MAC Football Pod

EPISODE 59

Let's preview the season by rolling a 20-sided die.

Alex and Justin will tell you exactly what you should expect to happen this college football season.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Alex's newsletter, The Ypsilanti Eleven: https://ypsilantieleven.substack.com/

EPISODE 59

Let's preview the season by rolling a 20-sided die.

Alex and Justin will tell you exactly what you should expect to happen this college football season.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Alex's newsletter, The Ypsilanti Eleven: https://ypsilantieleven.substack.com/

EPISODE 58

So many topics to pull from in so little time. Looks like the Internet's Wheel of Fate will decide today's schedule.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736 

EPISODE 57

First time in a long time! After a long summer break, Alex and Kaleb (no Justin this time) get together to catch up on some months spent apart, and get into 2022 MACtion preview mode.

Before we hit record, we picked the winners of each game in MAC play to come up with our #definitive MAC East and MAC West division winners for the year. 

Here's what we came up with (note: you legally can't sue us for this either):

(Another note from Alex: My picks in my newsletter might look *a little* different than this after an edit or two, but it's mostly the same)

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736 

EPISODE 56

The NFL Draft has come and gone, which means its finally time to talk about what happened rather than spinning the wheel on what we think could happen. 

Six MAC players were taken in the draft, none later than round five. 

Many more were signed as undrafted free agents, and some notable players are left with tryouts. What surprised us? What didn't? Why wasn't Justin Hall selected even though he had a tremendous career? Which of the undrafted MAC guys do we think will have the longest career in the NFL?

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736 

EPISODE 55

BEEN A WHILE; HAD TO MAKE SURE WE AT LEAST CAME BACK WITH A NEW LOGO FOR YA.

Yes, oh yes, the news on the street is true. You can empty your brain of all the other garbage NFL mock drafts you've heard or read this year and make room for the only mock draft that's any good. That's right, we're talking about the MAC-Only Mock Draft is finally here. 

First-round only, 32 picks, and only a Big Board of MAC guys to pull from. 

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736 

EPISODE 54

Officially no football until… well, for a while at least. Still, some updates around the sport are worth mentioning: both close to home and abroad.

The MAC realized it had a scheduling issue, and it made some (widely unnoticed, we assume) amendments as to when conference matchups will be played, and start playing all other schools around the league more than once a decade. Of the bulleted changes, here’s a specific that you’ll absolutely love. Over eight years, MAC teams must play all other MAC schools at least three times. This should help avoid another decade-plus stretch of no Toledo vs. Miami matchups.

Toledo finally found its new athletic director too. His name is Bryan Blair, a 37-year-old who was most recently over at Washington State, and has spent time working at the NCAA headquarters. 

And, of course, the 4-team playoff is not expanding to 12 before 2026. No news was always the news, and conference realignment still only happened because Texas and Oklahoma wanted to be in the SEC — that’s it.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736 

EPISODE 53

Happy belated signing day! Our favorite signees: Charlie Batch’s nephew, a walk-on lineman at Ohio, and the kid who didn’t go to LSU after that one cringe-worthy video with Brian Kelly (you know which one). 

Who’s the most interesting team in the FCS right now? You guessed it: it’s the Campbell Fighting Camels. Last year, Campbell’s recruiting class ranked 200th nationally. This year, it’s 85th. This is a school that only started giving out scholarships five years ago. (Meanwhile, Cincinnati just went to the Playoff and… isn’t getting blue-chip players like one could’ve assumed.)

With Dominique Robinson getting more love as Maxx Crosby wins the Pro Bowl Defensive MVP, who’s a player we already really like but could still surprise us with a Pro Bowl-like future?

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736 

EPISODE 52

New friend on the show! MAC Football Pod is now a 3-person panel with the addition of old friend Justin Coffin. Coffin, like Alex and Kaleb, is from the old Hustle Belt blogging tree. You might also recognize Coffin from the Tuesday Night Lights podcast and/or his Free on Saturday blog. 

QB Ben Roethlisberger retired from Pittsburgh after spending 18 years in the NFL. Roethlisberger was a 1st round draft pick by the Steelers (7th overall) out of Miami-OH in 2004, and has been a record-setting player in the league ever since. That’s all the nice things we have to say about him though.

Two bits of coaching news to catch up on: Jason Candle stays at Toledo as head coach, not taking the offensive coordinating job down in Miami (the Florida one). We don’t need to trivialize why he isn’t leaving his current post, but what makes Candle qualified to still move up in the coaching ranks? Speaking of not leaving: Tim Lester’s contract was extended, which means WMU will never, ever, ever rise above 8-4 or fall below 6-6 records. 

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter, and @NIFFOCNITSUJ.

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736 

EPISODE 51

Since it's the beginning of the new college football year, it's time to take the first of many snapshots in time to see where the Mid-American Conference teams are at as they enter the spring season, and all meanwhile finish up their recruiting classes. 

We've got MAC teams grouped by tiers, and here are the few things we keep in mind along the way:

• Which teams have made recent coaching changes?

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mac-football-pod/id1554654736