Bobcats are threat to repeat (’68 crown)

Media picks N. Illinois in West, with Miami just behind OU in East.

DETROIT — Frank Solich is closing in on his 100th victory at Ohio. In a league where coaches come and go, he has built a consistently successful program and stuck with it for a while.

All that’s really left for the Bobcats to do is win the title.

“I like our players. I like their ability, I like their confidence. I like the leadership,” Solich said. “All that needs to obviously come together.”

Ohio hasn’t won a Mid-American Conference championship since 1968, but the Bobcats have played in the title game four times under Solich, most recently in 2016. In a college coaching career that has included six seasons at Nebraska and 13 at Ohio, Solich has only had two losing seasons.

“Been a coach for 50 years, and only been to four different schools — two of them high schools,” he said. “Any time I go to a school, I’m not looking for the next job. I’m just looking at doing my job and trying to do it as well as I possibly can. I enjoy being around young guys, and so I get attached to players. One day seems to lead to the next, and here we are.”

Successful MAC coaches can become targets for bigger programs, but Solich — who came within a victory of a BCS title while at Nebraska — has remained somewhat under the radar since coming to Ohio. This could be the year the Bobcats have been waiting for. Quarterback Nathan Rourke is back after throwing for 2,203 yards and rushing for 912 last season.

The Bobcats tied a MAC single-season record with 44 touchdowns on the ground. Rourke had 21 of them.

Ohio finished a game behind Akron in the MAC East last year, while Toledo won the West and the league title game. The Rockets are again among the favorites in the West, but Northern Illinois, which went to six straight MAC title games from 2010-15, is eager to return to the top.

Ohio and Northern Illinois were the picks to win the divisions in the MAC’s preseason media poll , but seven of the league’s 12 teams received at least one first-place vote. “We have a chance, but so do a lot of other schools,” Solich said.

Defending champs: Toledo finally broke through for its first title since 2004, but the Rockets will be tested in September when they host a nonconference showdown against ACC power Miami.

Toledo led at Miami at halftime last year and trailed 38-30 midway through the fourth quarter — before a couple of late touchdowns by the Hurricanes put the game away.

In decline?: