2023 MAC Conference Football Betting Preview

Upcoming season preview for the MAC – Mid American Conference

Long Time Between Drinks Of Water

The MAC hasn’t produced consecutive conference champions since 2011-12. Toledo enters the 2023 season as the defending champion, and the Rockets bring back a deeply experienced squad from last season, with 16 returning starters as they rank No. 14 in the nation in overall Returning Production Rankings. But the pressure is on the Rockets, who have never captured consecutive MAC titles.

Rivalries Abound

The MAC has its fair share of intense rivalries, including the Battle of the Bricks (Ohio vs. Miami), the Michigan MAC Trophy (Central, Eastern and Western Michigan), the Battle of I-75 (Toledo vs. Bowling Green) and the Wagon Wheel (Akron vs. Kent State). These rivalries remain intense.

Bowl Busts

The MAC has been a major disappointment in bowl games, as they are just 28-55 SU and 33-46-4 ATS overall since 2008, including 5-15 ATS as dogs of 3 or fewer points.

Better yet, MAC bowlers who fail to win their games are 10-43-2 ATS over the same span.

Note: Team write-ups are excerpts from the 2023 PLAYBOOK Football Preview Guide magazine – on sale at Barnes & Noble and Books A Million bookstores nationwide, or at PlaybookSports.com. All teams are listed alphabetically, by division. The numbers listed on the top line alongside the team name represents its offensive and defensive starters, and the number to the right of those (in parenthesis) designates as its opening projected season win total.

2023 MAC POINTSPREAD POWER PLAYS

East Division  (Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent St, Miami Ohio, Ohio U)

AKRON – MOOR, No Less   *9 / 6  (3.5)

While a 2-10 record last season identically mirrored the same of the team that new head coach Joe Moorhead inherited a year earlier, a deep dive into the stats tells a different tale as the Zips greatly improved their numbers on both sides of the ball. Remember, Akron had won 3 games in three years (3-27) before his arrival. The Zips led the MAC in passing last season (No. 18 overall) and DJ Irons, a third-team All-MAC quarterback who tossed for 2,606 yards, is back. He’ll reunite with first-team All-MAC wide receiver Alex Adams, an LSU transfer who caught nine TDs with 856 receiving yards last year.

PLAY ON: at Miami Ohio (11/8)

Stat you will Like: Six of the Zips’ outright losses last season resulted in ATS wins, tying Hawaii for the most in the nation.

BOWLING GREEN – On the Clock   *8 /5  (5)

Despite leading the Falcons to a second bowl berth since 2015, fifth-year head coach Scott Loeffler is still looking for his first winning season with Bowling Green. Granted, improving from 3-14 SU and 3-13 ATS in his first two years to 10-15 SU and 11-11-1 ATS the next two is pecuniary, but the fact remains the Falcons marshmallow offense has averaged 319 yards and 18 points per contest during his tenure. To the point, last year’s effort was inexcusable given the fact they were the No. 1 Group of Five team in the land in Return Production Rankings. Hence, time is running out and 2023 is pivotal for Loeffler.

PLAY AGAINST: vs. Toledo (11/14)

Stat you will Like: Over the last 11 years, the Falcons have been 47-8 SU when they win the stats, and 10-62 SU when they don’t.

BUFFALO – Staying the Course   *5 / 5   (6.5)

After Lance Leipold made the leap from the Bulls to the Big 12 in 2021, Buffalo was forced to raid the transfer portal after players and coaches bailed on the program too. Thus, slow starts under new head coach Maurice Linguist were understandable – 1-5 in Buffy’s first three games the past two seasons, including a home loss to Holy Cross last year. To their credit the Bulls stayed the course and landed a bowl bid last year, beating Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl. While only 10 starters return, Lindquist landed seven transfers, including four JUCO wide receivers that will join returning QB Cole Snyder (3,030 yards, 18 TDs).  

PLAY ON: vs. Central Michigan (10/7)

Stat you will Like: Buffalo is 12-1-1 ATS at home off a home game.

KENT STATE – Ground Zero  1 / 4   (2.5)

After enduring a murderous non-conference schedule during his five-year tenure with Kent State in which his Flashes went 0-13 versus Power Five opposition, Sean Lewis raised the white flag and bolted for Colorado to become Deion Sanders’ offensive coordinator. He leaves new head coach, 39-year-old Kenni Burns, a former RB with Indiana and a 7-year assistant coach under P.J. Fleck, little more than ashes as the Flashes rank dead last in Bill Connelly’s Returning Production Rankings, while losing 18 players to the transfer portal, including quarterback Collin Schlee and 1,300-yard rusher Marquez Cooper. As expected Burns hit the portal, but it looks to be too little, too late.

PLAY AGAINST: at Akron (11/1)

Stat you will Like: The Golden Flashes are 9-1 SUATS against foes coming off consecutive losses.

MIAMI OHIO– Key to the Highway   *7 / 9   (6.5)

Chuck Martin still doesn’t know what he did to gain the wrath of the schedule maker. Looking back, over the last three full seasons, the RedHawks have been tasked with road assignments on 21 of their 36 regular season games. It doesn’t get any better this year as Miami will be facing seven-road engagements, including four in the first five games. With 16 starters back, including nine on defense, it’s no surprise to learn that Big Ben’s alma mater checks in No. 21 in defensive Returning Production Ranking. Remember, Martin inherited a winless team in 2013 that was mired in a 16-game losing streak. They’re now on the road to success. 

PLAY ON: vs. Buffalo (11/15)

Stat you will Like: Martin is 18-7 ATS in games when coming off a double-digit loss.

