MAC East rankings: Falcons punished for bad home loss

Ohio, Miami still at top of East Division rankings

9/13/2017
BY JOHN WAGNER
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

After the second week of the college football season, here is an update on the Mid-American East Division power rankings. Not a whole lot has changed from last week, with one local exception — the one team that did not win the game expressly placed on their schedule for them to win:

1. Ohio (last week: 1) – The Bobcats were swamped at Purdue, which was expected – and did little to change their status positively or negatively. This week presents an interesting challenge with a home contest against Kansas.

2. Miami (last week: 2) – The RedHawks did what was necessary in pounding Austin Peay last week. They, too, have an interesting challenge this week against Cincinnati – have they closed the distance between their program and the Bearcats?

RELATED: MAC West power rankings: EMU, CMU make their move

3. Buffalo (last week: 4) – Army’s 14-point fourth-quarter outburst cost the Bulls a chance at a big victory Saturday. Now it’s a matter of holding the fort this week against Colgate before hosting Florida Atlantic in the program’s most important non-conference game.

4. Kent State (last week: 5) – The return of coach Paul Haynes was good to see, and the Golden Flashes rode that emotion to an important win over Howard. The win was important because things will be tough the next two weeks as KSU plays at Marshall and at Louisville.

5. Akron (last week: 6) – The Zips also got the job done, beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff decisively at home. This program’s biggest non-conference test comes this week as it hosts Iowa State.

6. Bowling Green (last week: 3) – Unlike everyone else on this list, the Falcons did NOT do the expected and lost to South Dakota. There will little change to right the ship entering conference play thanks to road games at Northwestern and Middle Tennessee.

Contact John Wagner at jwagner@theblade.com419-724-6481, or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.