The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western 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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. For

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, the MAC participates in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision. The MAC is headquartered in the Public Square district in downtown

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and has two members in the nearby Akron area. The conference ranks highest among all ten NCAA Division I FBS conferences for graduation rates.

History

The five charter members of the Mid-American Conference were Ohio University, Butler University, the University of Cincinnati,

Wayne University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

(now Wayne State University), and Western Reserve University, one of the predecessors to today's

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

. Wayne University left after the first year. Miami University and Western Michigan University took the place of those charter members for the 1948 season. The MAC added the University of Toledo (1950), Kent State University (1951), and Bowling Green State University (1952). The University of Cincinnati resigned its membership February 18, 1953, with an effective date of June 1, 1953. Cincinnati's decision was based on a new requirement that at least 5 conference football games would have to be scheduled each season, University President

Raymond Walters Raymond Wadsworth Walters (August 25, 1885 - October 25, 1970) was president of the University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati Coll ...

saying they "...regretfully resign...as the university could not continue under the present setup..." The membership was steady for the next two decades except for the addition of Marshall University in 1954 and the departure of Western Reserve in 1955. Marshall was expelled from the conference in 1969 due to NCAA violations. The first major expansion since the 1950s took place in the mid-1970s with the addition of

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

and Eastern Michigan University in 1972 and

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

and Northern Illinois University in 1973. NIU left after the 1985–86 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 NIU in 1997 and addition of the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

from the University at Buffalo in 1998. The University of Central Florida, a non-football all-sports member in the Atlantic Sun Conference at the time, joined for football only in 2002, becoming the first football-only member in conference history. Marshall and Central Florida left after the 2004–05 academic year, both joining

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

in all sports. In May 2005, the Temple Owls in Philadelphia signed a six-year contract with the MAC as a football-only school and began play in the East Division in 2007. The Louisville Cardinals were a MAC affiliate for field hockey for a number of years when Louisville was a member of the

Metro Conference The Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all in urban metropolitan areas, though its later members did n ...

and Conference USA, winning two MAC tourney titles in 2003 and 2004. The

Missouri State Bears The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University). Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Div ...

, Evansville Purple Aces, and Southern Illinois Salukis participate in the MAC for men's swimming and diving. In 2012, the West Virginia Mountaineers joined the

Florida Atlantic Owls The Florida Atlantic Owls are the athletics teams of Florida Atlantic University. The Owls participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I as members of Conference USA. On October 21, 2021, Florida Atlantic accept ...

and Hartwick College Hawks as men's soccer affiliates. Florida Atlantic departed upon joining Conference USA in 2013. Hartwick's contract was not renewed by the MAC in 2015. Nine schools are wrestling affiliates; most became affiliates when the MAC absorbed the former

Eastern Wrestling League The Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) was an NCAA Division I wrestling-only conference. It was made up mostly of schools from the northeastern United States whose primary conferences did not sponsor wrestling as an NCAA-qualifying event. The teams ha ...

in 2019.

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

and

Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Lo ...

are associates in field hockey; Missouri State had also been a member in that sport from 2005 until dropping field hockey after the 2016 season.

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

is an affiliate in men's tennis. In June 2017,

SIU Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

(SIUE) was invited to become an affiliate member in both men's soccer and wrestling in 2018. When Buffalo suddenly dropped four sports, including men's soccer, SIUE's move in that sport was made immediately. The UMass Minutemen joined the MAC as a football-only member in July 2012; the university announced that the team would leave the MAC at the end of the 2015 season due to contractual issues. Meanwhile, Temple ended its affiliation with the MAC in football and joined the Big East for football in July 2012. Following the split of the Big East into football-sponsoring and non-football conferences in July 2013, Temple became a full member of the football-sponsoring portion, the American Athletic Conference, ending its membership in the Atlantic 10 at that time. The

