The set-up: Central Michigan opened the year 3-0, including a controversial win at now-No. 10 Oklahoma St (in the AP poll). CMU got to 5-2 with a triple-OT win at Northern Illinois back on Oct. 15 but the Chippewas then lost three in a row while allowing 31.7 PPG. However, the Chippewas snapped their three-game losing streak (and became bowl-eligible at 6-5) with a 27-20 win over Ohio last Tuesday, which also prevented the Bobcats from clinching a trip to the conference title game. Eastern Michigan is also 6-5 but its record is a bigger deal. After all, EMU hadn't won more than two games in any season since 2011, so second-year head coach Chris Creighton has to be quite pleased with the turnaround (Eagles were 1-11 in his first season, last year).

Central Michigan: The 2016 season appeared pretty promising but the Chippewas will travel to Ypsilanti with a 6-5 overall record and a 3-4 MAC mark but still have a chance to reach seven wins for the third straight season. CMU's Cooper Rush entered 2016 as one of the MAC's top QBs and is closing in on the conference record for most career passing yards. Rush has passed for 12,387 yards over the last four years and needs just over 800 yards (518) to pass former Chippewa Dan LeFevour for the No. 1 spot in the MAC record book. Rush has thrown for 3,043 yards with 23 TDs and 12 INTs ( he had 3,848 yards with a 25-11 ratio in 2015) but his completion percentage has dropped from 66.3 (2015) to 61.2 in 2016. CMU averages 28.3 PPG (70th) and will face an EMU defense allowing 31.2 PPG (89th).

Eastern Michigan: Becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since 1995 is an accomplishment in itself for Eastern Michigan and coach Chris Creighton. However, EMU's only pervious bowl appearance came way back in 1987. A 6-6 record may not get the Eagles into a bowl game in 2016. Truth be told, the Eagles should already have a seventh win. They led Northern Illinois 21-0 at halftime last week, only to allow 24 unanswered points on their way to a 31-24 OT loss. RB Ian Eriksen ran for 171 yards and two TDs (giving him 280 rushing yards the last two games with 4 TDs) but QB Brogan Roback threw two interceptions in one of his worst performances of the season. Roback is no Rush to be sure, throwing for a modest 2,039 yards and completing 57.8% (his 14-5 ratio is OK but just 14 TD passes in eight games is nothing to brag about).

The pick: MAC schools don't receive a lot of respect, so having seven wins is sure a much bigger appeal than a 6-6 team would be to a bowl committee. The Eagles have not defeated Central Michigan since 2011, so there's plenty of motivation on the sideline for Creighton and this program but John Bonamego's CMU squad will surely want to add to the program's dominance over its in-state rival and a seventh win all but guarantees a third straight bowl trip for the Chippewas, as well as a fourth trip in five season. Central Michigan is a 10* play.