CANTON — If the University of Toledo needed any motivation for the 2024 football season, it arrived on Friday in the form of the Mid-American Conference preseason coaches poll.
Miami is the favorite, followed by Toledo, Bowling Green, and Northern Illinois. The RedHawks and Rockets were the only teams to receive first-place votes — nine for Miami and three for UT. BGSU and Northern were tied for the third.
“I don’t pay attention to that stuff,” Toledo senior safety Maxen Hook said. “I feel like the MAC’s pretty fluid anyway. It really doesn’t matter what the coaches think. It’s going to come down to who can play ball, and we always find that out in the middle of the year.
“I figured that we weren’t going to be the favorite, considering we didn’t win the championship last year. We know what we have to do. We know what we have to do to get back. We know how we fell short last year. We’ve already got plenty of motivation to get back to where we want to be.”
Ten coaches picked Miami to win the MAC championship game, with two selecting Toledo. Coaches cannot vote for their own team.
With no divisions for the first time since 1996, the two teams with the best conference record will meet in the MAC title game on Dec. 7 in Detroit.
Toledo and Miami split last season’s meetings, with UT winning in Oxford in October and the RedHawks winning the MAC championship game. The teams play this season on Oct. 5 at the Glass Bowl.
“Where our mindset is now is we’re trying to get to preseason camp and see what this team is going to look like,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said. “There’s a group of teams that had really good seasons last year at the top half of our conference, and I’m sure they’re optimistic about what it will look like for them this year like we are. But there’s a lot of football to be practiced before it can be played and that’s where our focus is.”
The Falcons are coming off back-to-back 5-3 conference records. Quarterback Connor Bazelak returns to a team entering the 2024 season with its highest expectations in nearly a decade. And there’s a realistic chance that Toledo and BG could play in the MAC title game for the first time.
“That would be great,” Falcons coach Scot Loeffler said. “I think it’s a dream, a fantasy. I think it’d be great for everyone. But right now, we’re just worried about getting a first down and finding a way to beat Fordham.”
2024 MAC Football Head Coaches Preseason Poll (first-place votes)
1. Miami (9) – 119 points
2. Toledo (3) – 109 points
T3. Bowling Green – 92 points
T3. Northern Illinois – 92 points
5. Ohio – 81 points
6. Eastern Michigan – 64 points
7. Western Michigan – 60 points
8. Central Michigan – 59 points
9. Ball State – 42 points
10. Buffalo – 37 points
11. Akron – 24 points
12. Kent State – 13 points
Conference champion: Miami (10), Toledo (2)
Most Popular
Comments / 0