Chicago State Cougars The Chicago State Cougars are the varsity athletic teams representing Chicago State University of Chicago, Illinois in intercollegiate athletics. The university currently sponsors 15 varsity teams. The Cougars compete in NCAA Division I as an ind ...

were an affiliate for men's tennis until joining the Western Athletic Conference, which sponsors that sport, in July 2013. The conference unveiled the addition of women's lacrosse to its sport sponsorship in November 2019. Lacrosse began competing under the MAC banner with six teams in the 2021 season with MAC members Akron, Central Michigan and Kent State joined by associate members Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State. Eastern Michigan became the seventh women's lacrosse member when it added the sport in the 2022 season. At the end of the 2022 season, the MAC discontinued men's soccer as a sponsored sport. While the conference realignment of the early 2020s did not affect the MAC's core membership, it significantly impacted the amount of men's soccer sponsoring programs within the conference, and ultimately led to the conference lacking enough teams to maintain its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Of the four full MAC members that sponsored men's soccer in the 2022 season, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan moved the sport to the Missouri Valley Conference, and Akron moved it to the Big East Conference.

Chicago State Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of t ...

, the conferences sole men's soccer affiliate, has yet to announce a new home for its own program.

Member schools

Current members

There are twelve public universities with full membership: ;Notes:

Current affiliate members

Twenty-one schools have MAC affiliate membership status. On July 1, 2012, Temple joined the Big East Conference for football only (the school's other sports would join the Big East/

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

for 2013–14), and Massachusetts replaced Temple as a football-only member in the MAC East Division. On September 19, 2012, the MAC announced Missouri,

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

and

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

would join as wrestling affiliates; as the Southeastern and Missouri Valley Conferences do not sponsor wrestling. Missouri and Northern Iowa participated only in the conference tournament in the 2012–13 school year, and began full conference play in 2013–14. Old Dominion did not begin MAC competition until 2013–14, when it left the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

(which had sponsored wrestling, but no longer does so) for

(which has never sponsored the sport). Old Dominion discontinued wrestling in April 2020. On July 1, 2013, Florida Atlantic's men's soccer program moved with the rest of its athletic program to Conference USA, and Chicago State's men's tennis team followed the rest of its sports to the Western Athletic Conference. The 2014–15 school year saw one affiliate member leave for another conference and two new affiliates join. The Hartwick men's soccer team left the MAC for the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

, which had announced in February 2014 that it would reinstate men's soccer, a sport that it last sponsored in 1995, for the 2014 season. The new affiliates for 2014–15 were Binghamton in men's tennis and Longwood in field hockey. On July 1, 2017, one associate member left the MAC, another associate member dropped one of its two MAC sports, and two new schools became associate members. Northern Iowa wrestling moved from the MAC to the Big 12 Conference.

Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

dropped field hockey, but remained a MAC member in men's swimming & diving.

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

joined MAC field hockey, and

(SIUE) joined in men's soccer. SIUE was initially announced as joining in both men's soccer and wrestling in 2018, but less than a week after the initial announcement, the conference indicated that SIUE men's soccer would immediately join. SIUE wrestling joined on its originally announced schedule. On March 5, 2019, the conference announced that it would be adding the seven former members of the

as affiliate members in wrestling, making the MAC the second largest wrestling conference for academic year 2019-2020. With the addition of women's lacrosse, the MAC added affiliate members Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and

Youngstown State Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...

in the 2020–21 academic year. UDM and YSU, all-sports members of the Horizon League, were announced as incoming associates at the same time the MAC announced the addition of lacrosse. RMU was announced as an incoming associate in late June 2020, shortly after the school announced it would join the Horizon League in July 2020. In June 2020, SIUE announced that it would leave the MAC men's soccer league in 2021 to rejoin its previous men's soccer home of the Missouri Valley Conference. It will remain in MAC wrestling. Also in 2021, Missouri left MAC wrestling and returned to its former home of the Big 12 Conference as a wrestling-only member. At the same time, four schools became single-sport MAC members— Bellarmine in field hockey,

