2025 Hustle Belt MAC Football Power Rankings: Preseason

It’s felt like this college football offseason was much longer than others in recently years in MAC country.

Certainly, there was a lot to go through between the addition of UMass and the announced self-subtraction of Northern Illinois effective next season. With both announcements came a flurry of education and re-orientation, enough to leave one’s head spinning.

But now we’re finally at the time in the calendar when the hypotheticals and potentials stop taking precedence and the action starts to be

more concrete. Kickoff of the 2025 MAC football season is only two days away, and as ever, we are here to rank the now-expanded 13-team league.

This will be the first time since 2014 the league has played with more than 12 programs— and also the last for awhile unless something major happens. Either way, we’re here to chronicle the ups and downs of every member program as the season progresses.

Without further ado: the rankings!

13. Kent State Golden Flashes

Unanimous #13

When you don’t win a game that matters in two years and face a complete reset both on the field and on the sideline, you’re going to be the unanimous anchor option.

Kent State has always been a program of interest here at Hustle Belt as an archetypal “small school” which year over year, continues to move forward despite the odds against it. It has been hard to cheer for this team in recent years but that does not make the work the players and staff have to put in this season any less important to all involved. 2025 looks to be a year of re-establishing hope in a program many have declared dead for three seasons. If they can get out of a hellish early season slate, the light might be at the end of the tunnel after all.

12. UMass Minutemen

High vote: 11 (once)
Low vote: 12 (four)
Average vote: 11.8

The UMass football team, much like the rest of the athletic department, is in a state of transition.

Gone is Don Brown, with new head coach Joe Harasymiak leading the way. The Minutemen were aggressive in chasing down ready transfers to fill in gaps and make UMass immediately competitive as they face a ramp-up in opposition. Optimism is high, but it’s too early to declare they’ll be successful right away. They’re a wait-and-see kind of crew currently.

11. Ball State Cardinals

High vote: 11 (four)
Low vote: 12 (once)
Average vote: 11

The Cardinals look to turn a new page after the firing of former prodigal son Mike Neu. Neu’s tenure was complicated; he pulled off a miracle run in 2020, getting Ball State a MAC title and a ranking in the AP Top 25 poll, but surrounding that with largely medicore campaigns. Part of it was sheer injury luck, but for one reason or another, Neu was never able to keep the team in a steady direction.

BSU turned to a nearby name for help, hiring away Mike Uremovich from Butler. Uremovich is a name who has proven to be able to do more with less resources while also having experience with developing talent at the top of the NCAA. There’s good individual talent on both sides of the ball, but it will be a growing-pain kind of year in Muncie.

10. Akron Zips

High vote: 9 (once)
Low vote: 10 (four)
Average vote: 9.8

The Zips finished 4-8 in 2024, which unbelievably, is their best mark in the Joe Moorhead era— and the most wins overall dating back to 2017. It could have been more competitive as well, with two losses which were within two scores. But they’ve done a lot to dig themselves out of settling for four wins as a ceiling, and 2025 might be a year where a break-through finally happens.

Akron has been thorny the last three seasons despite their record. If their offense can produce similar numbers and their defense can tighten up after last year’s major regression, they can make some noise in league play. They’re at #10 for now, but they could push to the middle with some good efforts.

9. Central Michigan Chippewas

High vote: 7 (once)
Low vote: 10 (once)
Average vote: 8.8

One of the more fascinating rebuilds in the MAC begins in Mt. Pleasant after the retirement of Jim McElwain. The roster itself is filled to the brim with returning starters and contributors with game experience; CMU is amongst the top three MAC programs in that category a season removed from digging into the third-and-fourth lines of the depth charts just to survive.

First-year coach Matt Drinkall, formerly of Army West Point, has been hard at work establishing a disciplined, team-oriented approach to building a culture, and players have seemingly bought in to this point. The staff has also been careful in the types of player they value in the transfer portal and in the high school ranks, which they hope will prove dividends down the road. How they’ll look on-field is yet to be determined, but this CMU roster at its ceiling is certainly capable of being in the bowl fight.

8. Eastern Michigan Eagles

High vote: 6 (once)
Low vote: 9 (once)
Average vote: 7.4

2024 started off strong with a 4-1 record, but the Eagles lost five-straight to end the season and finished 5-7. It was the second year where EMU regressed in some fashion, and 2025 raises concerns about if EMU can rebound.

Overall, EMU loses 14 of their 22 starters on offense and defense to either graduation or transfer, with just three returnees on a defense which was already shaky last season. This will be Chris Creighton’s 12th season with the team, and he has been a master at keeping the team consistently in the postseason conversation. That said, getting this team to that level could prove to be difficult, making it hard to see a bright future for the Eagles— at least for now.

t-6. Western Michigan Broncos

High vote: 6 (twice)
Low vote: 7 (three)
Average vote: 7.4

The Broncos looked well on the way to appearing in the MAC title game in 2024 after starting with a 4-0 record in conference play and a 5-3 record overall, but the wheels fell off after a loss to NIU in November, as they would finish 1-3 over the rest of the regular season campaign and lost their bowl game vs. South Alabama to finish 6-7 overall.

