Let's start with Western Michigan. Yes, they're 5-1, and 2-0 in the conference, despite the fact they're playing a bunch of cupcake squads. And I predicted early in the season this team was going to contend for the MAC Championship this year. To me, that part's a no-brainer.
But better than CMU at this point? I'm not too sure about that one, even if one team that WMU beat - NIU - happened to come close to beating Tennessee. The Vols were using a new starting quarterback for one thing and obviously weren't at their best. As for common opponents, try this one: If Oregon needed overtime to escape Purdue and CMU nearly beat Purdue the following week, does that mean CMU and Oregon are on the same competitive plane? A lot of people would disagree with that.
The beauty of football is that anything can happen on any given week. Appalachian State proved that last year in Michigan, and on a smaller scale, North Dakota State proved that when it trounced CMU last season. Really, it all comes down to wins and losses, and what your team does to win or lose games.
So back to Western Michigan. Yes, they're winning games, but none of those wins were impressive enough to say they're the 2nd best team in the division right now. The only team they beat with a .500 record or better is 3-3 Tennessee Tech, and they're FCS. In my eyes, if WMU wants to win people over, it's going to have to beat CMU next week. Ball State already won people over by beating Indiana and clocking every other team it has faced so far. While CMU hasn't won many people over yet, either, they're still the defending champions and will stay that way unless another team really proves otherwise. CMU could coast through the MAC schedule with one loss, beat Ball State at home even if they enter the game 10-0 and STILL make the conference championship.
Really, it just goes to show that every game is important and it's going to come down to those head-to-heads.
But better than CMU at this point? I'm not too sure about that one, even if one team that WMU beat - NIU - happened to come close to beating Tennessee. The Vols were using a new starting quarterback for one thing and obviously weren't at their best. As for common opponents, try this one: If Oregon needed overtime to escape Purdue and CMU nearly beat Purdue the following week, does that mean CMU and Oregon are on the same competitive plane? A lot of people would disagree with that.
The beauty of football is that anything can happen on any given week. Appalachian State proved that last year in Michigan, and on a smaller scale, North Dakota State proved that when it trounced CMU last season. Really, it all comes down to wins and losses, and what your team does to win or lose games.
So back to Western Michigan. Yes, they're winning games, but none of those wins were impressive enough to say they're the 2nd best team in the division right now. The only team they beat with a .500 record or better is 3-3 Tennessee Tech, and they're FCS. In my eyes, if WMU wants to win people over, it's going to have to beat CMU next week. Ball State already won people over by beating Indiana and clocking every other team it has faced so far. While CMU hasn't won many people over yet, either, they're still the defending champions and will stay that way unless another team really proves otherwise. CMU could coast through the MAC schedule with one loss, beat Ball State at home even if they enter the game 10-0 and STILL make the conference championship.
Really, it just goes to show that every game is important and it's going to come down to those head-to-heads.
1 comment:
"Graham," should stick to crackers that have fallen between the cushions of the "Couch!"
---CHIPPEWA ENEMA
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