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

and

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

in men's soccer, and Valparaiso in men's swimming (the school does not include diving in its men's aquatics program). In 2022, West Virginia men's soccer was scheduled to leave the MAC for single-sport membership in

. However, due to the tenuous future of C-USA at that time, West Virginia opted instead to join the

(SBC) in 2022 as that league reinstated men's soccer. Georgia Southern and Georgia State, both full SBC members, also returned men's soccer to their home conference in 2022. In response, the MAC announced that

would join as a men's soccer affiliate as of the 2022–23 season, as the Cougars prepared to depart the Western Athletic Conference in all sports, including soccer. Also in 2022, the MAC gained another affiliate when another Chicago institution, UIC, joined for men's swimming & diving. Ultimately, Chicago State's tenure as a MAC affiliate lasted only for the 2022 season, as the conference dropped men's soccer at season's end.

Former members

School names, nicknames, and colors listed here reflect those used during each school's MAC tenure. ;Notes:

Former affiliate members

School names, nicknames, and colors listed here reflect those used during each school's MAC tenure. ;Notes

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1946 till:2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text: Wayne (1946–1947) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text:

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

(1946–1950) bar:2 color:Full from:1947 till:1950 text: bar:3 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text: Cincinnati (1946–1953) bar:3 color:Full from:1947 till:1953 text: bar:4 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text: Western Reserve (1946–1955) bar:4 color:Full from:1947 till:1955 text: bar:5 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text: Ohio (1946–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1947 till:End text: bar:6 color:Full from:1947 till:End text: Miami (1947–present) bar:7 color:Full from:1947 till:End text: Western Michigan (1947–present) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1950 till:1952 text:

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

(1950–present) bar:8 color:Full from:1952 till:End text: bar:9 color:Full from:1951 till:End text:

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

(1951–present) bar:10 color:Full from:1952 till:End text: Bowling Green (1952–present) bar:11 color:Full from:1954 till:1969 text: Marshall (1954–1969) bar:11 color:Full from:1997 till:2005 text:(1997–2005) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1971 till:1975 text: Central Michigan (1971–present) bar:12 color:Full from:1975 till:End bar:13 color:FullxF from:1971 till:1976 text: Eastern Michigan (1971–present) bar:13 color:Full from:1976 till:End bar:14 color:FullxF from:1973 till:1975 text:

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...

(1973–present) bar:14 color:Full from:1975 till:End bar:15 color:Full from:1975 till:1986 text: Northern Illinois (1975–1986) bar:15 color:Full from:1997 till:End text:(1997–present) bar:16 color:Full from:1992 till:End text: Akron (1992–present) bar:17 color:Full from:1998 till:End text: Buffalo (1998–present) bar:18 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2005 text: Central Florida (2002–2005) bar:19 color:AssocF from:2007 till:2012 text: Temple (2007–2012) bar:20 color:AssocF from:2012 till:2015 text:

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

(2012–2015) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1946 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Mid-American Conference Membership History" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Academics

One of the current full member schools, the University at Buffalo, is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). All members of the MAC are

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper *The Classified, a 1980s American roc ...

among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" except for the University at Buffalo, Kent State University, and Ohio University, which are classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Member schools are also ranked nationally and globally by various groups, including '' U.S. News & World Report'' and '' Times Higher Education''.

Sports

The Mid-American Conference sponsors championship competition in 11 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with women's lacrosse becoming the newest sport in 2020–21. As of the 2022–23 school year, 20 schools are associate members for six sports. As the MAC is an FBS conference, its full members are subject to the NCAA requirement that FBS members field teams in at least 16 NCAA-recognized sports. However, the MAC itself requires sponsorship of only four sports: football, men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the MAC

;Notes

Women's sponsored sports by school

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the MAC

Notes:

Football

All-time results

''For the current season, see

2022 Mid-American Conference football season The 2022 Mid-American Conference football season wwas the 77th season for the Mid-American Conference (MAC), as part of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 1 and concluded with its conference championship g ...

