Categories
NCAA Football

Northern Illinois will have the most wins in the MAC

Handicapping MAC Conference Football

The MAC always gets overshadowed by the Big Ten and rightfully so.

Northern Illinois Huskies
Win Total Over/Under: 9.5
BCS Champion Odds: +2000 (Field)
Conference Winning Odds: +150
Mid American Conference Overview

At the bottom of the league are some dreadful teams, the middle has some fighters, above that are some teams that can put a scare in you and then there is Northern Illinois, which shows again and again amazing levels of talent and resiliency, playing more like a team from the Big 10 with a big bruising offensive line.

Last year UNI was joined by Kent State in a BCS push but this year it looks like they might stand alone in that top tier.

Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s College Picks in 2013!

They have become amazingly consistent and are a good bet to win the conference again even though they are again breaking in a new coach.

Why Northern Illinois will have the most wins in the MAC

Talent:

I know that Johnny Manziel was the run/pass QB story of last season but you can argue that UNI QB Jordan Lynch had the better season. In his first year as a starter he rushed for over 1800 yards while passing for more than 3100 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 25 to 6 – he is gritty too.

The skill position players are turning over but he has 4 of 5 offensive linemen returning, and the 5th is a senior, so they should be more than OK on offense.

Defense will be a tougher challenge with just 4 starters returning. Most pundits rank their defensive personnel in the top 5 in the league which if true means they should be more than good enough to backup an offense that scored almost 40 ppg last season. Lynch is the key and no team in the league has a player like him.

Schedule:

One point separated the Huskies from a perfect regular season last year when they lost their opener to Iowa 18-17. They open at the Hawkeyes this time and I think they will take them, part revenge and part because they are better.

Ditto for a game at Purdue and gimmies against Idaho and Eastern Illinois. In the MAC they could certainly run the table again.

Yes they meet Kent State on the road but the Flashes are not the team they were last year. The greater potential trouble spot is a trip to Toledo the second last week of the season. The Rockets will be nipping at their heels all season long and they will test them. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

Coaching

:

UNI has proven to be a great stepping stone program with the last two coaches now at jobs in automatic qualifying leagues – Jerry Kill at Minnesota and Dave Doeren at North Carolina State. Coach Rod Carey is a bit of a mystery at this stage.

He coached the Huskies in the Orange Bowl, which they lost but this is his first time being a head coach. As the former offensive coordinator I think you can expect things on that side of the ball to remain the same. The coordinators Bob Cole (offense) and Jay Niemann (defense) were both on the staff last year so little is likely to change in terms of philosophies there either. Just keep winning.

Prediction: 12-0

I suppose picking a school like Northern Illinois to be perfect in the regular season is a bit bold but the greatest threats to that prediction for me are a couple of Big Ten schools who are expected to be mediocre at best.

If they can pull off this feat and win the MAC Championship they should be off to the BCS again, though not the Championship Game. It is quite likely that the Huskies could have a perfect season and never face a ranked team.

They need to win and have some of their MAC brethren help them out with a couple of upsets too.

GRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2013 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting! —–>

By The Wiesguy

The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.