Can the Toledo Rockets join an exclusive club by winning the MAC Championship Game in consecutive seasons? As our Toledo season predictions explain, Jason Candle’s team are well positioned to create program history while joining some elite company in the MAC record books.
Toledo Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the MAC and across the country.
Find Every MAC Season Prediction per team: Ball State | Central Michigan | Eastern Michigan | Northern Illinois | Toledo | Western Michigan | Akron | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Kent State | Miami (OH) | Ohio
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, the Toledo season predictions hint at a return to the MAC Championship Game in the 2023 college football season.
Week 1 – Toledo @ Illinois: Loss, 19-27
Toledo’s Big Ten opponent a year ago was Ohio State, so we’re not comparing apples to apples ahead of the first-ever matchup between the Rockets and Illinois. Although the Illini lost several pieces of their dominating defense to the NFL, Bret Bielema’s team will be one of the few units that can thwart the Toledo offense this fall, resulting in a Rockets loss.
Week 2 – Toledo vs. Texas Southern: Win, 40-10
Although Texas Southern has produced multiple Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, it’s been a while since the program tasted significant football success. Toledo, meanwhile, consistently sweeps aside its non-FBS opposition, and there’s no reason to believe that the Rockets won’t cruise to a comfortable first win of the season.
MORE: MAC RB Rankings 2023
Week 3 – Toledo vs. San Jose State: Win, 29-26
In a clash between two impressive offenses, the team that can stand tall and stop the other will likely emerge as the victor in this Week 3 clash between the MAC and Mountain West. San Jose State lost the bulk of its defensive production to the NFL, handing the advantage to the Rockets in a close game.
Week 4 – Toledo vs. Western Michigan: Win, 31-19
Western Michigan rode Sean Tyler to a victory over the Rockets in the final round of the regular season, but don’t expect the Broncos to do the same again this fall. Tyler is gone, and so is the key defensive cog Braden Fiske. Toledo is too strong on both sides of the ball for Western Michigan to come close this time around.
Week 5 – Toledo vs. Northern Illinois: Win, 30-25
Thomas Hammock’s Northern Illinois teams have been built on offensive success, and with Trayvon Rudolph and Antario Brown, the Huskies have the firepower to at least try to compete with Toledo. Despite an improved defense coming out of spring, the Huskies fail to halt the Toledo offense.
Week 6 – Toledo @ UMass: Win, 41-17
After losing to UMass in 1976, Toledo has won six straight games stretching back to 1983. The Rockets are 4-0 against the Minutemen since the turn of the century, and with multiple question marks at key positions for UMass, there’s no reason to expect anything other than a comfortable Toledo win.
Week 7 – Toledo @ Ball State: Win, 35-20
Despite defeats in 2021 and 2022, Ball State kept Toledo under 30 points in both of those contests. However, with cornerbacks Nic Jones and Amechi Uzodinma II both now on NFL rosters, the Cardinals have a secondary that is ripe for taking advantage of. In Dequan Finn, Toledo has just the quarterback to do it.
Week 8 – Toledo @ Miami (OH): Win, 31-24
After over 10 years without facing each other, Toledo travels to Oxford to face a Miami RedHawks team looking to return to bowl eligibility for a third consecutive season. The last time they did that was in the 1970s, but a defeat to Toledo dents their chances. Toledo QB Finn and Brett Gabbert duking it out should be one of the more entertaining battles to watch this fall.
Week 10 – Toledo vs. Buffalo: Win, 29-27
With ascending QB Cole Snyder, an impressive running back room, and one of the best defenses in the MAC, Buffalo is set to be a thorn in the side of many teams this season. Despite fighting the Rockets hard, however, the Bulls come up just short against a Toledo team that matches their MAC win-total from last year with three games to spare.
Week 11 – Toledo vs. Eastern Michigan: Win, 32-24
Toledo won a close game in Ypsilanti on their way to the 2022 MAC title, and they knock off Eastern Michigan for the second successive season with a one-score Week 11 win. Although it should be a tightly fought game, Toledo has a clear edge on both sides of the ball, especially with the Eagles’ NFL departures including Sidy Sow and Jose Ramirez.
MORE: MAC QB Rankings 2023
Week 12 – Toledo @ Bowling Green: Win, 32-19
After 87 editions of The Battle of I-75 – and the other names this rivalry game has taken – the two teams are split by just one game heading into the 2023 college football season. However, our Toledo season predictions suggest that this clash won’t mirror the closeness of the historical head-to-head, with the Falcons unable to take the offensive spark out of the Rockets.
Week 13 – Toledo @ Central Michigan: Win, 34-20
Continuing on a common theme throughout our Toledo season predictions, the Rockets simply have too much talent and offensive explosiveness to be tamed by a Central Michigan team that could see some struggles this fall.
Toledo’s 11-win season would be just the ninth double-digit win campaign in Rockets history. They could add two more with a MAC Championship Game win and bowl game success.
