College football betting odds suggest the race for the MAC Championship might be a little tight this fall.
Entering last season, there were five teams with odds of +650 or shorter to win the league title. Those squads were Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Western Michigan, Bowling Green, and Northern Illinois. Ohio won the title and was 13/1 in August.
This year, there are four teams with odds of +600 or shorter to win the MAC. Toledo is the favorite at +225 followed by Ohio (+325), Buffalo (+450), and Miami (Ohio) at 6/1. Bowling Green is next at +1100 while NIU and WMU are both +1400.
Can a longshot win the MAC for the second year in a row? Or will one of the favorites come away with the title?
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Can Northern Illinois Win The MAC?
It’s hard not to look at Toledo and Ohio’s schedules and believe that they wouldn’t meet in the MAC Championship for the second time in four years. They both have a favorable away slate, and I imagine they will handle business at home.
While the Rockets visit Miami (Ohio) in Week 12, the Bobcats will play at Buffalo in the second-to-last game of the season. These look like they’ll be the toughest conference games of the season for both programs, and I don’t expect them to struggle much with the rest of their league games.
Buffalo has become one of the most talked about Group of Five teams ahead of the 2025 season, and rightfully so. They return a solid core group, and Pete Lembo has the program on the right path in his second year as head coach. However, I think the Bulls have a rough four games to close out the season with trips to BGSU and Central Michigan followed by home games against Miami and Ohio.
While Chuck Martin and Miami have been a team that one can feel comfortable backing over the past few seasons, the RedHawks have what may be the toughest three-game stretch in the conference. In Weeks 11-13, they’ll visit Ohio, host Toledo, and visit Buffalo.
If they find a way to win two of those games, they could very well find themselves in contention for a MAC title. However, I don’t think +600 is great value for Miami, especially because the RedHawks have to travel to NIU as well.
At 14/1 odds to win the MAC, I think Northern Illinois stands out.
The Huskies do have to play Miami, Ohio, and Toledo — with the games against the Bobcats and the Rockets coming on the road — but I think they’ll be able to win the rest of their league games.
Assuming the Huskies are the underdogs in those three games listed above, if they’re able to pull the upset in one of them, then there’s potential there for them to squeak into a MAC Championship with two conference losses.
NIU head coach Thomas Hammock already guided the Huskies to a MAC crown when they defeated Kent State in the 2021 title game. They lost two league games that season. In 2022, Toledo won the MAC after going 5-3 in conference play.
This NIU squad obviously looks different than the 2021 team, and it would take a lot to happen for NIU to win the MAC in 2025, but stranger things have happened.
I still think one of the top three favorites will come away with the title, but that doesn’t mean NIU, or even a few other longshots, aren’t worth a look.
