The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

with a membership base in the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...

that stretches from

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Its members compete in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I. For

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, the conference participates in the NCAA's

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, with single members located in Illinois,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, and New York. The MAC is headquartered in the

Public Square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

district in downtown

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, 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 Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

, the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, Wayne University (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 university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

. Wayne University left after the first year.

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

and

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

took the place of those charter members for the 1948 season. The MAC added the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

(1950),

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

(1951), and

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

(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, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, O ...

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 Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

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 university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

and

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

in 1972 and

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

and

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

in 1973. NIU left after the 1985–86 season. The

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

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 from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

in 1998. The

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

, a non-football all-sports member in the

Atlantic Sun Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

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 (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

in all sports. In May 2005, the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the college athletics, athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson (athletic director), Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and masco ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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 The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

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 di ...

and Conference USA, winning two MAC tourney titles in 2003 and 2004. The Missouri State Bears, 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 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 in 2019.

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...

and

Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1839 as Farmville Female Seminary and colloquially known as Longwood or Longwood College, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of ...

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 in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...

is an affiliate in men's tennis. In June 2017, SIU Edwardsville (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 The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

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 The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

, 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 on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois in intercollegiate athletics. The university currently sponsors 16 varsity teams. The Cougars compete in NCAA D ...

were an affiliate for men's tennis until joining the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

, 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 up to that time, 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 The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

, and Akron moved it to the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. The MAC eliminated its East and West divisions for football in January 2024. The divisions had already been eliminated for other sports in 2020. Later that year, in late February, it was announced that the UMass Minutemen and Minutewomen will join the conference as a full member beginning in 2025, returning UMass football to the MAC. In July, the conference announced that it would begin sponsoring women's rowing for the 2025–26 season; full members Eastern Michigan, Toledo, and UMass would be joined by affiliate members Delaware, High Point, and Temple. On January 3, 2025, it was reported that Northern Illinois had accepted an invitation from the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

to join as an affiliate member for football in 2026. This move was made official on January 7, after approval by NIU's governing board. Current MAC bylaws stipulate that all members must play football within the conference; correspondingly, multiple media reports in February 2025 indicated that NIU was set to rejoin the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

, a non-football conference in which it had been a member from 1994–1997, in 2026. This move was also made official on February 27, after approval by NIU's governing board. NIU has applied to maintain MAC affiliate membership in women's gymnastics and men's wrestling, neither of which the Horizon sponsors.

Member universities

Current full members

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

Future full members

Membership map

Current affiliate members

Sixteen schools have MAC affiliate membership status as of 2024. On July 1, 2012, Temple joined the

for football only (the school's other sports would join the Big East/ American 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 Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, Northern Iowa and Old Dominion would join as

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

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 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

(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

. 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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

, 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 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. Missouri State dropped field hockey, but remained a MAC member in men's swimming & diving. Appalachian State joined MAC field hockey, and SIU Edwardsville (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 Eastern Wrestling League as affiliate members in wrestling, making the MAC the second-largest wrestling conference for academic year 2019–20. With the addition of women's lacrosse, the MAC added affiliate members Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State in the 2020–21 academic year. UDM and YSU, all-sports members of the

, 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

. It remains in MAC wrestling to this day. Also in 2021, Missouri left MAC wrestling and returned to its former home of the

as a wrestling-only member. At the same time, four schools became single-sport MAC members— Bellarmine in field hockey, Georgia Southern and Georgia State 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

(CUSA). However, due to the tenuous future of CUSA 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 Chicago State would join as a men's soccer affiliate as of the 2022–23 season, as the Cougars prepared to depart the

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. 2023 saw UIC adding men's tennis to its affiliate membership, as well as the announcement that

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

would be joining as an affiliate for field hockey in 2024. In 2024, the

announced it would begin sponsoring men's swimming & diving for the 2024–25 season. At the time, the MAC men's swimming programs consisted of 2 MAC schools and 5 affiliates from the MVC; correspondingly, all of these programs would move to the MVC for the following season, with the 2 MAC schools (Ball State and Miami) joining the MVC as affiliates for that sport. However, shortly after dropping men's swimming, the MAC announced it would begin sponsoring a new sport, women's rowing, in 2025–26. Accordingly, it brought on 3 new affiliates for that sport:

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, High Point, and former football affiliate

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Future affiliate members

;Notes:

Former full 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:2030 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 id:Ind value:rgb(0.83,0.83,0.83) 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:1 color:Ind from:1947 till:1954 bar:1 color:Ind from:1954 till:1955 text: Ind. bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1955 till:1967 text:

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

bar:1 color:Ind from:1967 till:1975 text:

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1975 till:End text: GLIAC 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 pantries, pantr ...

