Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Mid-American Conference did not begin the season with the most sterling of reputations, but that might be changing thanks to several of its teams' performances in recent weeks. Bowling Green defeated Pittsburgh -- then a top 25 team -- last weekend, and while a couple of MAC teams came up short yesterday in their own upset bids, their effort remained admirable.

Miami (Ohio) trailed Michigan by four points entering the fourth quarter before falling, 16-6, in Rich Rodriguez's first Wolverines victory. No. 3 Ohio State needed 14 fourth-quarter points to put away Ohio. Were it not for Ohio's five turnovers, the Bobcats might have pulled off the shocker.

Meantime, Ball State beat Navy on Friday, Temple took Connecticut to overtime before dropping a 12-9 decision and Akron beat Syracuse, 42-28.