We're halfway through the regular season in college football and like usual, both divisions of the Mid-American Conference are still up for grabs. Here's what we know so far:
1. Garrett Wolfe is good. He leads the nation in rushing by more than 300 yards over Rutgers University's Ray Rice. When you run for more than 180 yards and look unimpressive doing so like he did against Miami University on Sunday night, you know you're doing a good job.
Wolfe will get one more chance to solidify his Heisman Trophy cause when Northern Illinois University travels to the University of Iowa on Oct. 28.
2. Evidently Kent State University is awesome, considering it's 3-0 in the MAC and didn't win any conference games a year ago. Only Ohio University stands in the Golden Flashes' way of winning the East Division. For what it's worth, the Bobcats beat Wolfe and the Huskies already this year 35-23.
I don't think anyone saw Kent State's rise coming, as sophomore quarterback Julian Edelman is probably the best player in the league not named Garrett Wolfe. Edelman has thrown for 1,143 yards and six touchdowns, while also running for 345 yards and four scores.
3. The University at Buffalo still isn't any good. The Bulls played Auburn University tough, but came crumbling back to earth against Ball State University, letting the Cardinals score on their first six possessions in a 55-25 loss.
4. It's the year of the freshman quarterback, with Ball State (Nate Davis), Central Michigan University (Dan LeFevour), Eastern Michigan University (Andy Schmitt) and the University of Toledo (Aaron Opelt) all putting young guns at the premier offensive position.
5. Ball State still has a chance to win the conference.
It's going to take a lot of work, though for number five to happen, but it's possible.
The West Division - the division to which the Cardinals belong - has a 3-0 team itself in Central Michigan, Ball State's opponent on Saturday.
It's a must-win for the Cardinals, as two conference losses probably won't be good enough this year, unlike 2005 when three teams (the University of Akron, Bowling Green State University and Miami University) shared the East title with a 5-3 record.
A win for the Cardinals would put them in a three-way tie in the loss column with the Chippewas and the winner of the Western Michigan University-Northern Illinois game on Saturday.
If the Cardinals win out, they'd own the tiebreaker with CMU, meaning that Northern Illinois would have to lose another game in the conference.
The best bet for that is Nov. 17, when the Huskies take on Central Michigan.
It's no walk in the park for Ball State though. The Cardinals still have to take on Western Michigan and probable East winner Kent State.
West Division foe Toledo is still left to play. Although the Rockets are struggling right now, it's never an easy win. They did beat the Big 12 Conference's Kansas University earlier this year. However, they were blown out by both Central and Western Michigan.
Can Ball State do what Akron did last year and somehow pull a division championship out of you-know-where? Yes. But the Cards will need to win out in-conference and get some major help. But the possibility's there, and that's all the Cardinals can ask for at this point.
Phil Friend is a graduate journalism major and writes ''Phil'osophy' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Phil at prfriend@bsu.edu.
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