The football team still has a lot to prove before it is respected around the Mid-American Conference as a perennial title-challenger.

MAC coaches and players gathered at The Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center Monday for MAC Football Media Day. The 2006 MAC News Media Association Preseason Poll has CMU finishing fourth in the West Division for the 2006 season.

Central is picked to finish behind Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan in the division.

"The poll looks right to me," said CMU coach Brian Kelly. "I think NIU and Toledo should be picked one-two. Whatever coin you flip and it lands those two should be one-two; that's because they have rings and trophies to back that up."

Ball State and Eastern Michigan were picked to finish at the bottom of the West Division.

"We're still moving the program forward," said EMU coach Jeff Genyk. "We're still trying to transform these players from 'me' players to 'we' players."

As for his team, Kelly said last year's team wasn't mentally all there but this year the players are ready to take the next step and compete for a conference championship.

"We weren't quite there last year," he said. "We were ready to do the deal but going into this season we believe that we're capable of winning a championship."

The East Division has Akron repeating as division champs, with annual contenders Miami and Bowling Green rounding out the top three. Ohio, Kent State and Buffalo finish out the MAC East.

Akron and NIU faced off in last season’s MAC title game, with the Zips edging the Huskies 31-30 at Ford Field in Detroit.

NIU coach Joe Novak said he and his player don’t take much stock in the poll.

"It's nice to talk about, but you have to play," Novak said. "It's great that people think we got a chance, but who picked Akron last year? And if we lose Garrett Wolfe in the second game then we're a different football team. When push comes to shove, it don't mean nothing."

NIU, with 37 votes, was the choice to win the MAC title game. Toledo (eight), Akron (three), Miami (one) and Western (one) also received votes.

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