The Ohio Bobcats won the first bowl game in the team’s history last year. It’s hard to imagine that this team hadn’t won a bowl game before, but Frank Solich really has things looking up at Ohio. The Bobcats were the class of the Mid-American Conference last year, and the oddsmakers have them listed as the favorite again this season.
Toledo has had a very nice little run of late in the MAC. The Rockets saw their head coach leave for Illinois at the end of last season. The 32-year-old Matt Campbell takes over the Rockets program this season. Campbell has lots of talent at the skill positions on this roster, but there are plenty of holes to fill as well.
Bowling Green went 2-10 two years, but the team improved to 5-7 in 2011. Bowling Green returns 20 starters, so the expectations for this team are much higher in 2012. Coach Dave Clawson has circled this year as one in which his team can compete for the MAC Championship.
The Miami (Ohio) Redhawks football program has had a rough few years. After tons of success in the early 2000’s, Miami is 17-33 in their last 50 games. Ten of those 17 wins came in 2010 when the team had an amazing Cinderella season. There has been tons of transition in the program with four different coaches in four years.
Tulsa has largely flown under the radar over the last few years, but this is a very successful football program. The Golden Hurricane have won at least 8 games in all but one year since 2005. Bill Blankenship kept the tradition going in his first year with the program in 2011.
June Jones has turned around the SMU program nicely, and now the goals and expectations are much higher for the Mustangs. Texas transfer Garrett Gilbert will be eligible at quarterback at this year, and many people believe the Mustangs should have a powerful offense in 2012.
The Detroit Lions arrive in Baltimore on Friday looking for a much different outcome than last week’s preseason opener, as they take on a Ravens team that started slow but flew past the Falcons in their preseason opener at Atlanta last week.
For a team that has won a couple of recent Super Bowls nobody gives the New York Giants much respect. I don’t know if it s because their coach isn’t that likable, their QB isn’t as good as his older brother, or what, but it seems like the world is convinced that the Giants are going to drop to third fiddle in their division watching Philadelphia and Dallas overtake them.
Johan Santana threw a no-hitter earlier this year, but ever since then Santana has been awful. The Mets as a team have turned south as well after hanging in the NL East race for quite some time. Washington has the best record in the major leagues, and the Nationals continue to put up awesome pitching numbers.
Both the Rangers and Yankees have big cushions in their respective divisions and this match up may be a preview of a playoff series. The Yankees have a 5 game lead over the Rays in the AL East and the Rangers have a 6.5 game lead over the A’s.
Just because these two teams are not currently locked in a battle atop the AL East, doesn’t mean this series will bear any less significance.
Perhaps the most celebrated rivalry in all of sports, the Yankees and the Red Sox will surely put it all on the line every single game, regardless of standings.
The Philadelphia Eagles roll in to Foxborough on Monday night for their first real dress rehearsal of the 2012 preseason against the last year’s Super Bowl runner-up, New England Patriots.
And all eyes will be on the quarterback duel of Michael Vick and Tom Brady, as they can both clearly make the biggest impact on the outcome of their games.
The San Diego Chargers will aim to build on their preseason success when they host a not so equally charged Dallas Cowboys team on Saturday in sunny San Diego.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will make its second trip this season to Brooklyn for the running of the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Both the Rangers and Yankees have big cushions in their respective divisions and this match up may be a preview of a playoff series. The Yankees have a 5 game lead over the Rays in the AL East and the Rangers have a 6.5 game lead over the A’s.
The Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees are battling back and forth for the best record in the American League. Both of these are stacked offensively, and their pitching staffs are better than most realize.
