on a smashmouth running game, but doesn’t quite have the next step to compete for a conference crown. They had some firepower when Lew Nichols was one of the nation’s top rushers, but the Chips haven’t been able to find that top gear since. They also rank 85th in returning production, 119th in SP+ and 115th in FPI, so it seems everyone can agree that they slot in towards the middle end of the conference.

We talk a lot about quiet turnarounds. Chris Creighton has pulled off a quiet miracle in Ypsilanti for Eastern Michigan. Creighton’s Eagles have been on the precipice of reaching the conference title game, but the contest has so far eluded Eastern. This could be the year that Eastern breaks through, but the Green and White have more questions than answers. They, like many of the MAC’s teams, are a run-dependent team in recent years, but will be without tailbacks Samson Evans (graduation) and Jaylon Jackson (Iowa State). Creighton’s staff did hit the portal hard, though, bringing in a 23.95 point class with transfers that takes the conference crown. This class is filled to the brim with the three-star talent that thrives in The Factory in Ypsi. Is this the year Creighton’s squad finally reaches the MAC title game for the first time in school history? Unfortunately for Eastern fans, I think they do what they always do - 7-5 and third or fourth in the conference with a bowl bid.

Northern Illinois was one of the premier Group of Five teams in the nation when Jordan Lynch was under center, but that was nearly a decade ago and the Huskies are still trying to reclaim that magic. They have possibly the best running back in the conference - he’ll battle BGSU’s Terion Stewart for that crown - in Antario Brown and the Huskies are primed and ready to feed him the ball. Thomas Hammock has built a punishing run-first system that Brown will thrive in and the Huskies return their top seven linemen from last year. The same is on the defensive side. If Brown can carry the load, I could see NIU crashing the party in Detroit. But that’s a big if since I have little to no trust in the Huskies’ passing game.

Starting from scratch

The MAC, like we saw with CUSA, is a weaker conference. But surprisingly, there aren’t a ton of teams starting from the bottom. Sure, a lot are buoyed by the sheer unpredictability, but these two programs are getting fresh starts.

It’s been a long winter in Buffalo after the summer that Lance Leipold brought to the Bulls, but he’s gone and Buffalo is still scrambling. They just lost head coach Maurice Linguist, who spurned the program to take the Alabama defensive coordinator position under Kalen deBoer. However, I really like Buffalo’s hire of Pete Lembo. He is an experienced coach with some of Ball State’s best seasons coming under his purview. He’s not a particularly innovative coach, but sometimes that’s not what you need. You just need a guy to get some players and build a solid program. I think Lembo can do that at Buffalo, but it will take time.

Let’s take a second and appreciate what Sean Lewis did at one of the nation’s hardest coaching stops in Kent State. Two bowl bids - and one win - is a lot more than most coaches can say with the Golden Flashes, especially in five seasons at the helm. But Lewis is gone and Kent has turned to Kenni Burns to lead the program. He’s never led a program, but has an impressive resume as an assistant leading the running games at Minnesota and North Dakota State. The only problem is this is a program that doesn’t have a ton of resources, isn’t recruiting well and no longer has the X’s and O’s guru in Lewis to lead it. That’s not to say Burns can’t help build the Golden Flashes up, but if he is, it’s going to take time. A lot of time.

Battling to bowl

To me, there’s only really two MAC programs that aren’t going to compete for the conference title or even a bowl game.

The first is Akron. The Zips are stuck in an unfortunate situation with a largely apathetic fan base, a rough location in downtown Akron, and an athletic department light on resources. They have a bonafide good coach in Joe Moorhead, but it’s been three years, guys. Now it’s put up or shut up time. Moorhead’s Zips have gone a measly 4-20 overall in two lackluster seasons. He seems like he’s committed to the program, but Akron hasn’t done anything under his guidance. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a mutual parting of ways were Moorhead takes a higher profile coordinator job after the season and Akron starts from scratch once again.

Ball State is in a more interest situation, I think. They’re bad, don’t get that mixed up. FPI and SP+ both rank the Cardinals sub-120th in the nation. They have a longtime head coach in Mike Neu that has had success in the MAC with Ball State, but that success has dried up in recent years. Neu’s Cardinals haven’t posted a winning seasons since the COVID-shortened 2020 - which is also Neu’s only winning season in nine tries. He’s Ball State royalty, being inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2004 for his accomplishments in his playing career and may be a lifer, but two bowl bids in nine years just isn’t good enough. It’s never an easy move to move on from a campus legend, but Ball State may need a new voice if they want to be contenders for the MAC title.

So there you have it. The MAC broken down as best as possible for 2024. Who do you think wins it? And does anyone here have a shot at the 12-team playoff? Let me know in the comments below! And let me know

If there’s anything I missed or you want to see in later conference breakdowns, let me know by leaving a comment, sending a message, or checking in on social media!

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