From not suffering a losing season since 2009 to making three MAC Championships within that same span, Toledo football has done enough to be regarded as one of the Group of 6’s elites.
Small problem though—consistent success often stems from little discourse, so when losing a head coach that’s led the charge for a decade, fears of a setback are far from impractical. With that being the exact scenario the 2026 Rockets are in after Jason Candle’s skip to UConn, am I insane for thinking that even a team of their usual triumph could lose some ground? Luckily, if their schedule has anything to say about it, I’d assume the answer's yes.
Dramatic buildup aside, Toledo has one of the easiest schedules that a…“vulnerable” program’s ever had in my years covering college football. That’s because it’s reassuring by even MAC standards, with five of its eight conference opponents ending last season in the red (including fierce rival Bowling Green, whom the Rockets have the luxury of hosting).
As for the three who didn’t, they’re not particularly unbeatable themselves: Western Michigan (whom Toledo gave a fright in 2025 and will also be hosting), Sacramento State (the newbie that will take on the Rockets in their return from a bye), and Ohio (who’s no stranger to its own coaching switcharoos these days).
But through it all, the MAC still can’t take all the credit, as Toledo has a colorful array of non-conference opposition that, while commendable, is just flawed enough that the Rockets getting a 4-0 start out of it sits on the edge of possibility.
First up is Michigan State in East Lansing, which—hear me out—doesn’t feel like a death sentence, because I think we can all agree that these aren’t your older brother’s Spartans, as the boys they got today would probably sell their souls for a bowl game right now. Winning doesn’t get much harder from there, as home games against CCSU, Temple and San Diego State are all that stand behind Sparty.
The trickiest of that threesome is undeniably SDSU, but even the Aztecs are not beyond some flightiness, so when considering that inconsistency is the number-one killer in sports, they're nothing more than a toss-up in my eyes.
There’s no solid reason to expect even a perfect-adjacent Toledo this fall, but will the Rockets be able to survive this latest coaching change and add to their formidability streak with relative ease? Unless the majority of their opponents turn it ON at the same time, I’m rather confident that yes, they will.
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