Dan LeFevour 1. The best player nobody knows is Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour. The junior has a pair of 3,000-yard passing seasons and in 2007 fell a rushing touchdown short of joining Tim Tebow as a 20-20 scorer. The Chippewas play at Georgia the second week of the season. If LeFevour plays well, his will become a name everyone knows.
Eugene Jarvis2. Junior Eugene Jarvis of Kent State is the nation's leading returning rusher, an amazing feat when you consider that everyone knew Jarvis would get the ball -- the Golden Flashes finished last in the MAC in passing. It won't take much to turn around Kent State's 3-9 record. All seven MAC losses came by margins of seven to 11 points.
3. Buffalo has 17 returning starters from last season's 5-7 team, none of them as important as third-year coach Turner Gill, a finalist to take over at his alma mater, Nebraska. If the Bulls continue to improve and actually win the East, Gill will have manufactured one of the greatest turnarounds of this generation. The key? Finding some linebackers. The preseason depth chart shows two freshmen and a sophomore on the first team. Nate Davis 1. Will Ball State keep it going? With quarterback Nate Davis returning, the Cardinals figure to have another explosive offense. Will Ball State have enough defense to match last season's 7-6 finish?
2. Can Al Golden do the impossible at Temple? The former Virginia assistant has stockpiled better-than-average talent the past two years and might have the Owls poised to contend in the MAC East. Temple has 21 starters coming back from a team that won four games last season -- after winning only four games in four years.
Gregg Brandon3. Will Gregg Brandon become the next hot MAC coach? Brandon led Bowling Green to an 8-5 record last season, which ended with a disappointing 63-7 loss to Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl. The Falcons doubled their victory total from 2006 and should be potent on offense again this season. With another strong performance, Brandon might follow in the footsteps of his former boss, Urban Meyer, who parlayed the job into a better one.
