DETROIT — The Toledo Rockets are the preseason pick to win the Mid-American Conference according to the league media. The announcement Tuesday morning at MAC Media Day in Detroit.
The Bowling Green Falcons were picked to finished last in the MAC East.
Toledo is coming off a 4-2 season in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. They bring back almost everyone from their two-deep and also added some key pieces in the transfer portal.
The major question mark for the Rockets is quarterback play. Carter Bradley seems to be the guy who is the front-runner for the starting job after Eli Peters was medically disqualified from returning.
Bowling Green has struggled to gain traction since Scot Loeffler took over. He is moving into year three as head coach of the Falcons and they will be a very young team once again. BG went 0-5 last year and were outscored 225-57.
Here's the official preseason poll from the MAC media:
2021 MAC Football East Division Predictions:
1. Kent State
2. Ohio
3. Miami
4. Buffalo
5. Akron
6. Bowling Green
2021 MAC Football West Division Predictions:
1. Ball State
2. Toledo
3. Western Michigan
4. Central Michigan
5. Eastern Michigan
6. Northern Illinois
Here’s how WTOL Sports Director Jordan Strack voted in his preseason poll:
2021 MAC Football East Division Predictions
1. Kent State
2. Ohio
3. Buffalo
4. Miami
5. Akron
6. Bowling Green
2021 MAC Football West Division Predictions
1. Toledo
2. Ball State
3. Western Michigan
4. Eastern Michigan
5. Central Michigan
6. Northern Illinois
Champion: Toledo
Why I picked the Rockets to win the MAC:
If not this year, when? Toledo brings back a loaded roster. Jason Candle has brought in the top recruiting class in the MAC five straight years. Everyone is back from a really solid team -they lost a fluke game at WMU & a really close game against Ball State- plus they added transfers from Penn State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Nebraska. Maybe the most important part is that they can rely on their defense. How often have we said that over the last couple of decades? Am I crazy to think the defense will be the strong suit of this team? They made incredible strides last year. They’ve got a future NFL Safety in Tycen Anderson (St. John’s HS alum). This team has all of the ingredients. Clearly, there is buy-in & the guys want to be here. Guys like Anderson, Bryce Harris, and others could have taken their chances in the NFL draft last year, but they chose to be at Toledo. They wanted to go out the right way. That’s enough for me. I believe Carter Bradley will continue what he started last year & take full control of the offense. I think Bryant Koback (Springfield HS alum) will be the MAC offensive player of the year. I think this is the year the Rockets handle all of the expectations and win a league title.
