The MAC used to have divisions and most years recently the West was the tougher division with more bowl caliber teams. This they scraped the divisional format last year.
The MAC plays an 8-game schedule and unlike 3 of the Power 4 conference no team has an edge with extra home games or fewer away games.
The next category to look at is conference records from last year. The MAC has the same 12 teams they had last year plus they add in UMass. The records would normally equal but with the addition of UMass who took on 5 MAC foes last year (0-5) that adds an 0-40 record to the equal mix so there should be 40 more losses than wins and there is at 384-424.
In this category Eastern Michigan faces by far the toughest schedule in the MAC. They take on 5 of the top 6 teams and their opponents were 39-25 in MAC play last year which is 60.9% and the next closest is at just 52.5% (Ohio). You will notice 8 of the 13 teams take on foes that combine for less than 50% wins and that is because I am adding Umass’s 0-5 record vs the MAC last year. The easiest schedule percentage wise is Bowling Green at 24-37 39% with the next closest Central Michigan at 42.6%.
I have the chart color coded. Now, you may disagree with my ratings but I have all my preliminary numbers done as the portal is closed and almost all good players have signed that were out there. I have put the teams in three colors. The top level of teams are the powers. I list those teams in RED for you do not want to play them. That top level category in no particular order are Toledo, Miami Ohio, Ohio, Buffalo, Northern Illinois and Bowling Green.
The next level is in Blue and they are teams that look like bowl teams or bowl caliber teams for this year.
The bottom level is GREEN for teams that you want to draw. I did rate 3 teams down here who combined for just a 2-19 conference record last year and all 3 teams are going thru a coaching change and rank low on the Experience Chart.
Eastern Michigan plays FIVE top level teams and face just one of the easiest teams in the league and you can tell that by their opponents record. Ohio and Miami who faced off in the MAC title game last year both face 4 RED teams as does Ball St, UMass, Western, Kent St and Akron.
There are 5 teams that play just 3 of the power teams and the team with the best schedule is Northern Illinois as they face just 3 red team but also get 3 GREEN teams on the schedule while the other 4 in this category Toledo, Buffalo, Central Michigan and Bowling Green all face two GREEN teams.
Here is the chart and here is how I grade this year’s CONFERENCE schedules, keep in mind non-conference games are not included in this strength of schedule.
I know many of you order the magazine in advance so that you can be the FIRST in the country to receive one. The VIP’s have had access to the digital version of the magazine since June 9th and we mailed out all VIP’s their magazine on June 11th.
When you purchase the VIP deal you get the magazine before it hits the bookstores, you get the digital magazine for FREE, you get 4 weeks of my Inside the Pressbox newsletter for FREE, and you get my FCS magazine for FREE as well. That is over $200 worth of football info for just $39.95. That deal closed on May 30th as it is the only way to ensure all our VIP got taken care of on time.
The VIP digital bonus was even better than expected once again as all VIP members had access to the magazine three days after we sent it to the press and were reading it for close to a full week before it was even printed (3 weeks before it hit the newsstand). Also, we did not open access to the digital magazine to anyone but VIP members for a full week after that! All VIP members had a full week of EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the digital version!
I have opened a Second Chance VIP. There are a couple of minor differences in the Second Chance VIP. Naturally right now people that sign up for the digital or buy a magazine through us online all get immediate access to the digital version so you will not have the EXCLUSIVE access that the VIP’s had but you will have immediate access to the digital magazine.
The pre-May 30th VIP’s signed up well in advance (some in December) so they got that $39.95 price. Your price is still a great one and just a little more at $45 but you get over $200 worth of stuff included! The early bird does get the worm.
The VIP DEAL gets you FOUR free issues of my Inside the Pressbox Newsletter which sells for $20 per issue. The newsletter gives you my personal analysis of every game for the weekend and supplies you with my computer’s forecast for each game projecting each team’s rush yards, pass yards and points. Your second chance comes with 4 Free College Issues (Week 0, 1, 2, 3) plus one bonus NFL week the exact same that the pre-May 30th VIP’s receive.
The VIP DEAL also will get you my 2025 Phil Steele FCS magazine (digital only) FREE and this is a $25 value! This year there are 126 games between FCS and FBS teams and you can become an instant expert on all 128 FCS teams getting the magazine in much the same format as the FBS magazine. You get two FULL pages on EVERY FCS team! Keep in mind most states have legalized gambling, and they post numbers on FCS vs FCS games, and you will have remarkable line value on these games being an expert while the majority of folks know very little about the FCS teams.
To get my second chance VIP Click here.
Last year I added a SUPER VIP deal. The price is just $25 more or basically the cost of one magazine mailed to you. In the SUPER VIP you get TWO magazines and also access to Phil Steele Plus ($99) for a FULL year thru the Super Bowl! If you are thinking of subscribing to Phil Steele Plus again for 2025, just get the SUPER VIP deal and save $30 plus get two magazines and all the other bonuses. To get the SUPER VIP membership CLICK HERE.
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