MAC Football Pod

EPISODE 50

Tonight's the national championship game for football, which means this is effectively the last episode of the 2021 season. This is our (Alex, Kaleb) time to say whatever else we feel that needs to be said about the 2021 season (MACtion, otherwise) before our brains turn into total offseason mode.

What was the MACtion moment of the year? What was disappointing? Who was snubbed of the MAC Freshman of the Year award?

And there are a million dollars on the table for Caleb Williams to transfer from Oklahoma to play QB for Eastern Michigan. This probably isn't the kind of game Chris Creighton wants to be played off the field, but these days you're going to have to put up with NIL business than one might want to deal with if they want to have a career in the college coaching profession.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 49

Happy New Year!

The College GameDay panel is getting really old these days, as evidenced by its cranky armchair discussion on how bowl games don't matter anymore. It's a lazy move, but an effective one for ESPN. Finding stories that would actually impress us requires time, energy, and resources. Saying things that would cause an emotional, national discussion is cheaper and easier, which sucks because nobody needs this. 

Update on Jay Ducker: He previously told that he had trust issues with NIU, which caused him to transfer. He explained that in another report: the trust was lost in how the coaching staff talked about his 2021 playing time and previous depth chart status. 

Justin Hall forever.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 48

It's the holiday season, which means it's time for the college football calendar to get busy with some off-field news. Teams involved in bowl games are still focused on those, and the early signing period's passed on through as well. 

The MAC is 0-3 so far in its bowl games and there are still five more to go. Of the three, the NIU-Coastal Carolina game in the Cure Bowl was easily the best one, but it ended on some egregious officiating errors that took away NIU's last-second opportunity to get a final play off, which could've decided the game's final score. Not only that, but if NIU would've pulled off the win over Coastal, this country's looking at NIU and the MAC with *just a little bit* more much-needed positivity.

Here's the tweet we referenced: https://twitter.com/currenrr/status/690978077757816832

Also, MAC teams got to celebrate early signing period last week with varying class sizes across the league. How much are teams still trying to load up on high school kids signing their names in December? and how much are teams leaning into the transfer portal? What about the JUCO recruits?

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 47

Northern Illinois did it! NIU beat Kent State 41-23 in the 2021 MAC Championship in Detroit on Saturday, so let's talk about what that means for a little bit. For starters, it means NIU's rostering one of the most historic teams in college football — and that's not hyperbole. 

Akron got serious with its head-coaching hire of Joe Moorhead. We're not guaranteeing success in the standings right now, but the level of the program *is* instantly elevated with a guy like him leading the program that's desperate for a turnaround. 

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 46

It's our favorite time of year! The MAC Championship game! Northern Illinois vs. Kent State will be the rematch game in Ford Field (KSU won the regular-season matchup) and there's no reason to believe that Saturday's contest won't be simply amazing. It's a noon kick, so plan accordingly.

Other topics Alex and Kaleb discuss: Akron's head coaching vacancy had a name rumored to fill it and it's stupid; please don't hire Kevin Wilson. Toledo's going to the Bahamas Bowl, the first bowl game announced this cycle. And, generally, this has been one hell of a year for college football. Cheers to that, and cheers to one of the best years of MACtion. 

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 45

It turns out Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee will not be joining the Mid-American Conference, which is not what we were led to believe would happen this time last week. Why didn't things work out? Will it be a good or bad thing that they didn't join the MAC?

Alex & Kaleb talk about that, and also touch on some recent MAC football musings, along with Thomas Hammock's (very well deserved) contract extension with NIU, and why Lew Nichols is this podcast's favorite to win the MAC's MVP award. 

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 44

Alex & Kaleb get together to talk about a lot of things that have come up since the last time we talked to each other. The imminent news of Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee to the MAC will be coming any minute now, and that's going to take some getting used to. Who really benefits from this?

None of it will help the MAC's standing in the College Football Playoff. Just look at Cincinnati.

We also go over some midweek MACtion moments. Safe to say 2021's weeknight games are already living up to the hype.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 43

In the last episode, I (Alex) said that I probably wasn't going to watch a single moment of Bowling Green at Buffalo. That was a total lie.

The Falcons won their first MAC game since 2019 by putting up a HUGE offensive performance against the Bulls, a team that entered the game as 13.5-point favorites. 

Scot Loeffler, BGSU's head coach, was ejected for having two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against him. His team, which he calls the offensive plays for, instantly clicked and put up 28 points over six drives, which is more points than BG has scored in any game over the last couple of years. 

Also, I heard you liked chaos scenarios? So I drew up a couple ways for Buffalo and BGSU to still make it to the MAC Championship game this year. And before you rhetorically ask: yes, BGSU can still make it. And yes, BGSU fans will have to stress out over Akron in the process.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 42

There's only one MAC game going on this weekend — BGSU at Buffalo — because it's that time of year where we switch gears into midweek MACtion games being played. 

The MAC East is sort of garbage and straight-forward (lotsa bad teams; only a couple OK ones), but the West is really a beaut. It's also an excellent canvas for chaos.

Chaos situation that's still 100% able to happen: NIU goes 1-3 over its final four games while the other five MAC West teams goes 3-1. If dominos fall in certain directions, this is still a realistic finish for the year. At which point, what's the MAC's explanation for sending any one of these teams to Detroit?

RPO offenses are, uh, well Alex hates them but Kaleb uses them at the high school he coaches at. Shouts out to the football teams in the MAC finding success in 2021 without selling out to the RPO wave.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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

EPISODE 41

Northern Illinois beat Central Michigan 39-38 on the road on Saturday, and now the Huskies of all teams have complete control of the MAC West race with a 4-0 conference record. Even more: NIU's the first bowl-eligible team in the MAC at 6-2.

NIU fought back from an 18-point deficit to take the lead (twice!) in the fourth quarter and banked on a kicker that you probably hadn't heard of until he stepped on the field for his first of three field goals. CMU was a mishandled snap on a late field goal attempt away from coming away with the win, but in a sport cluttered with coulda-shoulda-wouldas, Thomas Hammock and NIU are finishing things with wins. And nothing matters more than winning. 

In this episode, Alex does a quick recap of Saturday's game.

Twitters: @ARAlvarado13, @Kaleb_M_Carter

LINKS

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