How about a little #MACtion?

When you aren’t one of the bigger conferences in college football, you have to switch things around and buck a couple of trends. In the instance of the Mid-American Conference, you need to hype up your teams and personnel as distinct and more popular, and move your biggest matchups to a different night, preferably one with nothing else going on.

The MAC has done this and done it very well. MAC heads have thrown out the possibilities of hyping up defenses and decided to focus on scoring points and playing on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

So you might be asking, “How do I get into this MAC action?”

Well to answer your question, tune in this week for some top notch #MACtion on ESPN2.

Tuesday night features a Buffalo team that is leading the Eastern Division and has won its last seven games since losing to Ohio State and Baylor in its first two games. The Bulls are looking for their first eight-game winning streak in the same season for the first time in school history, playing against Toledo, who is sitting third in the West Division behind two juggernauts.

Buffalo features a top running back in Branden Oliver, who has 1,123 rushing yards this season, and a supremely talented linebacker in Khalil Mack, who’s 59 tackles show a knack for finding the football and demolishing whoever is carrying it. Buffalo is a more than average football team and well equipped to beat the Rockets on the road. Bulls win.

If you happen to be busy Tuesday night, then check out Wednesday for the prime matchup of Ball State and Northern Illinois, for the lead in the MAC West Division. Ball State has one loss on the season, falling to North Texas, but the Cardinals are playing much better as of late, scoring more than 40 points in three of their last five games. NIU is the best team in the MAC and has been for the last three years, winning 22 consecutive conference games. The Huskies are led by ultra-elusive Jordan Lynch at quarterback, who has 3,021 total yards and 31 total touchdowns. Ball State has won its last 11 conference games since a loss to the Huskies last season, 35-23, giving up 207 rushing yards and three touchdowns to the aforementioned Lynch. I expect NIU to win, but Ball State should make this interesting and fun, expect nothing less from #MACtion.

There is another game in the MAC going on Wednesday, but it features winless Miami (Ohio) against Kent State, who has two wins this season. Instead of discussing this matchup, I think I should point out that I believe Miami is the worst team in college football this season. The RedHawks are averaging 10 points per game (yes you read that correctly), 135.4 passing yards per game, and 92.7 rushing yards per game. Ranking last in scoring doesn’t help, but here are some other teams that are a cut above, but not too far above.

Coming in a close second on this not-so-fortunate list is Southern Mississippi, who has lost its last 21 games since beating Nevada in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in 2011 and beating Houston in the Conference USA Championship game the same year. The Golden Eagles are averaging an abysmal 12.8 points per game, but that’s still 2.8 over Miami (Ohio). Don’t sleep on your success yet Southern Miss, you still have three games left to catch up.

Florida International has one win this season and that should attest for the fact that they come in third on my list. Averaging just 10.1 points per game isn’t super, but the Golden Panthers have the key win they need to fall to third on this list. FIU beat Southern Miss in the “Pillow Fight” on Oct. 5, 24-23.

California gets a little bump because they play much tougher competition than the MAC and Conference USA teams on this list. But the Golden Bears are 1-9 this season, under first-year head coach Sonny Dykes. Cal is averaging 344.8 passing yards per game, but is giving up 44.7 points per game, ranking 124^th in the nation. The good news is that Cal has a matchup with Colorado this weekend, but a matchup with Stanford looming on Nov. 23.

Seems like the golden years are behind us as three of the bottom four teams are labeled with the “Golden” nickname. Better luck next year teams.

So take my advice and tune in on Tuesday and Wednesday night for some #MACtion. The play style is infectious, and who doesn’t like to watch small crowds cheer on small schools in small venues. At least it’s football early in the week, right?

--The Wing Expert.