• College football offseason preview: MAC West. Bill Connelly rounds out his MACtion preview with a look at the West Division, home to Jim McElwain and the Central Michigan Chippewas.
• Mar 13, 2020  The success of Big Mac Football is a direct result of the involvement of its community, alumni and friends. Gifts of all types and sizes help to make the CM Football experience possible for all students to compete at the highest level of football in western PA.

1. Football Games Tonight Nfl

Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois quarterback Ryan Graham (17) watches the football sail over his head on a bad snap during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Toledo on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, in Toledo, Ohio.

The Canon-McMillan varsity football team has an away conference game @ North Allegheny (Wexford, PA) on Friday, September 13 @ 7:30p.

(David Richard | AP)

KALAMAZOO, MI -- What a week this is going to be in the MAC.

All four mid-week games carry big implications and could help sort some things out in the highly-contested race in the west division or things could become even more complicated.

Last week, I went 5-1 with my picks to improve to 67-18 on the season. My incorrect pick was the Northern Illinois at Toledo game. I thought the Rockets would win, but a banged-up bunch of Huskies rallied for the win.

Here are a few thoughts from last week:

Toledo's loss made the west division race very interesting. The Rockets, Huskies and Central Michigan are tied in second place with 4-1 conference records. WMU is the lone unbeaten in the division at 5-0, but the Broncos have Bowling Green, NIU and Toledo to finish the season. Tonight's Toledo at CMU game is huge for the division race.

Bowling Green is the king of the east division, but Buffalo is making a strong bid to be the second-best team. The Bulls host NIU tonight in a game that could affect the west division race.

Miami had a nice showing last week with a win over Eastern Michigan. The RedHawks have a ways to go, but I think they will get there sooner than EMU. The Eagles and UMass meet this week in the race to avoid a winless MAC season.

Here are my picks for this week's six games:

Kent State at Ohio (-7), 8 p.m. tonight, ESPNU
DD's pick: Ohio 24, Kent State 13

No. 24 Toledo (-4) at Central Michigan, 8 p.m. tonight, ESPN2
DD's pick: Toledo 28, Central Michigan 27

Northern Illinois (-6) at Buffalo, 8 p.m. Wednesday, ESPNU
DD's pick: Buffalo 31, NIU 27

Football Games Tonight Nfl

Bowling Green (-3) at Western Michigan, 8 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN2
DD's pick: BGSU 45, WMU 41

Akron (-7) at Miami, noon Saturday, ESPN3
DD's pick: Akron 24, Miami 17

UMass (-7) at Eastern Michigan, 3 p.m. Saturday, ESPN3
DD's pick: UMass 38, EMU 31

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