OHIO UNIVERSITY – Seventh Heaven   *9 / 6   (7) 

After a tenuous 3-9 start in 2021 as the successor to Frank Solich, his former top assistant, Tim Albin, rebounded in a big way last year, leading the Bobcats to a 10-win season for the first time since 2011. And if his knee is good to go, there will be another Rourke – read: Kurtis – at quarterback for the seventh year in a row. Kurtis heads nine offensive returning starters with 1K rusher Sieh Bangura and top WR Sam Wiglusz, plus four of last year’s starting OL. Food for thought: since the inception of the FBS, every current member in the MAC has won the conference championship – except Kent State and Ohio.

PLAY ON: at Northern Illinois (10/14)

Stat you will Like: The Bobcats have played in 44 games decided by a TD or less the last nine seasons.

West Division  (Ball St, C Michigan, E Michigan, No Illinois, Toledo, W Michigan)

BALL STATE – A Bad Neu Look   *7 / 7   (4.5)

Were it not for a disappointing season-ending, one-point loss at Miami, the Cardinals would have nailed their third straight bowl game for the first time in school history. Digging deeper, losses in four of their final five games was the real culprit. More concerning were stat losses in six of their final eight games. Compounding matters this season, head coach Mike Neu watched starting QB John Paddock, 1,500-yard rushing RB Carson Steele, and last year’s top two wide receivers exit via the transfer portal. Steele transferred to UCLA. His 1,161 rushing yards after contact last season led the nation, and his 94 forced-missed tackles trailed only Texas star RB and 8^th overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, Bijan Robinson.

PLAY ON: vs. Miami Ohio (11/25)

Stat you will Like: The Cardinals are 9-3 SUATS when coming off a SU underdog win under Mike Neu, including 6-1 ATS away.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN– Chipping Back   5 / 9   (5.5)

The Chippewas tumbled from a nine win bowl season in 2021 to 4-8 last year, their first losing effort under fifth-year head coach Jim McElwain, who took over a 1-11 mess in 2018 and has gone 24-21 since. McElwain is anxious to not only make amends, but also to see more of exciting sophomore QB Bert Emmaneul Jr., who showed great potential last year by earning national player of the week honors for his impressive performance against Buffalo, rushing for 293 yards in a 31-27 win. Another bright spot for the Chips is a burgeoning defense, which ranks 8th in the nation in terms of returning production.

PLAY ON: at Ball State (10/21) – *KEY as a dog

Stat you will Like: The Chippewas were the worst team in the nation in Fumbles Lost (18) last season.

EASTERN MICHIGAN – Legal Eagles   4 / 7   (6.5)

Let’s tell it like it is. Over the last seven seasons EMU is the only team in the MAC East to fail to win the division. Which should mean nine-year veteran head coach Chris Creighton is on the spot. If you believe that we’ve got some oceanfront property in Ypsilanti we’d like to sell you. After a nine-win season for only the second time in 48 years (per ESPN), Creighton is back where he belongs, in firm control of the Eagles’ program. And wouldn’t you know it, a defense that was learning on the job last season is back and suddenly experienced, along with last year’s leading QB, RB and WR.

PLAY AGAINST: vs. Akron (11/14)

Stat you will Like: EMU is 23-5-2 ATS away in games when coming off a loss under Creighton.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS – Area Code 390   *8 / 8   (6.5)

NIU lost four conference games last season in which they out-yarded their opponent. It was that type of season for the heavily wounded Huskies, who managed to win only one game outright as an underdog in 2022, after leading the nation with six upset wins in 2021. The good news is the sled dogs, who have won 3, 9 and 0 games the past three years, take on only three foes that owned a winning record last season. Experience abounds this season, though, including seventh-year senior QB Rocky Lombardi and star WR Trayvon Rudolph, who each missed the entire campaign. Beware of this dog.     

PLAY ON: vs. Ball State (11/7)

Stat you will Like: NIU owned the highest percentage of starts by freshman in 2020 – with the bulk of them now upper classmen this season.

TOLEDO – Candleabra   *8 / 8   (8.5)

Here we go again. Another season. Another Rockets’ team oozing with experience. With it, Jason Candle welcomes 16 starters back from last year’s 9-win season and the team’s Boca Raton Bowl victory. It’s a squad that finds itself as the No. 11 team in the nation in Returning Production Rankings – which features a secondary that ranks among the best in the Group of Five (No. 10 in the nation in Pass Defense Efficiency last season). In seven years with Toledo, Candle has yet to suffer a losing season while bowling in five of the 6 non-COVID years. In fact, Toledo has been bowl eligible for 12 straight seasons. Candle has this team plugged in again.    

PLAY AGAINST: vs. Northern Illinois (9/30)

Stat you will Like: Toledo head coach Jason Candle is 1-7 SU and 1-6-1 ATS versus greater than .750 opponents.

WESTERN MICHIGAN– Taylor Made   *8 / 1   (3.5)

New head coach Lance Taylor was Louisville’s offensive coordinator last season. He is a former player at Alabama, a Nick Saban disciple, ex-NFL assistant, an ex-Notre Dame assistant, and a devoted Morgan Wallen fan. With plenty of pedigree, Taylor says, “I’ve been fortunate enough to be around some really great coaches, being on the ground level with Coach Saban when he took over at Alabama his first couple of years there and how he changed the culture.” He’ll need to develop a quarterback pronto, though. The Broncos will be looking to kick up a storm after snapping an 8-year bowl eligible skein last season.   

PLAY AGAINST: as a favorite vs. Miami Ohio (10/14)

Stat you will Like: The Broncos are 1-10 ATS coming off an ATS win when facing a foe coming off a loss.

Marc Lawrence has been providing top handicapping tips and picks at PlaybookSports.com for nearly three decades. Get his top picks and best bets here at gamblersWORLD.