If Ball State is the 14th-best team in the nation, than Charlie Weis is the coach of the year. How this team is ranked higher than BYU, TCU, LSU and even Tulsa is beyond me.

The Cardinals put their unbeaten season on the line Tuesday night against fellow MAC opponent Miami of Ohio and they came away with a 31-16 victory. They might have won by double-digits, but this was one of the least impressive performances by ranked team I’ve seen all season.

First and foremost, Miami of Ohio is a bottom feeder in the MAC. Yet they were able to score on every possession in the first half except for one, which they could have scored on had they not turned the ball over on a fumble in Ball State territory. Had the Redbirds not killed touchdown drives on their own with poor execution (i.e. dropped passes, passes thrown into double-coverage, etc.), they could have easily hung 30-plus points on the Cardinals. At one point late in the second half, a Miami receiver dropped a touchdown pass with nobody around him because the defender had fallen down 10 yards away from the play. And again, this isn’t a very good Miami of Ohio team. Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t lining up under center. If they played even a decent MAC team on Tuesday night the Cardinals probably lose.

Granted, this was only one game and they did crush Northern Illinois (a decent MAC team) a week ago. But if Ball State gets into a BCS bowl game (highly, highly unlikely even if they go undefeated), they’ll get shredded. If they played Florida tomorrow, they would lose by 70. If they played anybody with remotely a decent defense, they would get embarrassed.

Nate Davis is a great player and Ball State’s offense is fun to watch against other MAC opponents, but this isn’t like previous years where an undefeated Boise State or West Virginia team deserves a chance to see what they can do against the big boys. In fact, I’d be willing to say that the Cardinals don’t get past Central Michigan or Western Michigan the next two weeks. I don’t mean to crap all over a nice story, but the reality of the situation is that Ball doesn’t have the horses to stack up against other ranked programs.

Update: Eating crow: Ball State is no joke