In the last six seasons, five different teams have won the MAC West. The only team that hasn't, Eastern Michigan, came achingly close in 2018. This division doesn't quite feature ACC Coastal-level parity, but it's close. Nearly everybody gets a turn at the top.
That makes it awfully hard to project this division on a year-to-year basis. Last year's winner, Northern Illinois, flipped from 0-6 in 2020 to 9-5, and this year's projected champion, Toledo, has lost eight of its last nine one-score finishes. Not the most trustworthy entity. We've come to expect the unexpected in the land of MACtion, but let's see what we can figure out about this year's West division.
Every week through the offseason, Bill Connelly will preview another division from the Group of 5 and Power 5 exclusively for ESPN+, ultimately including all 131 FBS teams. The previews will include 2021 breakdowns, 2022 previews and burning questions for each team.
Earlier previews: MWC West | MWC Mountain | AAC (Nos. 6-11) | AAC (Nos. 1-5) | MAC East