WEEK 8 SCHEDULE
Saturday, October 23
*Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green Noon (ESPN+)
*NIU at Central Michigan Noon ET/11 am CT (ESPNU)
*Kent State at Ohio 1:00 pm (ESPN+)
*Western Michigan at Toledo 3:30 pm (CBSSN)
*Buffalo at Akron 3:30 pm (ESPN+)
*Miami at Ball State 3:30 pm (ESPN+)
All times listed ET
B1G WINS
• The MAC has won a regular season game vs. Big Ten opponents in each of the last 15 consecutive seasons (2006-2021), the longest streak in MAC history. Bowling Green’s 14-10 win at Minnesota on Sept. 25, 2021 extended the streak.
During this 15-year stretch, MAC teams have defeated 12 different Big Ten programs—Illinois (4); Indiana (5); Iowa (3); Maryland
(1); Michigan (1); Michigan State (1); Minnesota (3); Nebraska (1);
Northwestern (3); Penn State (1); Purdue (6) and Rutgers (2) for a total of 31 wins during this stretch.
Miami (13), Bowling Green (9), Toledo (6), Central Michigan (6) and Northern Illinois (6) have the most wins vs. Big Ten opponents.
FLY THE FLAG!
• In addition to Bowling Green’s 14-10 win over Minnesota, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan are also “Flying the Flag” after taking down a pair of ACC foes.
Northern Illinois topped Georgia Tech in thrilling fashion, 22-21. With the win, the Huskies improved to 3-8 all-time versus teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The win also marks the 15thstraight year that a team from the MAC has collected a road win over an autonomous five opponent.
Western Michigan topped Pittsburgh, 44-41, on the road in front of 40,581 fans at Heinz Field. The win is the first over a Power 5 conference team for head coach Tim Lester. The Broncos put up 510 yards of offense on Pitt in the win.
DOUBLE THE MACTION
• For the first time since 2003, the MAC had two teams ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 Football Poll. Ball State was ranked No. 23, while Buffalo comes in at No. 25. It marks the first-time in program history for both schools to have a team finish the season ranked within the Top 25. In 2003, Miami (No. 10) and Bowling Green (No. 23) finished the season in the AP Top 25. Ball State finished the season with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents, defeating the Bulls when they were No. 23 and then knocking off No. 19 San Jose State in the Offerpad Arizona Bowl on New Year’s Eve. SJSU is No. 24 in the final poll. Coach Mike Neu’s Cardinals finished 7-1 overall, winning their first-ever bowl game, their first MAC championship since 1996 and their first MAC West Division title since 2008. BSU’s seven-game winning streak at season’s end is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the FBS.
Buffalo went 6-1 on the season, won the MAC East Division and won a bowl game for the second straight season. The Bulls defeated Marshall, 17-10, in the 2020 Camellia Bowl. The Bulls were ranked as high as 23 by the AP this year. Buffalo finished the 2020 season ranked fifth in the nation in scoring offense (43.4) and second in the nation in rushing offense (287.4).
