The word of the week in our MAC Football Power Rankings was "tie". Six of the 13 teams are in a tie with one another in the middle of the table, showing there's still a lot to play for as we enter the halfway point of the season: www.bythebelt.com/mac-football...

2026 MAC Football Power Rankings: Week 5

A surprising amount of ties dot the rankings this week!

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The Central Michigan Chippewas and Ohio Bobcats both stand at 3-2 overall and 1-0 in MAC play. Now the two dark-horse title candidates square off against one another in Athens, hoping to keep pace atop the league standings: www.bythebelt.com/central-mich...

2026 MAC Football Week 6 Game Preview: Central Michigan Chippewas at Ohio Bobcats

Familiar fall scenes play out as the race for a MAC title bid heats up.

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Two teams with a win apiece are set to face off this Saturday, as the Sacramento State Hornets travel cross-country after a BYE week to play the Bowling Green Falcons for a game scheduled for a noon Eastern/9 a.m. Pacific kickoff: www.bythebelt.com/sacramento-s...

2026 MAC Football Week 6 Game Preview: Sacramento State Hornets at Bowling Green Falcons

The Hornets come out of the bye looking to fix their slow starts against a Falcons team fresh off its first win of the season.

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It's popular enough that it got Eastern Michigan, one of the most resource-strapped schools in the FBS, to add it as a sport (in part because it's such a low-cost add) for this coming spring.

Amanda Mull@amandamull.bsky.social · 3d ago

In July, I went to the NFL Flag Championships in Indiana to see the enormous boom in youth flag football in person. Turns out, girls love ball. My story leads off @bloomberg.com Businessweek’s November issue on women’s sports. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Both the Miami RedHawks and UMass Minutemen are coming off shocking losses in last week's games. Now they look to get right against one another-- with the loser potentially out of the MAC title chase in early October: www.bythebelt.com/umass-minute...

2026 MAC Football Week 6 Game Preview: UMass Minutemen vs. Miami RedHawks

The RedHawks and Minutemen both come off shocking losses and need a win to stay in the MAC title chase.

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The Toledo Rockets have won four-straight games in 2026 and their last nine in the friendly confines of the Glass Bowl. Their next challenger is Buffalo, which proved it can compete with the MAC's elite, falling one yard short of beating Western Michigan last week: www.bythebelt.com/2026-mac-foo...

2026 MAC Football Week 6 Game Preview: Buffalo Bulls at Toledo Rockets

Toledo eyes a fifth-straight victory. Buffalo still seeks its first FBS win of 2026.

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The Western Michigan Broncos carry a 10-1 record in their last 11 MAC games coming into their contest against the Kent State Golden Flashes. The winner of this game will get to keep a 2-0 conference record, making it a vital get for both sides this weekend: www.bythebelt.com/2026-mac-foo...

2026 MAC Football Week 6 Game Preview: Kent State Golden Flashes at Western Michigan Broncos

Either the Flashes or Broncos collect their second MAC win Saturday in Kalamazoo.

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Elijah Holmes, UB's Week 1 starter at QB, is officially out for the season with a knee injury suffered earlier in the season, per The Buffalo News. Jason Wright will be the expected starter for the rest of the 2026 campaign: www.bythebelt.com/buffalo-bull...

Buffalo QB Elijah Holmes to undergo season-ending knee surgery

Holmes, a Division II transfer who won the starting QB role at UB, has been out since the FIU game in Week 2.

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ICMI: Week 5 was chaos week in the MAC! Our thoughts and takeaways from a wild week which featured Bowling Green’s first win, UMass’ first loss and some other unexpected performances: www.bythebelt.com/monday-mac-m...

Monday MAC Musings: 2026 Week 5

Week 5 proved we know nothing about the MAC, and this conference is still a random number generator.

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The difference between Buffalo and Western Michigan was one yard-- and that difference was made by Josh Franklin and Scoop Gardner Jr., who stuffed the Bulls at the goal line to extend WMU's MAC winning streak over the weekend: www.bythebelt.com/decided-by-a...

Decided by a yard: Western Michigan stuffs Buffalo for 20-17 escape

Scoop Gardner Jr. and Josh Franklin team up for a clutch stop to continue Western Michigan's MAC winning streak.

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Bowling Green is on the board with a win-- and a road upset at that. The Falcons used three sacks from Eriq George, a career day from Jay Kastantin, and a fullback dive from Leo Kemp to stun Miami (OH), 24-20, in a crunch time finish on Saturday: www.bythebelt.com/bowling-gree...

Bowling Green stuns Miami (OH) 24-20 on late TD, collects first win of 2026

Leo Kemp's fullback dive snaps the Falcons' losing streak in a massive road upset.

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It was a party in Amherst on Saturday afternoon, with a sold-out crowd eager to cheer on the home team. But Eastern Michigan would prove to be a spoiler, dominating UMass wire-to-wire in a vital victory for EMU's MAC ambitions: www.bythebelt.com/eastern-mich...

Eastern Michigan humbles UMass in 38-14 victory

The Eagles snatch their second MAC win in front of a sold-out crowd in Amherst, Mass.

