With one conference’s play already done for Week 10, a quick update to our tiebreaker tracker:
MAC Football Tiebreakers
Link: Tiebreaker Policy (Note: We cannot confirm that this is current.)
The purest form of MACtion began this week, with eight of the conference’s twelve teams in play on Tuesday and Wednesday night. In the East, Bowling Green got a big win over Ball State while Buffalo lost to league leader Toledo (in addition to a Wagon Wheel game for the ages). In the West, Central Michigan dealt NIU’s conference title hopes a likely lethal blow, while Toledo stayed unbeaten in league play.
We’ll start in the East, where the standings look like this:
- Miami (OH): 4–1
- Ohio: 3–2
- Bowling Green State: 3–2
- Buffalo: 3–2
Here are the head-to-heads:
- Miami has beaten both Ohio and Bowling Green. Their loss came to Toledo, who plays in the West. Miami has yet to play Buffalo (H), in addition to Akron (H) and Ball State (A).
- Ohio has beaten Bowling Green. Their losses came to Miami and NIU. Ohio has yet to play Buffalo (A), in addition to Central Michigan (H) and Akron (A).
- Bowling Green has beaten Buffalo and lost to both Miami and Ohio. Their remaining games are against Kent State (A), Toledo (H), and Western Michigan (A).
- Buffalo has lost to Bowling Green. Their other loss came to Toledo. They have yet to play Ohio (H) and Miami (A), in addition to Eastern Michigan (H).
Overall, this division most likely belongs to Miami, because even if they lose to Buffalo, which is unlikely, the probability is high that Buffalo will lose another remaining game. This is subject to change, but Miami currently has the edge.
Atop the West:
- Toledo: 5–0
- Central Michigan: 3–2
- Northern Illinois: 3–2
Between those three:
- Toledo has beaten NIU and has yet to play CMU (A). They also have yet to play Eastern Michigan (H) and Bowling Green (A).
- CMU has beaten NIU and has yet to play Toledo (H). They also have yet to play Western Michigan (A) and Ohio (A).
- NIU has lost to both Toledo and CMU. They have yet to play Ball State (H), Western Michigan (H), and Kent State (A).
If Central Michigan can get itself involved in a tiebreaker here, it will win it, by virtue of having beaten Toledo to get there. It’s unlikely that will happen. Most likely, Toledo has the West wrapped up.
