Conference Logo
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Bowl Subdivision football conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members located in Illinois, Indiana and New York.
The MAC is headquartered in the Public Square district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The MAC has been referred to as the Conference of Quarterbacks[1] because of the accomplishments of numerous former players in the National Football League. The MAC ranks highest among all eleven NCAA Division I FBS conferences for graduation rates.
Teams[]
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Akron Zips | Akron, OH | InfoCision Stadium - Summa Field | 27,000 |
| Ball State Cardinals | Muncie, IN | Scheumann Stadium | 25,400 |
| Bowling Green Falcons | Bowling Green, OH | Doyt Perry Stadium | 23,724 |
| Buffalo Bulls | Amherst, NY | UB Stadium | 31,000 |
| Central Michigan Chippewas | Mount Pleasant, MI | Kelly-Shorts Stadium | 30,255 |
| Eastern Michigan Eagles | Ypsilanti, MI | Rynearson Stadium | 30,200 |
| Kent State Golden Flashes | Kent, OH | Dix Stadium | 20,500 |
| Miami (OH) Redhawks | Oxford, OH | Yager Stadium | 24,286 |
| Northern Illinois Huskies | DeKalb, IL | Huskie Stadium | 30,076 |
| Ohio Bobcats | Athens, OH | Peden Stadium | 24,000 |
| Toledo Rockets | Toledo, OH | Glass Bowl | 26,248 |
| Western Michigan Broncos | Kalamazoo, MI | Waldo Stadium | 30,200 |
Former Teams[]
- Marshall - moved to Conference USA in 2004.
- Temple - moved to the Big East Conference in 2012.
- Massachusetts - became an independent school in 2016.
Seasons[]
History[]
Former conference logo
The Mid-American Conference charter members were Ohio University, Butler University, the University of Cincinnati, Wayne State University and Western Reserve University, one of the predecessors to today's Case Western Reserve University. Wayne State never participated and quickly bowed out. Butler left after the first year. Miami University and Western Michigan University took the place of those charter members for the 1948 season. By the time the University of Cincinnati left after the 1952–1953 season, the MAC had already added University of Toledo (1950), Kent State University (1951) and Bowling Green State University (1952).
The membership stayed steady for the next two decades except for the addition of Marshall University in 1954 and the departure of Western Reserve, which chose to de-emphasize intercollegiate athletics. Marshall was kicked out of the conference in 1969. The first major expansion since the 1950s took place in the mid-1970s with the addition of Central Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University in 1972 and Ball State University and Northern Illinois University in 1973. Northern Illinois left after the 1986 season. The University of Akron joined the conference in 1992. The conference became the largest in Division I-A with the re-admittance of Marshall and Northern Illinois and addition of the University at Buffalo in 1997 and 1998, respectively. The University of Central Florida joined for football only in 2001, becoming the first football-only member in conference history. Marshall (a second time) and Central Florida would leave after the 2004–2005 academic year, both joining Conference USA in all sports.
In May 2005, Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania signed a six year contract with the MAC as a football-only school, and began play in the East Division in 2007.
Former members[]
Commissioners[]
- Dave Reese, 1946–1964
- Bob James, 1964–1971
- Fred Jacoby, 1971–1982
- Jim Lessig, 1982–1990
- Karl Benson, 1990–1994
- Jerry Ippoliti, 1994–1999
- Rick Chryst, 1999–present
MAC Championship Game[]
From 1997 to 2003, the Mid-American Conference championship game was played at campus sites (home team in bold). From 2004 to the present, the game is played at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
| Year | Winner | Loser | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Marshall | Toledo | 34-14 |
| 1998 | Marshall | Toledo | 23-17 |
| 1999 | Marshall | Western Michigan | 34-30 |
| 2000 | Marshall | Western Michigan | 19-14 |
| 2001 | Toledo | Marshall | 41-36 |
| 2002 | Marshall | Toledo | 49-45 |
| 2003 | Miami (OH) | Bowling Green | 49-27 |
| 2004 | Toledo | Miami (OH) | 35-27 |
| 2005 | Akron | Northern Illinois | 31-30 |
| 2006 | Central Michigan | Ohio | 31-10 |
| 2007 | Central Michigan | Miami (OH) | 35-10 |
| 2008 | Buffalo | Ball State | 42-24 |
| 2009 | Central Michigan | Ohio | 20-10 |
| 2010 | Miami (OH) | Northern Illinois | 26-21 |
| 2011 | Northern Illinois | Ohio | 23-20 |
| 2012 | Northern Illinois | Kent State | 44-37 (2OT) |
| 2013 | Bowling Green | Northern Illinois | 47-27 |
| 2014 | Northern Illinois | Bowling Green | 51-17 |
| 2015 | Bowling Green | Northern Illinois | 34-14 |
Conference Rivalries[]
| School | School | First Meeting | Game | Trophy | Winner (Last Meeting) |
Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akron | Kent State | 1946 | Wagon Wheel | Kent State (2012) |
Kent State (22-19-1) | |
| Bowling Green | Toledo | 1946 | Battle of I-75 | Peace Pipe | Toledo (2012) |
Toledo (18-15) |
| Bowling Green | Kent State | 1985 | Battle for the Anniversary Award | Kent State (2012) |
Bowling Green (20-7) | |
| C. Michigan | W. Michigan | 1907 | CMU-WMU Rivalry Trophy | Central Michigan (2008) |
Western Michigan (45-36-2) | |
| Miami (OH) | Cincinnati | 1888 | Victory Bell | Cincinnati (2012) |
Miami (59-51-7) | |
| Ball State | NIU | 2008 | Bronze Stalk Trophy | NIU (2012) |
NIU (4-1) |
Refrences[]
- ↑ "International Bowl 2008". Retrieved on 2008-01-22.