Brian Manzullo

Detroit Free Press

It's time to talk about that 6-0 football team in the state of Michigan.

No, not that one. The other one.

While Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines are steamrolling the competition halfway through the college football season, fourth-year coach P.J. Fleck and the Western Michigan Broncos are making some serious Cinderella noise in Kalamazoo, storming into the Top 25 polls for the first time in school history and looking like clear favorites to win their first Mid-American Conference championship since 1988.

WMU is 6-0, including two road wins against Big Ten teams: Northwestern in the season opener (22-21) and Illinois in Week 3 (34-10). It destroyed rival Central Michigan on the road, 49-10. It's outscoring opponents 269-123. Even Northern Illinois, which has won the past six MAC West championships and three of the past five MAC championships, lost to the Broncos last weekend, 45-30.

Leading the way for WMU is a lethal offense, ranking No. 7 in the nation with 44.8 points per game. Senior quarterback Zach Terrell is throwing at a 70.6% clip with 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Senior wide receiver Corey Davis is a match-up nightmare, has eight touchdowns already and is a likely first-round selection in next spring's NFL draft. And then there's Fleck who, preaching the "Row the Boat" mantra, transformed the Broncos from a 1-11 team in 2013 to possibly the best mid-majors in the nation.

Here's one more fun fact for you: Western Michigan is the only team in Division I without a single turnover. Through six games.

So yeah, Western is pretty good. The real question is: Does Western have any real shot at a New Year's Six bowl?

The short answer: Yes. Just not a great one.

(Continue reading below)

The road ahead for WMU

The biggest factor in WMU's favor is its remaining strength of schedule - at Akron, vs. Eastern Michigan, at Ball State, at Kent State, vs. Buffalo and vs. Toledo. According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Western has a 44.2% chance of winning out and a remaining strength of schedule that ranks 109th in the nation. (Thank you, MAC!)

That would leave the MAC championship game which, at this point, would likely pit WMU up against either Akron or Ohio (both 4-2, including 2-0 in MAC play). Either match-up would likely be winnable.

Given how previous MAC teams have fared in the Top 25 polls when going unbeaten in regular-season play, Western could realistically end up in the top half of the rankings, maybe even the Top 12, despite the strength of schedule. Consider Ball State in 2008, under then-coach Brady Hoke (remember him?) - the Cardinals were 12-0 and ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 entering the MAC title game. A win would've likely put Ball State in one of the Bowl Championship Series games, but it lost 42-24 to Buffalo, rendering it a moot point.

And then there was the 2012 Northern Illinois squad that, despite losing 18-17 to Iowa in the season opener in Chicago, ran the table the rest of the way and was a major surprise pick for the Orange Bowl against No. 13 Florida State. Despite a 12-1 record and No. 16 ranking, many thought the Huskies were in over their heads being matched up against the Seminoles - and they were, losing 31-10.

Okay, so what has to happen?

That brings us to this year, which may get a bit complicated.

WMU has a decent shot at 13-0 going into bowl season but, despite six major bowl games instead of four under the old BCS format, there are just two at-large spots for non-Power 5 schools - called the "Group of Five" schools - and both are for the Cotton Bowl.

By rule, the top-ranked conference champion from the "Group of Five" must be selected for one of the Cotton Bowl berths. So a 13-0 Western Michigan team should be picked, right? Problem is, it's also competing with the likes of Boise State (5-0), Houston (5-1) and Navy (4-1) for that spot.

Boise State - the other Broncos team - is the biggest threat, already ranked No. 15 in the polls and a 33.9% chance of winning out and winning the Mountain West. Its toughest test is against BYU, coming up Oct. 20. A 1-loss Houston team is still a threat, ranked No. 12 in the Amway Coaches Poll, but has to play Louisville on Nov. 17. Navy's chances are much smaller, but it's also the team that beat Houston last week, 46-40, and is competing against the Cougars in the American Athletic Conference's West division.

In other words, WMU needs to go 13-0 to have a chance. Even then, depending on how the rest of the college football season shakes out, it could be dicey; if you're a Broncos fan, you'll want to keep an eye on Boise State and Houston from here on out.

As for Western's schedule, the toughest test might be Toledo in the regular season finale on Nov. 25 - the Rockets are 4-1, only losing at BYU 55-53 a couple games ago. Other than that, every game should be a victory - and, with maybe a little luck, WMU could be able to carry its "Row The Boat" mantra into a big New Year's Six bowl match-up.

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.