No. 6 Central Michigan (6-4, 0-0)

Chicago Bulls fans are used to the phrase “rebuilding year” by now. CMU evidently never has heard of the word. After losing three All-Americans to graduation, the Chippewas inexplicably have become deeper. Beside Wynn Michalak sitting at No. 1 in the country at 197 pounds, all but one starter has a top-20 ranking in their weight class. But don’t think they’re beating up on the little guys. CMU is ranked No. 6 in the nation and has faced seven ranked foes, including Minnesota, Michigan and Oklahoma. A fourth place finish at the National Duals and second place finishes at Reno and the Midlands has CMU looking unstoppable in the MAC.

No. 23 NIU (4-4, 1-0)

As far as their schedule is concerned, the Huskies are masochists. With perhaps its most difficult schedule in program history, NIU kicked off the season against ranked opponents Northwestern, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa. After biding his time behind Sam Hiatt for two seasons, Pat Castillo officially has become the team stud. Ranked No. 11 in the nation at 125 pounds, Castillo has proved he is an elite with dominating victories.

NIU’s strength is undeniably at its stacked low weights with national qualifiers Josh Wooton and Mike Grimes at 141 and 149 pounds respectively. Danny Burk has come alive at 174 pounds, but the rest of the lineup is streaky. Only winning three of 20 matches at the National Duals probably stung the team’s pride, but if the low weights can dominate, the Huskies will continue their national rise.

Kent State (7-3, 0-0)

When the top two wrestlers on the team from last season are mired in sub-.500 seasons, usually it means the squad is like Titanic in search of an iceberg. But surprisingly, the disappointing performances by Drew Opfer and Jason Bake have not slowed the Golden Flashes. Kent State’s strength comes from its one-two punch of Aaron Miller and Alex Camargo at 174 and 184 pounds (42-8 combined record). With Chad Sportelli and Danny Mitcheff holding down the fort at the low weights, Kent State has a solid, balanced lineup that jumped out to a 7-1 start.

While they did fall to Missouri and Oklahoma State in the National Duals, the Golden Flashes stayed competitive and are looking to prove themselves in MAC action. With no inflated expectations before the season (unlike Buffalo), Kent State is a dark horse to overtake the Huskies.

Buffalo (5-3, 0-1)

Hype can be deadly, and it seems to be catching up to Buffalo right about now. After finishing dead last in the MAC last season with a woeful 3-10 record, the Bulls were predicted to finish tied for second with NIU this season.

But Buffalo seems to be hitting the skids at the wrong time. Thanks to a largely cream puff schedule of Appalachian State, Mercyhurst and Gardner Webb, the Bulls dominated to a 5-1 start. There’s no knocking their top-flight talent with Mark Budd at 133 pounds (23-3) and complete surprise ranked heavyweight Harold Sherrell (23-4). Kyle Cerminara (25-0) at 197 pounds is lights out and is No. 3 in the country for a reason – he just pins opponents to the floor. What is keeping Buffalo from moving to the next level is the rest of the lineup beyond the star power. The Bulls can’t count on Budd and Cerminara to pin every opponent to win the close ones against quality competition.

Ohio (5-4, 1-0)

So how does Ohio replace a four-time All-American who won close to 90 percent of his matches? It doesn’t. Jake Percival was the linchpin of the team for the last four years, and with his legendary career now over, Ohio is starting over with four freshmen starters and no seniors.

The Bobcats have been consistently inconsistent with losses against such “powerhouses” as Slippery Rock, East Stroudsburg and Findlay. The Bobcats lineup has no dominator this year, with a starting lineup record of 87-72. Tournaments have not been kind, either, as Ohio has finished in the bottom half of the field in all four of its invitational meets this year.

Several starters are returning from injury, but the real challenges in its schedule are coming up with NIU, CMU and Kent State all on tap. The Bobcats seemingly are finding their legs with wins over EMU and North Carolina State, but they are far from a legitimate contender for the MAC.

Eastern Michigan (2-5, 0-1)

Of all the MAC teams, Eastern Michigan should garner the most sympathy. All the Michigan wrestling talent goes straight to Mt. Pleasant, Ann Arbor or East Lansing, leaving EMU to pick up the crumbs. After fielding national qualifiers Ed Magrys and J.J. Holmes in their lineup last season, the Eagles have taken a step back this year and have been reduced to league doormats thus far. Jermain Thompson at 149 pounds and Sean Clair at 125 pounds will keep EMU competitive, but EMU simply does not have the talent to challenge the MAC’s big boys.