2026 MAC Football Power Rankings: Week 6

Hello everyone and welcome back!

Just when we think we know what's going in the MAC, something (or even multiple somethings) pop up and prove us wrong because fate feels like it. (Remember, folks: #EverythingYouKnowAboutMACtionIsFalse.)

We thought Week 5 was rife with strange results, and the sheer amount of ties suggested as much; no such ambiguity in Week 6, as the dam burst and created clear tiers after results– expected and unexpected– cropped up.

With that in mind, it's about time to see where every team stands:

13. Ball State Cardinals (LW: 12, down 1)

• High vote: 11 (once)
• Low vote: 13 (three)
• Average vote: 12.4

Ball State took an expected loss to Northwestern, falling victim to Chip Kelly's Sicko Committee-approved offense as well as the general talent gap. They're a frustrating watch right now, especially since they have seemingly not resolved their penalty problem, notching a frankly ludicrous 15 flags for 119 yards.

12. Sacramento State Hornets (LW: 13, up 1)

• High vote: 11 (once)
• Low vote: 13 (twice)
• Average vote: 12.2

Sacramento State looks pretty lost midway through the season, getting overwhelmed by Bowling Green's new-found offensive upswing. BG, which had struggled to top 100 yards rushing in every game prior to last week, accumulated 218 yards and three touchdowns on the ground against the Hornets defense. Jackson Sharman also seems to be solved at QB, limited to 13-of-28 passing for 145 yards with three sacks. Not a lot of easy answers at this point for a team build largely still meant for an FCS schedule.

11. Akron Zips (LW: t-9, down 2)

• High vote: 11 (three)
• Low vote: 12 (twice)
• Average vote: 11.4

The Zips were on the verge of a statement win over Eastern Michigan in front of the home faithful, but a field goal miss at game's end sunk what little hope they had on a day where special teams proved the difference. It's too bad, because Akron otherwise played a fairly complete game– even winning the turnover battle. Can't help but wonder what this Akron team might look like if a few plays here and there were different. They've looked better recently in spurts, but you are what your record says you are at some point.

10. Kent State Golden Flashes (LW: 8, down 2)

• High vote: 9 (twice)
• Low vote: 10 (three)
• Average vote: 9.6

We tend to give Kent State the benefit of the doubt here because the starts of their seasons are always rough, but through six weeks, it's fairly evident this team probably just doesn't have what it takes to compete at the top level of the league. They were overwhelmed by Western Michigan early and taken out of contention before the fourth quarter even arrived. Not even a career day from receiver Wayne Harris (11 catches, 164 yards) was enough. They're not out of the postseason race yet at 2-4, but they'll need to play their best ball down the stretch if they want to secure a bowl game.

9. Bowling Green Falcons (LW: 11, up 2)

• High vote: 8 (twice)
• Low vote: 10 (once)
• Average vote: 8.8

Where the hell was this Falcons football team the first four weeks of the season? The adage is "better late than never", but we can't help but wonder what button Eddie George pressed to get the team to perform as well as they have the last two weeks. An upset of a MAC favorite team to open up league play and then a ruckshod result over Sac State to nab their first 2-0 start since 2015 is genuinely impressive. If they can keep this up, it might be time to start seeing them in a new light.

8. UMass Minutemen (LW: t-4, down 4)

• High vote: 6 (once)
• Low vote: 10 (once)
• Average vote: 7.8

This was bound to happen at some point. September 2026 UMass will live on forever in our hearts, but the cracks were starting to show during the Stonehill game and really came to the fore against Eastern Michigan two weeks back. That doesn't make last week's loss to Miami any less heartbreaking. UMass had to rely on their third-string QB Logan Inagawa to lead a potential game-breaking drive after injuries left both Pop Watson III and Aedan McCarthy unavailable at game's end– and he came through, putting them in position to win before the two-pointer was stuffed. UMass still controls their own destiny to a bowl game appearance, but dreams of Detroit are very likely dead.

7. Central Michigan Chippewas (LW: t-6, down 1)

• High vote: 7 (twice)
• Low vote: 9 (once)
• Average vote: 7.4

No if, and, or but about it, Central got walloped by Ohio on the road last week. The Chippewas went into the half down 31-0 and scored two late touchdowns to pretty up the score, but it was still a three-possession loss. CMU has not proven they can handle road environments to this point, going 0-3 away from Mt. Pleasant with insanely polarized splits in every category. This week starts a favorable stretch of three home games and a neutral-site contest; if they can't take advantage and win at least three of those games, they won't be a contender in the MAC title chase.