.'' * - Buffalo invited to Tangerine Bowl in 1958 / Declined due to Florida's segregation laws at the time which would not have allowed Buffalo's two black players to participate.

MAC champions

Bowl games In 2017, the MAC is contracted to provide a team for each of the four college football bowl games: the Bahamas Bowl, LendingTree Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and

Camellia Bowl Camellia Bowl can refer to one of three college football bowl games: * Camellia Bowl (1948) The Camellia Bowl was a post-season major college football bowl game played at McNaspy Stadium in Lafayette, Louisiana, on December 30, 1948, between t ...

. The MAC also has secondary agreements with the Quick Lane Bowl and with several ESPN owned bowls. ;Notes * The MAC Champion (if not invited to the College Football Playoff or its associated bowls) is not contractually obligated to any specific bowl. The conference and the universities select which teams will play in which of the league's affiliated bowls.

College Football Playoff

The MAC champion receives an automatic berth in one of the so-called "New Year's Six" bowl games associated with the College Football Playoff under either of the following circumstances: * Selected as one of the top four teams overall by the CFP selection committee, in which case the team will play in a CFP national semifinal. * Ranked by the committee as the top champion among the five conferences (

, C-USA, MAC, MW,

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...

) given access to one of the CFP bowls, in which case the team will play in the so-called "Access Bowl" as an at-large selection. The first "Access Bowl" berth in 2014 went to Boise State (MW); the 2015 berth went to Houston (American). The MAC got its first berth in 2016 with Western Michigan, who had an undefeated regular season that year and finished ranked at No. 15 in the AP Poll. During the era of the now-defunct

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...

(BCS), one MAC team appeared in a BCS bowl game. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, NIU qualified by being ranked in the top 16 (15th) in the season's final BCS standings, and also higher than at least one champion of a conference that received an automatic berth in a BCS game. In the 2012 season, two such conference champions were ranked below NIU: Big East champion Louisville, who was ranked 22nd, and Big Ten champion Wisconsin, who was unranked. NIU lost to Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Rivalries

Football rivalries involving MAC teams include: In addition, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Western Michigan compete for the Michigan MAC Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the best head-to-head record each year. Since the inception of the trophy in 2005, Western Michigan has won 7 times, Central Michigan has won 5 times, and Eastern Michigan has won the trophy 4 times. Western Michigan has won the trophy the past three years (2018-2020) as well as 6 of the past 7 years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020).

Basketball

In August 2010, Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher and the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

announced that the Mid-American Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments would remain in Cleveland at the venue then known as Quicken Loans Arena and now as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse through 2017. Both tournaments have flourished since moving to Cleveland in 2000, with the men's semi-finals and championship regularly drawing large crowds at Quicken Loans Arena. In 2007, the MAC also announced a format change for both tournaments, bringing all twelve men's and women's teams to Cleveland. The MAC also co-hosted the 2007 Women's Final Four at Quicken Loans Arena after successfully hosting the 2006 NCAA Women's Basketball Regional at the same facility. On May 12, 2020, Steinbrecher announced a suite of major changes to the conference's competitive format across multiple sports in response to fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific to men's and women's basketball, the following changes took effect in 2020–21 and will continue through at least 2023–24: * The conference adopted a single league table, eliminating the divisional standings. * The conference schedule increased from 18 to 20 games. * Only the top eight men's and women's teams advance to their respective conference tournaments.

