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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[]

Seasons[]

History[]

File:MidAmericanConference 100.png

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[]

  1. "International Bowl 2008". Retrieved on 2008-01-22.

External links[]

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