Bill Connelly breaks down every team in America’s favorite underdog conference, one by one and with the aid of advanced stats. Follow along!
NIU’s giant, obvious question mark
Matt Marton-USA TODAY SportsConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
It is a fact of life in college football and, to a less rigidly scheduled degree, every other sport. As good as your favorite players are, they eventually run out of eligibility.
Read Article >Toledo prefers depth over star power
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY SportsConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
... Toledo has either stabilized or slipped in the last two years.
Read Article >The pieces fit for Bowling Green
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY SportsConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
A bold, delcarative statement preceded by hedging. It’s one of my specialties. Regardless, I was very high on Bowling Green in last year’s SB Nation preview, and with good reason: the Falcons returned a ton of experience, the BGSU defense was incredible in the latter half of 2012, etc.
Read Article >Ohio freshens up
Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
Sometimes relationships just grow stale.
Read Article >WMU’s Fleck is an ace recruiter, unknown coach
Reese Strickland-USA TODAY SportConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
In terms of tangible results, P.J. Fleck had just about the worst year imaginable in his first season in charge at Western Michigan.
Read Article >Kent State, the MAC Mad Libs team
Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY SportsConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
Each spring, I spend about three weeks previewing MAC teams. Inevitably we end up discussing the MAC life cycle, in which a once-downtrodden conference program is lifted up by a strong coach, who breaks through with a big year or a conference title, then either leaves or falters, leaving the school to start over again. Miami (Ohio) calls itself the Cradle of Coaches, but that really goes for the conference as a whole.
Read Article >Buffalo rebuilds, again
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY SportsConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
If you’re not at a powerhouse, the cards are always stacked against you. No one knows this better than the University of Buffalo.
Read Article >Akron is zipping right along
Gregory ShamusConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
...but they mattered for the first time in a while. You noticed they existed. They almost made a bowl.
Read Article >It can’t get any worse for UMass
Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY SportsConfused? Check out the advanced-stats glossary here.
Rebuilding tends to take a while, especially when a rebuilding job converges with an upgrade in your level of competition.
Read Article >