Championships

Current MAC champions

The following are the most recent conference champions of each MAC sport. Champions from the previous academic year are indicated with the calendar year of their title. In sports in which regular-season and tournament champions are recognized, "RS" indicates regular-season champion and "T" indicates tournament champion. Fall 2022 Winter 2021–22 Spring 2022

Facilities

Hall of Fame

The Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame was the first Division I conference Hall of Fame. It was established in 1987 and classes have been inducted in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2012 and 2013. In order to be eligible, a person must have participated during the time the university was in the MAC and five years must have passed from the time the individual participated in athletics or worked in the athletic department. The following is a list of the members of the MAC Hall of Fame, along with school affiliation, sport(s) for which they were inducted, and year of induction. * Harold Anderson, Bowling Green, basketball, 1991 *

Janet Bachna Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) * Janet (French singer) (1939–2011) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French p ...

, Kent State, gymnastics, 1992 * Joe Begala, Kent State, wrestling, 1991 *

Tom Beutler Thomas Joseph Beutler (born September 29, 1946) is a former American football player. Beutler was born in Bluffton, Ohio, and attended Catholic Central High School in Toledo, Ohio. He played college football for the Toledo Rockets from 1964 ...

, Toledo, football, 1994 *

Kermit Blosser Kermit may refer to: *Kermit the Frog, ''The Muppets'' character *Kermit Roosevelt (disambiguation), any of several descendants of U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt *Kermit (given name) *Kermit, the stage name for Paul Leveridge of Black Grape *K ...

, Ohio, golf, 1988 *

Jim Corrigall Jim Corrigall (born May 7, 1946) is a Canadian former gridiron football player and coach. He was all-star defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. High school and college Corrigall played football in high school at Scollard Hall, a pr ...

, Kent State, football, 1994 * Hasely Crawford, Eastern Michigan, track and field, 1991 * Ben Curtis, Kent State, golf, 2012 * Caroline (Mast) Daugherty, Ohio, basketball, 1994 * Herb Deromedi, Central Michigan, football, 2012 * Chuck Ealey, Toledo, football, 1988 *

Fran Ebert Fran may refer to: People and fictional characters * Fran (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Fran (footballer, born 1969) or Francisco Javier González Pérez * Fran (footballer, born 1972), Spanish retired footb ...

, Western Michigan, softball / basketball, 1992 * Wayne Embry, Miami, basketball, 2012 *

Karen Fitzpatrick Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...

, Ball State, field hockey, 2012 *

John Gill John Gill may refer to: Sports *John Gill (cricketer) (1854–1888), New Zealand cricketer *John Gill (coach) (1898–1997), American football coach *John Gill (footballer, born 1903), English professional footballer *John Gill (American football) ...

, WMU athlete / coach / administrator, 1994 *

Maurice Harvey Maurice N. Harvey (born January 14, 1956) is a former professional American football Safety (American football position), safety in the National Football League. He played seven seasons for the Denver Broncos, the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit L ...

, Ball State, football, 1992 * Bill Hess, Ohio, football coach, 1992 *

Gary Hogeboom Gary Keith Hogeboom (born August 21, 1958) is an American former football quarterback, real estate developer, and television personality. He played in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Phoenix Cardinals. ...

, Central Michigan, football, 1994 *

Fred Jacoby Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rodr ...

, MAC commissioner, 1990 * Bob James, MAC commissioner, 1989 *

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Se ...

, Eastern Michigan, football, 1988 *

Dave Keilitz Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * Dave (film), ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * Dave (musical), ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital ...

, Central Michigan, baseball, 2013 *

Ted Kjolhede TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

, Central Michigan, basketball, 1988 *

Kim Knuth Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese fo ...

, Toledo, women's basketball, 2013 *

Ken Kramer Kenneth Bentley Kramer (born February 19, 1942) is an American lawyer, politician, and jurist from Colorado. He is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. Born in 1942, in Chicago, Kramer grew up in the city's ...

, Ball State, football, 1991 * Bill Lajoie, Western Michigan, baseball, 1991 * Jack Lambert, Kent State, football, 1988 * Frank Lauterbur, Toledo, football, 1990 *

Mel Long Mel Long (born November 22, 1946) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Toledo and high school football for Macomber. In 1998, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The 6-1, 230-pound Long p ...

