Over The Pylon

A few years ago, it became apparent that there were some quality sites out there representing the MAC in terms of their blogging chops, so what better way to bring everyone together than through a roundtable of sorts. A virtual one, for sure, as I’m not quite positive I’d want some of these folks in my home, but a roundtable all the same. Some members have come and gone, the leadership and organizational responsibilities have shifted, but it’s back this year in all its glorious wonder. This week’s question posers, the boys from Let’s Go Rockets, Toledo’s rep in the blogosphere. Take it away, fellas…

1.) This far into the season, what has been the single biggest disappointment from your respective team?
Obviously the easy thing would be to point to the Oklahoma-Temple stretch where we were outscored 104-6, but frankly, when you expect to be 0-2 after those two games anyway, the score isn’t really all that important. Honestly, BSU is sitting at 3-3 right now, and still in control of their own destiny in the MAC. Considering some of the negative nellies when the season started, there really isn’t a reason to be be disappointed at all.

2.) If the first season to this point was replayed without any injuries or personnel loses to your squad, how different would your team’s position be at this point in the season? Would having everyone healthy and available drastically change where you sit now and the potential for the rest of the season?
At best, BSU would be 4-2 assuming Josh Howard and Sean Baker could have suited up for the Temple game. No matter who did or didn’t play, the South Florida and Oklahoma losses were almost predetermined before the first kickoff of the season. It is a concern for those two going forward. BSU doesn’t have the depth to be able to absorb a lot of nicks and scratches, so without a healthy roster, our chances of competing for the MAC are tremendously reduced.

3.) We predicted winners in each division and a MAC champion at the start of the season – based on what we’ve seen of the teams now, revise your picks for MAC East, MAC West, and MACC winners.
We didn’t do this the first of the season, so to do it now would not only be extremely douchey but also wildly speculative. The fact that 3-3 BSU controls their fate in the West means it’s still anyone’s game in the MAC. I’ll say BSU and Temple meet again in Detroit and BSU knocks off the Owls.

4.) Announcements are surfacing this week that the Peace Pipe will be discontinued as the trophy for the victor of the Toledo / BGSU rivalry, but the rivalry will be rebranded the “Battle for I-75” and include a new trophy. Speak about what the loss of tradition and traditional rivalries would mean to your team and whether a trophy/name change, for example, would diminish from the rivalry.
The one trophy game we have is the Bronze Stalk game with Northern Illinois and frankly, it’s a terrible trophy and almost as bad as a “rivalry”. So no, changing that wouldn’t diminish it any further than it already has become.

5.) Rank ‘em.
1. WMU
2. Temple
3. Ohio
4. Toledo
5. BG
6. Northern Illinois
7. Ball State
8. Eastern Michigan
9. Central Michigan
10. Buffalo
11. Miami
12. Akron
13.  Kent

Filed under: BallStateFootball, MAC Roundtable |