6. Buffalo Bulls (LW: 10, up 4)

• High vote: 4 (once)
• Low vote: 7 (twice)
• Average vote: 6

Buffalo has once again subverted our expectations, absolutely laying the wood to a Toledo team which looked to be straight-up unbeatable just a few weeks ago. UB had the vaunted Rockets offense shut out until the last minutes of the contest and limited Toledo to just 308 total yards, forcing three fumbles and 3-of-14 on third-down attempts. This team looked pretty lost for direction before MAC play and have shown competitive spirit against two of the conference's favorites. If only they got that two-point conversion vs. Western Michigan... where might they be then?

5. Miami RedHawks (LW: 4, down 1)

• High vote: 4 (once)
• Low vote: 6 (once)
• Average vote: 5

Miami rebounded well after getting bad news about QB David McComb during the lead-up to the UMass game, finding that "one more play" to stifle UMass' second-half comeback, but their long-term prognosis is really not very good at this point. They're down to a third-string quarterback, the running game has struggled and the defense has had to do a lot of heavy lifting with not a lot of support. It's an unsustainable formula for a team which wants to win in the margins. The general vibes are really off here, but this program under Chuck Martin has shown moxie in the past to rally into November contention. Maybe they can turn their prospects around before it's too late.

4. Eastern Michigan Eagles (LW: t-6, up 2)

• High vote: 3 (once)
• Low vote: 5 (once)
• Average vote: 4

Thanks to a scheduling quirk, the Eagles sit at 3-0 in MAC play at the midway point, holding the sole lead of the league in the standings thanks to their number of wins. (Three other teams sit undefeated at 2-0, but have a game in hand.) It hasn't exactly been a gauntlet, granted, with their MAC wins coming against Sac State, UMass and Akron. That said, if you're the better team, you have to win the game. EMU was the not only the better team on paper against all three opponents, they also proved it on the field. They've really come together since league play formally started, fielding an opportunistic defense and a balanced offense which has managed to guide drives even without all-MAC WR Nick Devereaux.

3. Toledo Rockets (LW: 1, down 2)

• High vote: 2 (twice)
• Low vote: 5 (once)
• Average vote: 2.8

We mentioned WMU had an aura-shattering loss against Boise State a few weeks back. It was Toledo's turn this week, as their offense was utterly torn asunder by a team which struggled to beat not one, but two FCS opponents in non-conference play. We can't really emphasize enough how bad of a stinker it was; the Rockets put the ball on the ground three times and lost all of them, while passing offense was limited to only 208 yards with no TDs and the team as as whole collected 15 penalties. It was an absolute meltdown of epic proportions. Now they'll have to play catch-up from here on out.

t-1. Ohio Bobcats (LW: 3, up 2)

• High vote: 1 (twice)
• Low vote: 3 (once)
• Average vote: 1.8

The Ohio Bobcats are finally getting healthy– and that is a dangerous thing for the rest of the league. QB Nick Poulos and HB Duncan Brune were both back at full strength against Central and got to work, with Brune collecting 91 yards and a touchdown while Poulos tossed three touchdowns on 11-of-18 passing for 158 yards and ran for an additional 52 yards. They combined for four first-half TDs to effectively put the game away at the halftime whistle. It was a statement game for the Bobbies, and the statement has certainly been heard here. If the Ohio defense can have some steadier health on the defensive side (Charlie Christopher and Michael Molnar especially have been affected by various injuries), they stand as one of the conference's most complete outfits.

t-1. Western Michigan Broncos (LW: 2, up 1)

• High vote: 1 (three)
• Low vote: 3 (twice)
• Average vote: 1.8

Western managed to recoup some of their pride back against Kent State in their latest action, pummeling the Golden Flashes to the tune of a 38-7 win, going into the break up 14-7 after giving up a late KSU TD and then scoring 24-unanswered points to end any chance of a comeback. WMU rolled Kent State over for 404 total offensive yards, and made the pass play the star with three Broc Lowry passing scores and 262 yards on 19-of-28 passing with no turnovers. It was an encouraging turnaround after a laggard performance against Buffalo where they were on their back heels in the late going. They're currently undefeated, but still have work to do if they want to go back to Detroit to defend their crown in December.

For transparency, here is our anonymous chart for this week. Did we get it right? Did we miss the mark? Let us know on Twitter @ByTheBelt, over on Bluesky at bythebelt.bsky.social, or in the comments section below!