(1946–1950) bar:2 color:Full from:1947 till:1950 bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1950 till:1954 bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1954 till:1978 text: ICC bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1978 till:2007 text:

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

(non-football) bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2007 till:2012 text: A-10 (non-fb) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2013 bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:End text:

(non-football) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text:

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

(1946–1953) bar:3 color:Full from:1947 till:1953 bar:3 color:Ind from:1953 till:1955 bar:3 color:Ind from:1955 till:1957 text: Ind. bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1957 till:1970 text: MVC bar:3 color:Ind from:1970 till:1975 text: Ind. bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1975 till:1991 text: Metro (non-football) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1995 text: GMC (non-fb) bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:1997 bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1997 till:2005 text: CUSA bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2013 text:

bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2023 text: AAC bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:End text:

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text: Western Reserve (1946–1955) bar:4 color:Full from:1947 till:1955 bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1955 till:1958 bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1958 till:1971 text:

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1947 text:

(1946–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1947 till:End text: bar:6 color:Ind from:1946 till:1947 text: Ind. bar:6 color:Full from:1947 till:1948 bar:6 color:Full from:1948 till:End text:

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

(1947–present) bar:7 color:Ind from:1946 till:1947 text: Ind. bar:7 color:Full from:1947 till:1948 bar:7 color:Full from:1948 till:End text:

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

(1947–present) bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:1946 till:1948 text: OAC bar:8 color:Ind from:1948 till:1951 text: Ind. bar:8 color:FullxF from:1950 till:1952 text: Toledo (1950–present) bar:8 color:Full from:1952 till:End bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1946 till:1951 text: OAC bar:9 color:Full from:1951 till:End text: Kent State (1951–present) bar:10 color:Ind from:1946 till:1952 text:

bar:10 color:Full from:1952 till:End text:

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

(1952–present) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1946 till:1949 text: WVIAC bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1949 till:1952 text: OVC bar:11 color:Ind from:1952 till:1954 text: Ind. bar:11 color:Full from:1954 till:1969 text:

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

(1954–1969) bar:11 color:Ind from:1969 till:1977 text:

bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1977 till:1997 text: SoCon bar:11 color:Full from:1997 till:2005 text:(1997–2005) bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2005 till:2022 text: CUSA bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:End text:

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered stretching across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the Parallel 36°30′ north. Several climates can be found in the re ...

bar:12 color:Ind from:1946 till:1950 text: Ind. bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:1950 till:1971 text: IIAC bar:12 color:FullxF from:1971 till:1975 text:

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

(1971–present) bar:12 color:Full from:1975 till:End bar:13 color:Ind from:1946 till:1950 text: Ind. bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1950 till:1961 text: IIAC bar:13 color:Ind from:1961 till:1971 text:

bar:13 color:FullxF from:1971 till:1976 text:

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

(1971–present) bar:13 color:Full from:1976 till:End bar:14 color:Ind from:1946 till:1950 text: Ind. bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:1950 till:1968 text: ICC bar:14 color:Ind from:1968 till:1969 text: Ind. bar:14 color:Ind from:1969 till:1971 bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1971 till:1972 text: MC (non-fb) bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1972 till:1973 bar:14 color:FullxF from:1973 till:1975 bar:14 color:Full from:1975 till:1976 bar:14 color:Full from:1976 till:End text: Ball State (1973–present) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1946 till:1966 text: IIAC bar:15 color:Ind from:1966 till:1975 text:

bar:15 color:Full from:1975 till:1986 text:

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

(1975–1986) bar:15 color:Ind from:1986 till:1993 text:

bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1993 till:1996 text: BWC bar:15 color:Ind from:1996 till:1997 text: Ind. bar:15 color:Full from:1997 till:2026 text: (1997–2026) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:

