Media Day News--Falcons picked 2nd

Good morning, Falcon Nation.

It is MAC Media day today up at Ford Field, and there is a little flurry of news which has emerged from the opening session.  Later, our coaches and a couple players will talk, and I'll take a listen to those later and see if there are any high quality information nuggets that are revealed.  Usually, it is a lot of Spring Training optimism, which you can hear anytime you want.

First, the MAC Championship will remain at Ford Field through the 2015 season at a minimum.  I know not everyone loves the venue, but I think it is as good as you are going to get.  I always preferred a home field just for the collegiate atmosphere, but a neutral field looks more grown up and it is indoors and is relative centrally located.  It is a great facility and does provide a high-class feel, though often it is pretty empty, which gives it less of a high class field.

Anyway, it is as good as we are going to do, and I'm for it, on balance.

The Media Poll results were also released.  For the first time in a number of years, the Falcons are getting a little bit of love.  The Falcons are picked to finish 2nd in the MAC East, behind OU, which was the unanimous pick to win the division.  Miami is also expected to be much improved.  Note, also, that BG is clearly benefiting from staying in the East.  We might have been picked 4th in the West.

Speaking of which, they are calling for another Rocket/NIU/WMU battle to win the West, with UT the overall favorite.

A few other notes.  There are 3 really bad teams in the MAC this year:  Akron, UMass and CMU.

EMU is getting no love for last year's run, which was partly schedule-fueled.

The person who voted for CMU to win the West should not be allowed to vote anymore.

MAC East Division
1. Ohio (17), 119
2. Bowling Green, 91
3. Miami, 84
4. Kent State, 76
5. Buffalo, 52
6. Akron, 31
7. UMass, 23

MAC West Division
1. Toledo (7), 87
2. Northern Illinois (5), 83
3. Western Michigan (4), 79
4. Ball State, 42
5. Eastern Michigan, 34
6. Central Michigan (1), 32

In correspondence with other bloggers, I have been saying that this is the most optimistic that our fans have been in a number of years, and I really look forward to seeing Falcon football having a winning season, and if we can pick off OU in an upset, ending up at Ford Field.