From what we've seen the past few seasons, it's pretty apparent that there are teams on different levels in this conference than everyone else. BG and NIU are at the top of their game with Toledo slightly behind. It looked as if Ohio was headed in that direction as well, but something has been missing recently. Call it coaching, call it recruiting, call it injuries, call it whatever you like. The differences are remarkably vast.

Here are some interesting things to chew on:

(I will credit perimeterpost for looking this part up)

The last time NIU lost to Toledo was 10/17/09, at Toledo. Rockets won 20-19. Since then, here is NIU's record in regular season conference games:

1-1 v Ohio
3-4 v CMU
42-0 v rest of the MAC

An amazing streak that spans the tenure of 3 different head coaches.

And not to mention five straight MAC championship appearances, winning three.

(And this one I looked up this morning)

BGSU is now 21-1 in their last 22 games against MAC East opponents, including 17 straight.

As for Toledo, since the turn of the century in 2000 the Rockets have had a winning season every year but four. Three of those seasons could be attributed to the downfall of the Amstutz era clouded in NCAA investigations. Of those winning seasons, an amazing ten have had eight or more wins.

This is where Ohio needs to be. This is what they need to be shooting for. How does it get there?