MAC teams collecting upsets

Associated Press

Dan Enos lettered four years and started two at quarterback for Michigan State. So he’s got an idea of what it means for a team from a mid-major conference to knock off somebody from the power conferences.

“I’ve coached in the Big Ten. I’ve played in the Big Ten,” said Enos, now in his third year as the head coach at Central Michigan, a Mid-American Conference member. “And when you understand the resources that those (bigger) schools have and the amount of money that they have and the facilities and the recruiting aspect, yeah, it is a big deal.”

There have been plenty of “big deals” around the MAC these days. So many, in fact, that it might be hard in the future for the league’s schools to get games against the powers that be in college football.

Just last weekend, MAC teams knocked off four schools from Bowl Championship Series automatic-qualifier conferences. Enos’ Chippewas won at Iowa of the Big Ten, 32-31, on a last-second field goal. Northern Illinois knocked off the Big 12’s Kansas, 30-23. Ball State, which a week earlier had won at Indiana of the Big Ten, hosted South Florida of the Big East and won, 31-27. And the Big East’s Connecticut lost to Western Michigan, 31-24.

The MAC has also acquitted itself well in other games. Toledo took Arizona to overtime before coming up short, 24-17. Bowling Green opened the year by hanging around current No. 11 Florida before falling 27-14. Eastern Michigan fought on even terms at No. 21 Michigan State last week before going down, 23-7 — a close call that made Spartans coach Mark Dantonio so angry that he raced through his postgame news conference by spitting out “next question!” seven times in less than a minute.

The MAC has that effect on a lot of big-name teams.

Almost every member of the conference has a page in its media guide devoted to its major upsets. One of the first items in this week’s MAC notes highlights Sept. 20, 2003, when MAC teams upended No. 6 Kansas State, No. 9 Pittsburgh and No. 21 Alabama on the same day.

It’s a point of pride throughout the 13-team league (Massachusetts becomes a full member in 2013) that Goliaths frequently fall before the MAC’s Davids.

Akron’s Terry Bowden, once upon a time the head coach at Auburn, is the son of legendary former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. He’s been around major college football most of his life. Now, in his first year with the Zips, he’s surprised just how good the MAC is.

Bowden, whose new team was tied in the fourth quarter at Tennessee before falling 46-27, says it won’t be long before all those so-called upsets will become routine happenings.

“I don’t know if (MAC teams) have to wait for a once-in-a-decade victory anymore,” he said. “Right now, it’s a once-in-a-week or a twice-in-a-week victory.”