, Toledo, football, 1992 *

Charlier Maher Charlier may refer to: People * Anna Charlier, fiancée of North pole explorer Nils Strindberg * Carl Charlier (1862–1934), Swedish astronomer * Cédric Charlier, Belgian field hockey player * Guillaume Charlier (1854–1925), Belgian sculptor * ...

, Western Michigan, baseball, 1989 * Bill Mallory, Miami/Northern Illinois, football, 2013 *

Brad Maynard Bradley Alan Maynard (born February 9, 1974) is a former American football Punter (football), punter. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft, and has also been a member of the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, ...

, Ball State, football, 2013 * Ray McCallum, Ball State, basketball, 1988 *

Jack McLain Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

, MAC football official, 1992 *

Karen Michalak Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...

, Central Michigan, basketball / track and field / field hockey, 1992 *

Gordon Minty Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

, Eastern Michigan, track and field, 1994 *

Steve Mix ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, Toledo, basketball, 1989 * Thurman Munson, Kent State, baseball, 1990 *

Ira Murchinson Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name * Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

, Western Michigan, track and field, 1990 * Don Nehlen, Bowling Green, football, 1994 *

Manny Newsome Manny is a common nickname for people with the given name Manuel (name), Manuel, Emanuele, Immanuel, Emmanuel, Herman (name), Herman, or Manfred (disambiguation) , Manfred. People * Manny Acosta (born 1981), Panamanian pitcher in the Mexican Bas ...

, Western Michigan, basketball, 1988 * Bob Nichols, Toledo, basketball, 2012 *

John Offerdahl John Arnold Offerdahl (born August 17, 1964) is a restaurateur and former professional American football player. An inside linebacker, he played college football at Western Michigan University, before being selected by the Miami Dolphins in 52n ...

, Western Michigan, football, 2013 * Bob Owchinko, Eastern Michigan, baseball, 1992 * Ara Parseghian, Miami, football, 1988 * Doyt Perry, Bowling Green, football, 1988 * John Pont, Miami, football player / coach, 1992 *

John Pruis John J. Pruis (December 13, 1923 – January 15, 2016) was an American academic, best known as being a president of Ball State University as well as having a building dedicated in his name on the campus. He went to Western Michigan University ...

, Ball State, president, 1994 * Trevor Rees, Kent State, football, 1989 * David Reese, MAC commissioner, 1988 * George Rider, Miami, track and field, 1989 *

William Rohr William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

, Miami, basketball coach 1994 *

Dan Roundfield Danny Thomas Roundfield (May 26, 1953 – August 6, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. The 6'8" forward/center graduated from Detroit's Chadsey Senior High School in 1971. On the collegiate scene, Roundfield was twice selected ...

, Central Michigan, basketball, 1990 *

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of ...

, Miami, football coach, 1991 * Mike Schmidt, Ohio, baseball, 2012 * Dick Shrider, Miami, basketball, 1990 *

Christi Smith Christi is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Christi Belcourt (born 1966), Métis painter, craftsperson, and writer * Christi Brereton (born 1992), English kickboxer and muay Thai fighter * Christi Lake (born 1965), Ame ...

, Akron, track and field, 2013 * Jim Snyder, Ohio, basketball, 1991 *

Shafer Suggs Shafer Suggs (born April 28, 1953 in Elkhart, Indiana) is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 1976 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ball State. ...

, Ball State, football, 1989 *

Nate Thurmond Nathaniel Thurmond (July 25, 1941 – July 16, 2016) was an American basketball player who spent the majority of his 14-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Golden State Warriors franchise. He played the center and po ...

