I am surprised that there wasn't already a thread. I didn't get to see any of it but I did see that the poll is 1. Toledo, 2. Miami, 3. Ohio, 4. Buffalo, 5. Northern Illinois, 6. Bowling Green

Isn't the jinx in the MAC when you're the preseason favorite? 3rd in the preseason poll is fine by me.

What's interesting is Miami and OU got the same amount of 1st place votes (3).

Conference Champion: Toledo – 6; Miami – 4; Ohio – 3

This is almost identical to what I said when was it Phil Steele or Athlon or someone had OU as the favorite?

Miami picked up a haul in the portal and brought back Finn, which is really going to suck cause he's a beast.

Toledo is just always good. Gleason is a really good player. Picked up a new RB from Arizona State/Kentucky/Ohio State.

I think BG is gonna be pretty good as well. They picked up Drew Pyne in the portal.

Should be a fun year with some really good football (at the top)

This is more of a curiosity than anything as it doesn't affect the MAC championship that much but this is FPI overall FBS schedule rank.

Ohio Bobcats 66
Kent State Golden Flashes 83
Ball State Cardinals 98
Central Michigan Chippewas 103
Massachusetts Minutemen 109
Miami (OH) RedHawks 110
Bowling Green Falcons 118
Western Michigan Broncos 120
Eastern Michigan Eagles 121
Akron Zips 124
Northern Illinois Huskies 125
Toledo Rockets 128
Buffalo Bulls 133

I would guess that the last time we had preseason schedule ranks almost always showing in the 60s, 70s or 80s there were a lot fewer teams in 1A/FBS. Maybe 2007 was in the ballpark.

The MAC conference schedule had the potential to have a bigger effect. In the few cases that you can find the preseason calculations for MAC conference schedule ranks they are inconsistent and all-over the place. This leads me to believe that there is a reasonable chance that it won't play a big role.