BOWLING GREEN — The chaos that has taken place throughout the final stretch of the season in the Mid-American Conference football standings got a little bit clearer after last week’s results.
There is still a long way to go, though, in determining who will head to Ford Field in Detroit for the MAC championship game.
The four hottest teams in the league, including Bowling Green State University, have a chance at qualifying for next week’s MAC title game. Three squads — BGSU (7-4, 6-1 MAC, five-game winning streak), Ohio (8-3, 6-1, four) and Miami (7-4, 6-1, six) — control their own destiny, while Buffalo (7-4, 5-2, three) needs a win and some help to play for a conference championship.
For BGSU coach Scot Loeffler and his team, Friday’s regular-season finale against Miami at Doyt Perry Stadium will be arguably the biggest game for the program since 2015 when the Falcons won their last MAC championship. BGSU will have a quick turnaround after Saturday’s 38-13 victory at Ball State — Miami topped Northern Illinois on Tuesday night and had an extra few days of preparation — but the Falcons will be ready to go.
“I think the type of game it’s going to be, we’re all excited. I think if you asked anybody on the team right now, we’d be like ‘Yeah we’ll play them right now,’” BGSU senior cornerback Jordan Oladokun said. “But obviously, we just had an 11-day rest [prior to the Ball State game], so playing in the game right now, we might have some bumps and bruises but for the most part, we’re all healthy.”
A handful of scenarios exist in determining which two teams will head to Detroit.
The winner of the Miami/BGSU game will earn a spot in the MAC championship game, and Ohio will advance with a victory at home over Ball State on Friday. If the Falcons lose, they can still advance with an Ohio loss and a Buffalo loss at home vs. winless Kent State; BGSU would own the tiebreaker over Ohio based on its 5-1 record against common opponents Akron, Central Michigan, Miami, Kent State, Toledo, and Ball State. The Bobcats would be 4-2 against those opponents.
Buffalo needs a win, a BGSU victory, and an Ohio loss to advance. The Bulls would own the tiebreaker over Ohio and Miami based on their 4-0 record against common opponents Ball State, Kent State, Toledo, and Eastern Michigan; the Bobcats and RedHawks would be 3-1.
A situation exists where BGSU could advance with a loss, an Ohio loss, and a Buffalo win, but it would depend on the results around the MAC in the final week of the regular season as a third tiebreaker would come into play between the three schools.
The last thing BGSU would want to do is have its fate determined by how other teams fare.
“Hopefully we go out there and we do the same thing we’ve been doing all week and all year and we just play a great game,” BGSU junior linebacker Joseph Sipp, Jr., said. “It’ll be a quick turnaround this week, but we know we’ve got to get in the training room, get our bodies right, and have a great week of practice.”
BGSU and Miami have been on a dominating roll since their last losses to Northern Illinois and Toledo, respectively, in early October. The Falcons have outscored their opponents 160-71 during their winning streak, while the RedHawks have a 195-78 advantage.
Miami, which beat Toledo in last year’s MAC championship, has won four of the last five meetings vs. BGSU, including a 27-0 victory in Oxford last season.
A senior-laden BGSU team will look to capitalize on its biggest opportunity in nearly a decade.
“All these guys, they came back for a reason, to give themselves a chance to play a meaningful game in November,” Loeffler said. “This will be a meaningful game.
“We’re playing against the champs. They’re really, really good, really well coached. Ton of respect, and you’re going to see two football teams go at it and it’s going to be a hard-hitting, clean game.”
First Published November 24, 2024, 10:30 p.m.