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The Ohio Bobcats pulled out a tough road win over the Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday, taking advantage of two KSU special teams gaffes to win on the margins: www.bythebelt.com/kent-state-g...

Kent State's special teams miscues allows Ohio to slip by with 13-10 road win

'Cats claim gritty road win over a determined Golden Flashes squad.

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Toledo had something to prove on Saturday, needing to win on the road to show they're a legitimate title contender after three-straight home wins. They did so against Ball State on Saturday, taking an unconventional 39-24 victory at Scheumann Stadium: www.bythebelt.com/toledo-rocke...

Toledo kicks into high gear in 39-24 road win over Ball State

The Rockets' first-half woes were erased quickly by game's end.

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CMU and Akron fought in bitter, ugly fashion over the first 17 minutes of game action. But after getting punched in the gut first, Central would go on a 28-point unanswered run in the middle quarters to put the Zips away by a final score of 41-17: www.bythebelt.com/central-mich...

Chippewas trounce Zips 41-17 on Homecoming Day

Flores (154 rushing yards, two total TDs) paces a furious CMU offense in electric victory.

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Your final scores on the day: * WMU 20, Buffalo 17 * Toledo 39, Ball State 24 * Central Michigan 41, Akron 17 * Bowling Green 24, Miami 20 * Ohio 13, Kent State 10 * Eastern Michigan 38, UMass 14

Score updates as all our games reach the fourth quarter: * Ohio 13, Kent State 10 (10:19 4Q) * Eastern Michigan 35, UMass 7 (12:17 4Q) * Bowling Green 17, Miami 17 (4:21 4Q) * Central Michigan 35, Akron 10 (7:25 4Q)

Looking to join the conversation about the 3:30 MAC games? We've got you covered right here, with game updates and a comments section: www.bythebelt.com/2026-mac-foo...

2026 MAC Football Week 5 Late Gameday Feed and Analysis

Four games? At the same kickoff time?? In this time of year???

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Updating your MAC scores here: * Toledo 22, Ball State 10 (2:46 3Q) * Western Michigan 20, Buffalo 17 (FINAL) * Ohio 3, Kent State 3 (7:22 2Q) * Akron 7, Central Michigan 7 (9:44 2Q) * BGSU 7, Miami 3 (6:47 2Q) * EMU 7, UMass 0 (7:38 2Q)

SAF Eli Thompson, LB Charlie Christopher and OL CJ Dawson II amongst those listed OUT for Ohio. QB Nick Poulos officially QUESTIONABLE after missing the last few games. LB Sayed Abuhamdeh QUESTIONABLE for Kent State.

Both SAF Preston EstoEsta and EDGE Myles Bradley are QUESTIONABLE for Bowling Green. QB David McComb officially listed as OUT-- but notably not included in the "out for season" portion of Miami's report. TE Christian Ross is also OUT. DL Marcus Moore is questionable.

Toledo EDGE Andrew Zock is injured after a three-yard run by Ball State, and there is attention being paid to his left arm/shoulder area. He's on the sidelines for now

Your current MAC scores: * Buffalo 14, Western Michigan 7 (5:28 2Q) * Toledo 0, Ball State 0 (set to kick off momentarily)

Notables on the availability report for Toledo/Ball State: Toledo: * Starting OLs Luke Rector and Jonathan Harder are OUT. Ball State: * Starting WR Isaiah Thatcher is OUT. * QB Keldrick Luster, HB Jalen Bonds and LB Lucas Szymborski are QUESTIONABLE. * HB Ty Horton unlisted.

Western Michigan/Buffalo is set to kick off in a few minutes, while Toledo/Ball State is set to get started at 2 p.m. ET! Join us for all the action in our gameday thread: www.bythebelt.com/2026-mac-foo...

2026 MAC Football Week 5 Early Gameday Feed and Analysis

Two MAC games grace us in the early window to kick off the MAC season.

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OH NO

Availability reports are out for the Western Michigan/Buffalo contest. WMU: * SAF Micah Davis OUT * WR Aveion Chenault QUESTIONABLE Buffalo: * WR Jasiah Gathings, QB Elijah Holmes, HB Terrance Shelton Jr. all OUT

There's a new #1 in our MAC Football Power Rankings this week after a revelatory week of games-- though it wasn't unanimous who that team might be: www.bythebelt.com/mac-football...

2026 MAC Football Power Rankings: Week 4

There's a new #1 on top of the charts for the first time this season!

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The Toledo Rockets get ready for their first MAC game of the season, with a road contest against the Ball State Cardinals-- who are already down a game in the league table after a loss last week-- this Saturday: www.bythebelt.com/ball-state-c...

2026 MAC Football Week 5 Game Preview: Ball State Cardinals vs. Toledo Rockets

Toledo starts their MAC campaign on the road against a wounded Cardinals squad.

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Western Michigan and Buffalo gave us a 71-68 seven-overtime thriller nine years ago. So what's in store this Saturday, when the teams enter with identical 2-2 records, albeit completely different pathways to get there? www.bythebelt.com/2026-mac-foo...

2026 MAC Football Week 5 Game Preview: Western Michigan Broncos at Buffalo Bulls

Western Michigan and Buffalo once gave us a 7OT classic. What's in store for this MAC opener?

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