The first game of College Football Championship Week takes place Friday night, as the Mid-American Conference gives up its Tuesday and Wednesday time slots for an (almost) traditional time-slot. This year's title bout will see the undefeated, No. 17 Western Michigan Broncos take on the Ohio Bobcats. It is sure to be another outstanding weekend of college football action and this is the appetizer for everything to come over the next few days.
MORE: Washington vs Colorado: Pac-12 Championship Game Preview
Not to say this won't be a great game in its own right. The 12-0 Broncos may have a big advantage in overall record compared to the 8-4 Bobcats, but Ohio has the ability to cause Western Michigan problems. This is not the same defensive unit Western Michigan ran all over in their cross-divisional matchup last season. The Broncos manhandled the Bobcats 49-14 in that one, rushing for 430 yards at almost 10 yards per carry. This year, the Bobcats are the best run-stuffing defense in the conference and they allow only 105 yards rushing per game. It's a classic case of the irresistible force vs the unmovable object and that in itself makes this one well worthy of a watch for the neutral fan.
Adding into the mix is that the Broncos are ranked high enough in the polls that they are in contention for a New Year's Six Bowl bid as the highest-ranked Group of Five team. Western Michigan has not played a particularly tough schedule though, so a slip up here would see them tumble out of the rankings and potentially be passed by the winner of the AAC Championship Game that sees Navy take on Temple.
This video is one of relatively few that have been made previewing the game. The source is OhioBobcatTV, but the piece is a relatively unbiased one that looks at how each school got here and how they have performed in the MAC historically.