(non-football) bar:16 color:Ind from:1946 till:1948 text: Ind. bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1948 till:1966 text: OAC bar:16 color:Ind from:1966 till:1978 text:

bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:1978 till:1980 text: MCC bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1980 till:1987 text: OVC bar:16 color:Ind from:1987 till:1992 text: Ind. bar:16 color:Full from:1992 till:End text:

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

(1992–present) bar:17 color:Ind from:1946 till:1978 text:

bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1978 till:1988 text: SUNYAC (non-fb) bar:17 color:Ind from:1988 till:1991 text: Ind. bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1994 text: ECC (non-fb) bar:17 color:OtherC2 from:1994 till:1998 text: MCC (non-fb) bar:17 color:Full from:1998 till:End text: Buffalo (1998–present) bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1946 till:1947 text: NECCIA bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:1947 till:1976 text:

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:1976 till:2025 text: A-10 (non-football 1976–1997 & 2007–2025; football 1997–2007) bar:18 color:AssocF from:2012 till:2015 text: UMass (2012–2015) bar:18 color:Full from:2025 till:End shift:(-25) text:(2025–future) bar:19 color:AssocF from:2002 till:2005 text:

Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

(2002–2005) bar:20 color:AssocF from:2007 till:2012 text:

(2007–2012) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2025 till:end text:(rowing; 2025–future) 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

, is a member of the

Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...

(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 ro ...

among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" except for the University at Buffalo,

, and

, 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 ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

''.

Sports

The Mid-American Conference sponsors championship competition in 9 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with women's lacrosse becoming the newest sport in 2020–21. As of the 2024–25 school year, 16 schools are associate members for four 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, as of 2017, the MAC itself required sponsorship of only four sports: football, men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball. This may have since changed, as UMass was accepted as a new conference member effective in 2025 despite not sponsoring women's volleyball.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the MAC

Future members in gray. ;Notes

Women's sponsored sports by school

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the MAC

Future member in gray. Notes:

Football

Scheduling

On November 30, 2023, the MAC approved a new scheduling format for football effective for the 2024 season, eliminating its East and West Divisions for the first time since 1996 in favor of a pod-based protected rivalry system. Under the new system, teams will be divided into 4 pods of 3 teams each, and each team will be guaranteed to face the other 2 teams in its pod every season. Additionally, every team in the MAC will be guaranteed to face every other team in the MAC at least once every three years. The MAC Football Championship Game, which previously matched the winner of the East Division against the winner of the West Division, will instead put the two teams in the MAC with the highest conference winning percentage. The pods are as follows:

All-time results

''For the most recent season, see 2024 Mid-American Conference football season.'' * - 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 was contracted to provide a team for each of five college football bowl games: the Bahamas Bowl,

LendingTree Bowl The 68 Ventures Bowl is a postseason National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-sanctioned Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In ...

, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Camellia Bowl (later renamed the Salute to Veterans Bowl) and Quick Lane Bowl (later renamed the GameAbove Sports Bowl). The MAC also has secondary agreements 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, like the other "Group of 5" conferences receives an automatic berth in one of the so-called

New Year's Six The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, are the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. These games are traditionally play ...

bowl games associated with the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

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 ( American,

C-USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern United States, Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...

, MAC, MW,

) 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 college football post-season 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 America ...

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

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, 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:

champion

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, who was ranked 22nd, and

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

champion

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, who was unranked. NIU lost to

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

Rivalries

Football rivalries involving MAC teams include: In addition,

, and

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 three straight years (2018–2020) as well as six of seven years from 2014 to 2020 (2014–2016, 2018–2020).

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 Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

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 Arena 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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 2024 Winter 2024–25 Spring 2025

Facilities

Athletic department revenue by school

Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties. Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance. The following table shows institutional reporting to the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...

as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2021–22 academic year.

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, Kent State, gymnastics, 1992 * Joe Begala, Kent State, wrestling, 1991 * Tom Beutler, Toledo, football, 1994 * Kermit Blosser, Ohio, golf, 1988 * Jim Corrigall, 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, Western Michigan, softball / basketball, 1992 * Wayne Embry, Miami, basketball, 2012 * Karen Fitzpatrick, Ball State, field hockey, 2012 * John Gill, WMU athlete / coach / administrator, 1994 * Maurice Harvey, Ball State, football, 1992 *

Bill Hess William R. Hess (February 5, 1923 – June 10, 1978) was an American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at Ohio University from 1958 to 1977. In his tenure as head coach for the Ohio Bobcats football team, Hess compiled ...

