In its Aug. 16 college football preview, Sports Illustrated predicts Northern Illinois to win the Mid-American Conference West division and play in the Dec. 3 MAC Championship game at Ford Field in Detroit. But SI has MAC East winner, Temple, beating the Huskies in the conference title game.
SI picks the Huskies to go 9-3 for the 2010 season, including a 7-1 conference record. That means SI thinks the Huskies will pull off an upset over one of the three teams – Iowa State, Illinois or Minnesota – NIU plays from automatic-qualifying Bowl Championship Series conferences.
Following are SI's predictions for the MAC.
East
Team Record (Conference)
1. Temple 9-3 (7-1)
2. Ohio 8-4 (6-2)
3. Kent State 7-5 (5-3)
4. Bowling Green 4-8 (4-4)
5. Akron 3-9 (2-6)
6. Buffalo 3-9 (2-6)
7. Miami (Ohio) 2-10 (2-6)
West
Team Record (Conference)
1. Northern Illinois 9-3 (7-1)
2. Central Michigan 6-6 (5-3)
3. Toledo 5-7 (5-3)
4. Western Michigan 4-4 (5-7)
5. Ball State 5-7 (3-5)
6. Eastern Michigan 0-12 (0-8)
