Not a very good start to be sure, with the game you mentioned and of particular interest to me, the Akron implosion at Cincy last Saturday. This is supposed to be a big year for the Zips, but we shall see. Lots of new faces in many places that probably need a bit of time to come together.
On the plus side, two unheralded teams Ball State (who took care of a good Xavier team tonight) and Eastern Michigan appear to be much improved, and I still expect some good things from NIU, Miami and Akron .
Overall.as you suggest, I suspect that the MAC is down a bit this year. Clearly, CMU and Kent will not have the great teams they have fielded the past year or two.
Much to early to bury the entire conference yet though.