The matchups for fall don't look very favorable, and a lot of games may be ugly. The few that I think are possible are:
EMU at Illinois
Ohio at Pitt
Indiana at Ball State
NIU at Vandy
Akron at Illinois
WMU at Michigan State

The MAC usually nabs about 3 wins against the P5. Last year the MAC got their usual three as Akron won at Northwestern, EMU won at Purdue, and Buffalo won at Rutgers. In 2017 the MAC managed four wins, when Ohio and CMU both won at Kansas, NIU won at Nebraska, and EMU won at Rutgers. 2019 may offset that, as there are no games against Kansas or Rutgers, who, between them, accounted for four of the seven wins over the P5 the last two years.

I'm thinking the MAC will be lucky to win 2 games against the P5 this year.

While we are at it, the MAC once in awhile manages to lose to an FCS team. If they can't beat many P5 teams this year, at least I hope they manage to win all their FCS games. The most risky of those look to be:
Kent St versus Kenn State (Kennesaw was very good last year)
NIU versus Illinois State (Illinois St is always good, and NIU has a new coach)
CMU versus Albany (Albany is good some years)

I would think that EMU, NI and Ohio would have the best chances, but would not be surprised if only one of them get the win.

The rest of the "P" schedule is:
Kent at Arizona State
Toledo at Kentucky
Fiami at Iowa
CMU at Wisconsin
BG at Kansas State
EMU at Kentucky
NIU at Utah
Buffalo at Penn State
NIU at Nebraska
Kent at Auburn
BSU at NC State
Fiami at O$U
WMU at Syracuse
CMU at MiamiF
Kent at Wisconsin
BG at Notre Dame


Buffalo at Penn State would've been a real possibility until Jackson jumped to the NFL and his WRs took off. I wouldn't be surprised if Toledo takes out Kentucky. The NIU-Utah game could also be close. Utah won 17-6 at Dekalb last year.

BTW, the 2017 Ohio win over Kansas was at Peden.

Kent faces Arizona State, Auburn and Wisc. That schedule is a recipe for disaster.

That Kent State OOC schedule was put together only for the purpose of money.






GO BOBCATS

Since their football team's founding, I knew Kennesaw State could be a FCS power with the right coach/program and it seems they are heading that direction. There is so much talent in northern Georgia alone that they could pull from out of high school, along with targeting local players who maybe go BCS and end up wanting to transfer closer to home etc.

I also think that Toledo could steal a win against Kentucky this fall. They are definitely one of the best in the MAC in stealing road wins against P5 teams and I think UK will have a bit of a dropoff/hangover from last year.

For what it's worth, I actually think Kent State could be competitive in the ASU match-up. They were close to upsetting Illinois last year, and quite honestly should have won that game. The game at Ole Miss was also very competitive. I like their QB and think they could be in for a pretty good year.

I agree that Kent will be significantly improved. If they don't get too demoralized by getting blown out, I could see them finishing as high as 3rd in the East. I think that with their schedule, finishing 4th is where they will likely end up. If they do get a win over Arizona State, they might give that back up by losing to Kennesaw State.


I'd consider both of those outside chances of wins. While you're at it, EMU at Kentucky is probably just as likely at Toledo at Kentucky, and is another game in that outside chance group. Other games that could be outside chances for wins include WMU at Syracuse, NIU at Nebraska, and BG at Kansas State.

The ones most likely be ugly:
BG at ND
Kent State at Auburn
CMU at Wisconsin
Miami(Ohio) at OSU
CMU at Miami
Buffalo at PSU
Kent State at Wisconsin