The 98th Battle of the Bricks kicks off with both squads coming off one of their best performances of the year. Ohio (6-3, 4-1 MAC East) dominated then first-place Buffalo last week for most of the game in a 45-24 win, while the RedHawks (4-5, 2-3 MAC East) neutralized a very good Akron passing game in route to a 27-9 victory.
The roles of the teams are just about reversed from last year where Miami came into the November contest with legitimate MAC East title aspirations while Ohio at 1-7 was in a spoiler role. This year, Ohio enters the match-up first in the division ad looking to secure their ticket to Detroit, while Miami is in a must-win situation if they hope to keep thier postseason and MAC divisional hopes alive.