The MAC Roundtable

As you can see by the large numbers of people wearing Cherry on both sides of the field, pretty much the entire stadium was the Temple side against hometown rival Villanova.

Students get the fun you paid for:

Students have already paid for tickets with their student activity fee, so get what you paid for as the Owls return to action this Thursday night (9/9) at 7 p.m. vs. 2009 MAC Champion Central Michigan at Lincoln Financial Field.
FREE STUDENT Buses will shuttle back and forth from campus to the stadium beginning at 4:30 p.m. up until kickoff.
FREE FOOD will be at the student tailgate from 5pm until kick off.
Students be sure to pick up your FREE TICKET at the Liacouras box office before the game or at the Linc box office the day of the game.

Our friends over at the other MAC blogs are mulling these questions this week.
I thought I'd chime in with the official TFF answers:

1). The MAC has looked weak so far against out-of-conference opponents. Is this shaping up to be a down year for the MAC?
It was Week 1. I don't think you can tell until you get more of a body of work and compare what the Week 1 teams did down the line. Ask me in three weeks. Heck, I might ask myself in three weeks. For instance, I think Villanova beats Hampton or Jacksonville State 46-7 and nobody bats an eye because that's how good a national champion FCS is with 16 starters back, so that changes the whole perspective of the question.

2). Why don't our fans come to games? Whether it is Buffalo in a large city or Bowling Green off the side of a highway, our stadiums are generally...uninspired. Even after Central Michigan's GREATEST WIN OF ALL TIME against tormenting in-state rival MSU, Central Michigan's stadium was half full the next week against Alcorn State. Can anything be done to at least get on par with a Tulsa or ECU?
Our fans are coming. The entire lower bowl of an NFL stadium was full of Temple fans, sans just two sections of Villanova fans. Most people I talked to in the parking lot said 30,000 of the 32,123 were wearing Cherry, but I'll give Villanova a huge benefit of the doubt and give them 5,000 tops. I'll try to post a couple of photos with this post. It takes time to lose a fan base and it will take a little more time to build it up.
3). People act like a win for Boise State is a win for the "little guy." Is Boise State really carrying water for the non-aq's anymore? It seems to me they are essentially a BCS program at this point in time.
Not the little guy when a Boise State coach can walk into any recruit's home in the country and be welcome. That's how far they've come.
4. The game of the week has to be Temple versus Central Michigan on Thursday night (ESPNU). Who ya' got in that match-up?
Temple. A far inferior team with a far inferior Chester Stewart forced into QB action before he was ready got beaten up there two years ago 24-14 and was in the game for three quarters against the then MAC champs. Temple's won six straight at Lincoln Financial Field and is 12-2 against MAC teams there over the last 14.

5. Which MAC QB is going to take the crown as "best of the conference" when the dust settles at the end of the season?
Zac Dysert.
6. Rank them FIRST to WORST.
1. Temple
2. CMU
3. OHIO
4. Northern Illinois
5. Miami
6. Kent State
7. Toledo
8. Buffalo.
9. Western Michigan
10. Ball State
11. Bowling Green
12. Eastern Michigan
13. Akron