, Bowling Green, basketball, 1989 * Gary Trent, Ohio, men's basketball, 2013 * Phil Villapiano, Bowling Green, football, 1992 *

Bob Welch Bob Welch may refer to: *Bob Welch (baseball) (1956–2014), American baseball pitcher *Bob Welch (author) (born c. 1955), American author and newspaper columnist *Bob Welch (musician) (1945–2012), American musician and member of Fleetwood Mac ** ...

, Eastern Michigan, baseball, 1990 * Dave Wottle, Bowling Green, track and field, 1990 *

Bob Wren Robert "Bob" Wren (born September 16, 1974) is a Canadian professional ice hockey center for EHC Klostersee of the Regionalliga. Wren was drafted 94th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He played five games in the Na ...

, Ohio, baseball, 1989

Media

Broadcasts

A number of MAC sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, soccer, wrestling and volleyball, are telecast on

Spectrum Sports (Ohio) Spectrum Sports is a defunct regional sports network serving Ohio and parts of northern Kentucky, southern Michigan and western Pennsylvania operated by Charter Communications through its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in May 2016. It was broadc ...

, replacing SportsTime Ohio and

Fox Sports Ohio Bally Sports Ohio is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and is operated as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the state of Ohio, with a focus on professio ...

as the MAC TV partner. Along with Spectrum Sports, ESPN, as well as the American Sports Network, retain the "local and regional" syndication telecast rights to the MAC for football and basketball. In 2000 ESPN began broadcasting MAC football games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The conference agreed to the unusual schedule to increase television ratings by not competing against other football. Fans nicknamed the midweek games MACtion. In 2014 the conference and ESPN agreed to a new contract for 13 years. Each school receives more than $800,000 annually, and plays most November games on weekday nights; 16 of 18 games in 2016 were not on Saturdays, for example. While MACtion decreases stadium attendance, games appear on an ESPN channel to a nationwide audience instead of a less-popular channel or

streaming media Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

produces its own comprehensive television package with

Ball State Sports Link A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

. Affiliate stations include

WIPB WIPB, virtual channel 49 ( UHF digital channel 19), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Muncie, Indiana, United States. Owned by Ball State University, it is a sister station to National Public Radi ...

in Muncie, WNDY in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, WPTA in

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, WHME in South Bend, WTVW in Evansville, WYIN in

Merrillville Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...

and

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

in Michigan. All Ball State Sports Link games are also broadcast on student radio station

WCRD WCRD (91.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station operated by students of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The station is operated out of the David Letterman Communication and Media Building on the Ball State University campus. Histor ...

and on the Ball State Radio Network produced by

WLBC-FM WLBC-FM (104.1 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Muncie, Indiana. It is owned by Woof Boom Radio and airs a hot adult contemporary radio format. The radio studios and transmitter are on East 29th ...

and

Backyard Broadcasting Backyard Broadcasting was a radio broadcasting company that primarily owned radio stations in medium-sized, small and rural markets in the United States. The company was owned by the private equity firms Boston Ventures Management and Pacific Corp ...

. NIU has multiple football and basketball games telecast by Comcast SportsNet Chicago. In addition, most NIU football and basketball games can be heard on WSCR-AM 670 "The Score" – Chicago's powerful 50,000-watt top-rated all-sports station, which reaches 38 states and Canada.

MAC Properties

MAC Properties (a division of ISP Sports) is the sponsorship arm of the Mid-American Conference, and handles all forms of sponsorship and advertising for the MAC which includes managing and growing its stable of official corporate partners. As of 2010, the MAC has five official corporate partners: FirstEnergy, Marathon, PNC Bank, AutoTrader.com and Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. There are approximately 20 other companies engaged as sponsors of the conference at the non-official level. MAC Properties also assists with the management of the conference's television and radio contracts, including those with ESPN Regional, FOX Sports Ohio and ESPN 850 WKNR among others.

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division I FBS conference navbox Organizations based in Cleveland Sports in the Midwestern United States Sports organizations established in 1946 Articles which contain graphical timelines