If the Mid-American Conference media are correct, Ohio University’s football team is embarking on another banner season.

The Bobcats have been a bowl team the last three years. They are picked to win the MAC East Division and the conference championship game. The East vote? Unanimous.

“I’m not real sure what that means,” admitted eighth-year coach Frank Solich, contemplating the perfect vote last Tuesday during MAC Media Day at Ford Field. “People look at the number of starters you have coming back, and we have a bunch. And they look at your quarterback.

“It’s a team with talent, a tremendous work ethic, and that believes in itself,” he added.

Redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton is among 15 returning starters for Ohio, which posted a 10-4 record en route to the East championship last year.

Tettleton threw for 3,302 yards and 28 touchdowns as the Bobcats lost to Northern Illinois 23-20 in the MAC title game, then beat Utah State 24-23 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

“He’s a tremendous student of the game,” Solich said of Tettleton, who completed 267-of-415 passes and was intercepted 10 times last fall. “I think he’ll just continue to make himself the kind of player mentally that takes great care of the ball and doesn’t make many mistakes.”

OU wants to quicken the pace of its spread offense a bit this season, and Solich figures the mobile, hard-nosed Tettleton is the perfect guy for that.

The receiver position is a bit of a question mark, thanks to the departure of Indianapolis Colts draft pick LaVon Brazill (74 catches, 1,146 yards, 11 TDs) and Lakota East High School graduate Riley Dunlop (43 catches, 586 yards, six TDs). But the line is big and experienced.

“We’ve got the kind of people up front that you need to play football,” Solich said. “It’s an excellent offensive line, and we’ve got depth there.”

Defensively, the Bobcats were very good when they needed to be in 2011 and return eight starters. Solich believes redshirt senior Travis Carrie can be one of the best cornerbacks in the country. The OU coach likes his talent up front, but added, “We need to (bring) pressure with our four-man front if we want to be great.”

Ohio has an intriguing season opener at Penn State. With the program in turmoil in State College, it’s hard to predict what kind of team the Nittany Lions will put on the field Sept. 1.

“You can have sleepless nights worrying about that, but that won’t happen with me,” Solich said. “No matter who they put on the football field, they’re going to be talented athletes. It’s going to be a challenge for us to go in there and get it done.”

The Bobcats begin MAC play at Massachusetts on Sept. 29.