Black Friday MACtion delivers a rivalry rematch — Toledo's revamped roster heads to Athens to test the defending MAC champs' 13-game home winning streak.
Bush’s Picks
TOLOHIO
TOLOHIO
OverUnder
Best BetToledo
Toledo's portal haul and returning O-line continuity give the Rockets a real shot to win outright on the road, even against a program with Ohio's recent track record. The preseason poll already has Toledo ranked ahead of Ohio, and a first-year staff with more proven pieces around an unproven QB tends to travel better than one starting from scratch at the position. Backing the Rockets here is a bet on roster depth over program pedigree.
Toledo
+picked 3rd in MAC preseason poll, ahead of Ohio
+landed the MAC's top-ranked transfer class, incl. FCS DPOY Zock
+four returning starters up front on the O-line
−first season under new coach Mike Jacobs
−Richter has just 699 yards, 7 TDs over two years
−lost longtime coach Candle to UConn
Ohio
+defending MAC champions, won the 2025 Frisco Bowl
+13-game home winning streak at Peden Stadium
+40 wins since 2022, one of the MAC's steadiest programs
−lost dual-threat QB Parker Navarro to an eligibility denial
−first year under new coach John Hauser
−picked only 4th in the preseason poll
Both programs show up to this one breaking in a new head coach and, in Ohio's case, an entirely new starting quarterback. Mike Jacobs takes over the Rockets after Jason Candle bolted for UConn, and he's leaning on John Alan Richter, who's thrown for just 699 yards and 7 touchdowns combined over the past two seasons, to finally run the show. Ohio's situation is murkier — Parker Navarro, who accounted for 2,375 passing yards and 23 total touchdowns last year, was denied a waiver for extra eligibility, leaving new coach John Hauser to sort out a QB room with no proven starts.
Toledo isn't rebuilding quietly, either. The Rockets landed the MAC's top-ranked transfer portal class, headlined by 2025 FCS Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Zock and 11 total all-conference transfers, and they bring back four starters up front on the offensive line. That kind of infusion is exactly what a first-year staff wants heading into a road atmosphere, even if the betting markets haven't fully sorted out how good either of these teams actually is yet.
Show fees
11:00 AM CT
Spread
ML
Total
TOL Toledo
OHIO Ohio
This is also a genuine rivalry, not just a late-season MAC East formality. Toledo holds a 33-21-1 edge in the all-time series and the two schools squared off for the conference crown as recently as the 2022 MAC Championship Game. Ohio enters as the defending MAC champion off a 9-win season and a Frisco Bowl win, while Toledo is coming off an 8-5 campaign and a Boca Raton Bowl trip — so there's real pride, and real stakes, riding on a Black Friday kickoff in Athens.
Toledo Rockets
Nov 20?vs Bowling Green—
Nov 10?vs Massachusetts—
Nov 3?@ Sacramento State—
Oct 16?@ Eastern Michigan—
Oct 9?vs Buffalo—
Oct 2?@ Ball State—
Sep 25?vs San Diego State—
Sep 19?vs Temple—
Sep 12?vs Central Connecticut—
Sep 4?@ Michigan State—
Ohio Bobcats
Nov 17?vs Ball State—
Nov 10?@ Miami (OH)—
Nov 3?@ Akron—
Oct 16?@ Sacramento State—
Oct 9?vs Central Michigan—
Oct 2?@ Kent State—
Sep 26?vs Stonehill—
Sep 19?@ South Alabama—
Sep 12?vs Jacksonville State—
Sep 5?@ Nebraska—
Recent form.
The preseason coaches poll had Toledo picked 3rd in the MAC and Ohio 4th, a modest gap that reflects how unsettled both rosters look on paper right now. Ohio's case for staying near the top of the league is its sheer continuity of winning — 40 victories since 2022 — even as the names change year to year. Toledo's case is that new-era rosters built through the portal can hit the ground running faster than a from-scratch quarterback battle.
None of that changes what Ohio brings to its own building: a 13-game home winning streak at Peden Stadium, the longest in program history. That's the number Toledo's new-look roster has to answer for on the road, regardless of who's lined up at quarterback for either side by the time Black Friday rolls around.
Toledo Rockets
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Ohio Bobcats
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
However the depth charts settle over fall camp, this is shaping up as a rivalry game decided as much by which new coaching staff has its team playing disciplined, mistake-free football as by raw talent. That's a fitting way to close out MAC East business in late November.
