The Mid-American Conference won 4 out of 12 games during the opening weekend of college football and almost pulled off big wins against Power 5 squads like USC, Minnesota, and Illinois.
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This week the conference has a legit chance to go undefeated.
Does that sound crazy? Not when you take a look at a schedule that features five home games against FCS squads and the majority of the rest are against FBS teams that really struggled a year ago.
Here are six reasons I think the MAC can go undefeated this weekend.
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3 Games Against Big Ten Teams That Struggled in 2016
The Bobcats travel to West Lafayette on Friday night in the first of three MAC versus Big Ten games. Interestingly, the biggest point spread of all three belongs to Michigan State at just -7.5.
Nearly half of the defense returns for Ohio to face a Purdue squad that was nearly dead last in the nation a season ago running the football. The Bobcats have every reason to believe it can slug out a low-scoring affair and leave Ross-Ade Stadium with a win.
Western Michigan at Michigan State
Broncos running back LeVante Bellamy shredded USC's defense a week ago for 102 yards on just 9 carries. WMU was tied with only 7:54 to go with the Trojans, and Saturday is their chance to finish what it almost started last week in knocking off a Power 5 team.
EMU's defense was strong last week in an opening win over Charlotte and has no reason to be intimidated by a Rutgers team that scored a paltry 15.7 points per game in 2016 and just 14 in its opener.
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Army Defense Can't Hang With Buffalo's Tyree Jackson
Buffalo's Jackson is the X-factor in Saturday's game against Army. Expect to watch him pick apart the Black Knights defense in the secondary and run with the ball when the situation presents itself.
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Ball State Faces a Team Playing Only Its Second Game in Two Years
While it was great to see UAB back on the field last week after a two-year hiatus, Ball State should take advantage of the inexperienced Blazers – especially after almost taking Illinois to overtime in Champaign last week.
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Kansas Hasn't Won Two Games in a Row Since 2011
You read that correctly.
You have to go all the way back to 2011 to find the last time Kansas strung two wins in a row together. They won last week despite turning the ball over three times to an FCS team, which is why Central Michigan has every chance to upend KU in Lawrence.
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Toledo's High-Powered Offense Should Break Nevada's Defense
Nevada is rebuilding after going 5-7 last year.
Toledo senior QB Logan Woodside led the entire FBS in touchdown passes a season ago with 45.
This one could get ugly.
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5 Games Against FCS Foes
Finally, let's look at five games these MAC schools should win, although we certainly were reminded last week that nothing is automatic when FBS teams face FCS foes. Isn't that right Liberty and Howard?
Here are the five FCS teams that MAC squads will face at home that should results in W's.
Austin Peay at Miami (OH). Eastern Illinois at Northern Illinois. Howard at Kent State. South Dakota at Bowling Green. Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Akron.
If these games go according to form, the MAC could be looking at a historic weekend.
Of course, teams like the Golden Flashes should learn from Howard's win over UNLV last week that you can't take anything for granted.
