Western Michigan is a rarity in today's college football universe.
The Mid-American Conference champions are chasing a second straight league crown with some familiar names: quarterback Broc Lowry, the 2025 MAC Offensive Player of the Year, running back Jalen Buckley, the championship game MVP, and cornerback Jarvarius Smith. In fact, reigning MAC coach of the Year Lance Taylor boasts he didn't lose a single starter in the transfer portal.
That's not
easy for any program, especially one like Western Michigan, and it's the primary reason it is the preseason favorite.
“We had a lot of guys who played really good for us last year, could have gone to bigger schools and made a lot more money than we could have paid them — and they turned down the money to come back,” Taylor said. "You know, winning is fun and I think they like winning, so they wanted to come back and do some more winning.”
But the Broncos understand that repeating as champs is about as uncommon as it is for a MAC team to keep its top players.
Western Michigan was the sixth school to win the crown since 2020, and the last back-to-back champion was Northern Illinois in 2011 and 2012.
The biggest challenge could come from Miami (Ohio), which followed its 2023 title run with two straight runner-up finishes. The RedHawks are picked to finish second again as they try to become the third team in conference history to reach four straight title games with a revamped roster.
“It's reload every year," longtime Miami coach Chuck Martin said. "So it doesn't really matter what happened last year — the guys are all new,”
Except at Western Michigan.
Western Michigan isn’t the only team with an incumbent starting quarterback.
Dru DeShields is back at Kent State and Noah Kim returns at Eastern Michigan after receiving an eligibility waiver to return for his seventh college season. Central Michigan and Miami also could promote quarterbacks who started multiple games last season while longtime backups Nick Poulos of Ohio and John Alan Richter of Toledo may finally earn QB1 designations.
Potential newcomers include Bowling Green’s Austin Novosad, a transfer from Oregon; UMass’ William “Pop” Watson III, who played at Virginia Tech; Carson Conklin, who has returned to Sacramento State after a brief stop at Fresno State; and Reese Poffenbarger, who is making Arkon his fourth career stop.
Former Football Championship Subdivision school Sacramento State has joined the league as a football-only member, replacing Northern Illinois. UMass rejoined the league last year, but the Hornets still expect to be competitive.
“We have a prove-it mentality," first-year coach Alonzo Carter said. "We’re not going to worry about the travel. We're all about proving we belong in the MAC.”
Carter isn't the MAC's only first-year coach. Ohio promoted defensive coordinator John Hauser to head coach in December following the firing of Brian Smith in December. Hauser is the Bobcats third coach in three years. Kent State dropped the interim tag from coach Mark Carney’s title in October, and Toledo hired Mike Jacobs from Mercer after longtime coach Jason Candle took the UConn job.
UMass was the only Bowl Subdivision school with a winless record in 2025 and enters this fall with the nation’s longest active losing streak at 16. It has not earned a bowl bid since joining the FBS in 2012 and is tied with Louisiana-Monroe for the longest active bowl drought.
Akron ranks third on the bowl drought list, last appearing in 2017, while Kent State and Ball State are tied for eighth, last going in 2021. MAC teams produced three of the nine winless teams in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and the only two since (UMass and Kent State in 2024).
Ball State offensive tackle Chris Hood is one of the nation's tallest offensive tackles at 6-foot-10.
Toledo defensive end Andrew Zock won the 2025 Buck Buchanan Award as the FCS's top defensive player. He had 11 1/2 sacks and a school record 23 quarterback hurries at Mercer.
Bowling Green defensive end Eriq George is the son of coach Eddie George, the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner. Falcons running back Austin Dendy rushed for 100 yards in each of his final three games last season after missing the first seven games.
Kent State offensive lineman Boston Crowell was diagnosed with leukemia this summer and is undergoing treatment. The Golden Flashes also hired former NFL All-Pro return specialist Josh Cribbs as special teams analyst.
Aug. 29, Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan; Sept. 5, Ball State at Ohio State; Sept. 5, Western Michigan at Michigan; Sept. 26, Boise State at Western Michigan; Oct. 10, Kent State at Western Michigan; Oct. 17, Western Michigan vs. Central Michigan at Detroit; Nov. 10, Ohio at Miami; Nov. 17, Miami at Kent State; Nov. 24, Miami at Western Michigan; Nov. 27, Toledo at Ohio; Dec. 5, MAC championship game at Detroit.
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