Now, Lance Taylor and company must try to turn the page while returning only seven starters and losing 31 lettermen to graduation or transfer in the offseason. Both the offensive and defensive lines were especially impacted, which will make the transition to 2025 even more difficult.

t-6. Bowling Green Falcons

High vote: 5 (two)
Low vote: 6 (three)
Average vote: 5.6

BGSU saw a shock coaching change at the end of the spring, as Scot Loeffler left for a position coaching job in the NFL. The pivot was to the promising coaching candidate— and former Heisman winner— Eddie George, who had gotten some attraction from other college programs and the NFL as a potential assistant coach after a successful four-year campaign at the FCS level with Tennessee State.

BGSU was in the title hunt all season in 2024, mostly on the back of a loaded offense which included two pro prospects in Connor Bazelak and Harold Fannin Jr., and the expectation for 2025 is to continue to apply pressure to the top teams, even if they have to take a step back talent-wise.

BGSU should be a firm bowl favorite with the talent they do bring back into the fold.

5. Northern Illinois Huskies

High vote: 4 (once)
Low vote: 8 (once)
Average vote: 5.4

The unexpected swan song season is here for the NIU Huskies.

Often the favorite son of the MAC due to their postseason successes and their propensity for upsets over Autonmous programs, NIU is set to depart for the Mountain West Conference in 2026. This will create a very unique situation for them in 2025, as MAC teams will want to give it their all against the Huskies on their way out the door.

NIU did lose some great talent in the offseason but committed to revamping their offensive philosophy to help make up for it, as most of their primary returnees are on that side of the ball. Of course, NIU also has seventh-year man Thomas Hammock leading the way with his unique and refreshing coaching style. As ever, the Huskies will be a threat to win the MAC— even as they’re peering westward.

4. Miami RedHawks

High vote: 3 (twice)
Low vote: 5 (once)
Average vote: 3.8

Chuck Martin’s reputation as a developer is unparalleled; it is part of the reason the RedHawks have been so successful in his 12 seasons at the helm in Oxford. That reputation will be put to the test in 2025, as he looks at a complete reset on offense (which returns just one starter!) and a reload on defense, which sees five contributors return to try and make up for gigantic gaps at key positions— including Matt Salopek, Ty Wise, Brian Ugwu and Raio Strader.

He does bring to the fold former MAC Player of the Year Dequan Finn, who spent a gap year with Baylor in 2024. The hope is he can bring experience and a dual-threat nature to the backfield to ease the transition from the departure of Brett Gabbert, while elevating the transfers and former depth pieces who will be expected to compete right away.

3. Ohio Bobcats

High vote: 3 (three)
Low vote: 4 (twice)
Average vote: 3.4

The Bobcats are fresh off a MAC championship and looking to keep the momentum going in 2025. They certainly have the continuity to make a run; interim head coach Brian Smith was made the new head coach in the offseason, and Smith stuck to internal hires for coordinators et al for the most part.

Do-it-all quarterback Parker Navarro also returns, as does former all-MAC back Sieh Bangura after a gap year in Minnesota, giving the offense some great foundation to build on. The defense, however, will be a bit of a work-in-progress in the early going as the unit was picked apart in the transfer portal (with several former Bobbies on the other sideline for Week 1’s game!) They’ll be a favorite based on pedigree; key matchups against Miami, Buffalo and BGSU will go a long way in showing their direction.

2. Toledo Rockets

High vote: 1 (twice)
Low vote: 2 (three)
Average vote: 2.4

The Rockets are the national favorite and the favorite of the preseason coaches poll, but in our power rankings they’re second-best.

Last season saw uncharacteristic struggles despite a pretty big talent advantage, and this season will see the defense, which was of the MAC’s strongest units in 2024, essentially hit the reset button at edge rusher, defensive tackle and linebacker. That’s no easy feat; we saw Toledo struggle last year with similar issues on offense in 2024 between quarterback, running back and offensive line.

If anything, the fact they’re sitting at #2 despite those questions is a testament to Jason Candle and his staff at identifying and developing talent on both sides of the ball. We’re perfectly aware of what the Rockets are capable of, and how the schedule is laid out for success if it all comes together. At the end of the day, our voters have reservations they’ll need to see play out on the field before being ready to crown UT.

1. Buffalo Bulls

High vote: 1 (three)
Low vote: 2 (twice)
Average vote: 1.4

The majority choice for our voters proved to be the Buffalo Bulls— though it should be noted it more or less required a swing vote.

The Bulls were a darling of the MAC season in 2024, emerging with 75 percent of their roster intact despite a late coaching change and going on to finish just outside of the MAC title chase at 8-4 (with four-straight wins to end league play) and maul Liberty 26-7 in the Bahamas Bowl in the postseason.

They did so on the back of a dominant defense, and the great news for UB is that eight of their 10 top tacklers all return in 2025, including potential Defensive Player of the Year Red Murdock. They also return seven starters on offense, including their top receiver Victor Snow, top running back Al-Jay Henderson and four of their five offensive linemen, while also adding transfer QB Ta’Quan Henderson, who had 2,075 passing yards 12 TDs and six INTs with UConn in ‘23.

They’ll be a dangerous team to contend with if they continue the upwards trajectory they showed last season.

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 @HustleBelt or in the comments section below!