For Butch Jones, the worst part of Wednesday’s loss was the scenario it presented.

For the first time since 2005, CMU must rely on other teams to decide its placement in the Mid-American Conference West Division.

“We can only control what we can control,” he said following Wednesday’s 31-24 loss to No. 14 ranked Ball State. “And that’s to come back with a great attitude and send our seniors off as winners and finish 9-3.”

The loss marked the first conference game since Nov. 12, 2005, when the team lost to Western Michigan, that the Chippewas lost without having the West Division clinched.

CMU travels to Ypsilanti on Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving. The Chippewas are 1-3 against the Eagles since 2004.

Last season, CMU lost 48-45 to Eastern on Nov. 17, but the Chippewas already had clinched the MAC West the week before.

The last time Central played Eastern in November with a possible conference title at stake was Nov. 1. 1980, when the Chippewas defeated EMU 51-15.

In 1980, CMU had lost its MAC game before the EMU game as well. It would finish that season as conference champions.

Junior receiver Bryan Anderson is hoping for a similar outcome this season.

“We only have one more game and then a bowl game after that,” Anderson said. “We’ve just got to take care of business next week against Eastern Michigan and then we’ll see what happens from there.”

The Chippewas also need rival Western Michigan to defeat the Cardinals on Tuesday. If the Broncos win and Central defeats Eastern Michigan on Nov. 28, it presents a three-way tie between Western, Ball State and Central.

Jones said his team is unconcerned with the tiebreaker situation.

Rather, his team is focused on ending the regular season with nine wins, the most since the Chippewas finished the 1994 MAC Championship season 9-2.

“Our kids will be focused,” Jones said. “That’s my job as a head coach to get these guys back. We’ll get them back because we’ve got high character kids that are very competitive.”

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E-mail the author: Justin Berndt