SportSource is not second to last this season.

https://getsomemaction.com/sports/2025/11/12/FB_111225543...

MAC Football Championship Tiebreaker
Championship Game Participants


A. The participating teams shall be decided by conference winning percentage. In the event of a tie, the following tiebreak formula shall be used to determine which team(s) will participate in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game.


B. Scenario – Two Teams
1. Head – to - head competition between the two tied teams.

2. Win percentage versus all common opponents.

3. The team with the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.

4. Win percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish.

5. Combined conference win percentage of conference opponents.

6. The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee.


C. Scenario – More than Two Teams
1. Combined head – to - head win percentage among the tied teams if all tied teams are common opponents.

2. If all the tied teams are not common opponents, the tied team that defeated each of the other tied teams advances.

3. Win percentage versus all common opponents.

4. The team with the higher ranking by the Team Rating Score metric provided by SportSource Analytics following the conclusion of regular season games.

5. Win percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish.

6. Combined conference win percentage of conference opponents.

7. The representative shall be chosen by a draw as administered by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee

I'm still as confused about this as ever, but if CMU beats UT, and we beat the Beefs and Miami loses its last game, CMU has some mythical tie-breaker over us? Say it ain't so, Joe!

Oh damn, I missed that newer tie-breaker procedure pagr

If that's the 3 options for us to get in, #2 seems like the only possible probability to me. Fiami has new life given the surprise QB play. Any scenario with Ball sack winning is a non starter.

https://getsomemaction.com/news/2025/11/24/2025-mac-footb...

Officially

Not defending the tiebreaker rules entirely, but I think the purpose of tiebreaker #2 is to avoid this problem with tiebreaker #1:

3 way tie tiebreaker #1 head to head:
Team A: 2-0
Team B: 0-1
Team C 0-1

This would require a move on to tiebreaker #2, since all weren’t common opponents. Tiebreaker #2 would fix that problem. But the other thing they should have considered is eliminating a team that was 0-2 against the other 3 way tie teams.

Some BAers, perhaps mostly me, have bemoaned the uneven conference scheduling that's unavoidable in conferences with 13 (MAC) to 18 (SEC) teams. Most of my focus has been on how it affects which two teams qualify for league championship games.

These uneven scheduling also have an impact on the 12-team playoff selection process. Texas A&M is undefeated and has so far earned a spot in the playoffs. But what if the Aggies lose this weekend to Texas?? Should the selection committee strongly consider that there are currently seven SEC teams below the Aggies in the CFP Top 25 and Texas A&M hasn't played one? In other words, how much emphasis is put on strength of schedule? Or what about Oregon, also currently in the playoffs with just 1 loss. They played only its second game against a CFP Top 25 team this past weekend, beating an average USC team at home. It's other game against a CFP Top 25 team was also at home but ended in a 10-point loss to Indiana.

Also, Ohio has to remain ahead of Central Michigan in the ranking or it does not have any chance.

So actually having re-run my analysis, the rule change essentially doesn't matter: under the old tie-breakers we and CMU are pitted against each others Sport Source Analytics rankings in 6/64 scenarios and now we have that same change in 12/64 scenarios (the difference being down to the NIU/Kent game outcome no longer really mattering)

Still and all, massively beind the 8-ball thanks to our loss to Ball State (or our loss to WMU, take your pick)

I understand this argument, which is why I'm not too strongly in favor of divisions. But I think the more teams in a conference, the more chances of uneven schedule difficulties.

This wasn't a problem when the Big 10 was truly a 10-team conference. Or when the MAC had 10 teams. Reason #276 for the good ole days of college sports.

so western is in. so go ball state and Central….right?

If Northern Illinois University (NIU) wins against Kent State, the score's significance for Ohio University (OU) in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship hinges on several factors:

Score Implications for Ohio University
Condition Details
Just a Win or Margin: NIU must win against Kent State to help Ohio's chances.
Tiebreaker Situations: A significant margin (e.g., 14+ points) may help Ohio in tiebreakers if it ends up with a similar record to other teams.
Ohio's Required Win: Ohio must beat Buffalo on the same day for the situation to matter.
Other Game Outcomes: OU also needs specific outcomes from other games (e.g., Ball State upsetting Miami) to support their championship hopes.
Key Points to Consider
Margin of Victory: While a win by NIU is necessary, a larger margin of victory (e.g., 14 points or more) could improve OU's standing in tiebreaker scenarios. A decisive NIU win might signal dominance, affecting perceptions of OU's comparative strength.
Overall Record: Ohio's chances of making the championship depend on their win against Buffalo, combined with an NIU victory. The overall records of competing teams will dictate tiebreaker scenarios.
Dependent Outcomes: Besides winning their game, Ohio would need specific results in other matchups to secure its place in the championship, adding complexity to the scoring implications of the NIU-Kent State match.