MAC Blogger Roundtable, My Answers....

1. With three weekends remaining in the regular season, two MAC coaches are already gone. Does anyone else get fired, and if so who? Do any coaches get hired away, and if so who?

Well, I guess the last coach on the hot seat is Dan Enos.  I don't see UMass doing anything and WMU is kinda stuck in the boat for a little while.  My guess is that Enos stays, but it is probably 50/50.

As for voluntary departures, there are the usual host of suspects:  Rod Carey, Matt Campbell, Pete Lembo and Dave Clawson.  It would not surprise me if all 4 coaches move on this year and it would shock me if 3 of them return to the MAC next year.

2. This year it seems that the conference has a top and a bottom but no middle; six teams have six or more wins already, while the other seven teams have three or fewer wins. Those bottom seven teams collectively have just a single win over the top six teams (Central Michigan over Ohio). Why is the divide so sharp this year?

That's certainly the key question.  As with everything, you have a few factors coming together. Mostly though, my thinking is that when teams have fallen, they aren't having sub-par years they are falling through the floor.  I don't know if that's because of better teams at the top or some other issue, but that's what it seems to be. UMass and EMU are endemically weak.  Akron has struggled for a number of years as well.  But Miami and WMU are both typically competitive, and when they have fallen it has been very far...worse than 2-10 BG in 2010.  Kent?  Wha happen?

3. Six MAC teams are already bowl-eligible, and a seventh has a fair shot (Central Michigan, with games remaining against Western Michigan, Massachusetts, and EMU). Make some bold bowl predictions!

OK...first, I don't think NIU passes Fresno.  How's that for bold?

More.  No MAC team will face an AQ team in a bowl.  The MAC will play at least 3 Sun Belt teams.  At least one team will be disappointed by not getting an invite and will have reasonable grounds based on previous years.