I toyed with the idea of doing weekly MAC rankings but couldn’t decide exactly how to go about it and then almost abandoned the idea. I am not a fan of pre-season rankings as they are almost entirely based on speculation and record/performance of the previous season.

After thinking about it, I decided to wait until after the Week 4, when the majority of the non-conference schedule had concluded, to rank the teams. This gives a far more accurate perspective to where a team is and where it needs to improve, etc.

Another "twist" I am adding to the rankings is that I have decided to rank the teams within their division. Too many times the "better team" has been knocked off in the Title Game, so what should matter to any team is getting to the MACC and then taking care of business once there.

I’ll be releasing weekly rankings and providing commentary and rationale behind the rankings.

Caveat: Rankings will fluctuate from week to week.

On to the this season’s first rankings:

DIVISIONAL RANKINGS (Week 4)

WEST

1. Ball State
2. NIU
3. Western
4. Central
5. Toledo
6. EMU

EAST

1. Ohio
2. Kent State
3. Bowling Green
4. Akron
5. Miami U.
6. Buffalo
7. UMass