Marshall, Toledo top picks for MAC title game
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 4, 2004
DETROIT - The Marshall Thundering Herd may be the Beast of the East, but they may not be the Best of the Rest.
The Mid-American Conference annual preseason media poll has tabbed Marshall the team to beat in the East Division but the Toledo Rockets are the favorite to win the league championship.
The Herd enters its final season in the MAC as a slight favorite among the media to return to the top spot and unseat last season's division and league champion Miami.
Marshall, which joins Conference USA next year, received 21 first place votes and 258 points while Miami was right behind with 257 points and 18 first place votes despite the loss of NFL first round draft pick Ben Roethlisberger.
Herd quarterback Stan Hill is healthy and will be a key factor if Marshall is to win another MAC title.
''Toledo has a great team. I’m just glad they have us up there in the championship game,&uot; Hill said.
Akron was a distant third followed by Central Florida, Kent State, Ohio University and Buffalo.
In the West, Toledo was the odds-on choice with 34 first place votes and 278 points. Northern Illinois and Bowling Green each received three first place votes and had 225 and 223 points, respectively.
Besides being the top choice in the West, Toledo is also the Mid-American Conference News Media Association's pick to win the MAC Championship game. Toledo was awarded 22 votes to win the league title game while Marshall was second with nine votes.
The Thundering Herd will open the 2004 season at home against Troy on September 4th.
Season tickets are available for as little as $65 and can be purchased by calling 1-800-THE-HERD or going online at www.Herdzone.com