, Ohio, football coach, 1992 * Gary Hogeboom, Central Michigan, football, 1994 * Fred Jacoby, MAC commissioner, 1990 * Bob James, MAC commissioner, 1989 *

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...

, Eastern Michigan, football, 1988 * Dave Keilitz, Central Michigan, baseball, 2013 * Ted Kjolhede, Central Michigan, basketball, 1988 * Kim Knuth, Toledo, women's basketball, 2013 * Ken Kramer, Ball State, football, 1991 * Bill Lajoie, Western Michigan, baseball, 1991 * Jack Lambert, Kent State, football, 1988 * Frank Lauterbur, Toledo, football, 1990 * Mel Long, Toledo, football, 1992 * Charlier Maher, Western Michigan, baseball, 1989 * Bill Mallory, Miami/Northern Illinois, football, 2013 * Brad Maynard, Ball State, football, 2013 * Ray McCallum, Ball State, basketball, 1988 * Jack McLain, MAC football official, 1992 * Karen Michalak, Central Michigan, basketball / track and field / field hockey, 1992 * Gordon Minty, Eastern Michigan, track and field, 1994 * Steve Mix, Toledo, basketball, 1989 * Thurman Munson, Kent State, baseball, 1990 * Ira Murchinson, Western Michigan, track and field, 1990 * Don Nehlen, Bowling Green, football, 1994 * Manny Newsome, Western Michigan, basketball, 1988 * Bob Nichols, Toledo, basketball, 2012 * John Offerdahl, Western Michigan, football, 2013 * Bob Owchinko, Eastern Michigan, baseball, 1992 *

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; ; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football coach and player who coached the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bringing Notre Dame's Fighting Irish footb ...

, Miami, football, 1988 * Doyt Perry, Bowling Green, football, 1988 * John Pont, Miami, football player / coach, 1992 * John Pruis, Ball State, president, 1994 * Trevor Rees, Kent State, football, 1989 * David Reese, MAC commissioner, 1988 * George Rider, Miami, track and field, 1989 * William Rohr, Miami, basketball coach 1994 * Dan Roundfield, Central Michigan, basketball, 1990 * Bo Schembechler, Miami, football coach, 1991 *

Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1989. Schmidt was a 12-time Al ...

, Ohio, baseball, 2012 * Dick Shrider, Miami, basketball, 1990 * Christi Smith, Akron, track and field, 2013 * Jim Snyder, Ohio, basketball, 1991 * Shafer Suggs, Ball State, football, 1989 *

Nate Thurmond Nathaniel Thurmond (July 25, 1941 – July 16, 2016) was an American professional 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 ...

, Bowling Green, basketball, 1989 * Gary Trent, Ohio, men's basketball, 2013 * Phil Villapiano, Bowling Green, football, 1992 * Bob Welch, Eastern Michigan, baseball, 1990 * Dave Wottle, Bowling Green, track and field, 1990 * Bob Wren, 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, replacing

SportsTime Ohio SportsTime Ohio was an American regional sports network which was last known as Bally Sports Great Lakes. At the time it left the air, the network was owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate ...

and

Fox Sports Ohio FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (formerly Bally Sports Ohio) is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) as part of the FanDuel Sports Network chain. The channel broadcasts regional cove ...

as the MAC TV partner. Along with Spectrum Sports,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, 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 refers to multimedia delivered through a Computer network, network for playback using a Media player (disambiguation), media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of Network packet, packets from a Server (computing), ...

. While noting the smaller attendance, coaches say that midweek games are good for the conference, and give players a break on Saturdays. Ball State produces its own comprehensive television package with Ball State Sports Link. Affiliate stations include

WIPB WIPB (channel 49) is a PBS member television station in Muncie, Indiana, United States. It is owned by Ball State University alongside NPR member WBST (92.1 FM). The two stations share studios at the E. F. Ball Communication Building on the u ...

in Muncie, WNDY in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

WPTA WPTA (channel 21) is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC, NBC, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Media alongside CW+ affiliate WISE-TV (channel 33). The two stations share studios on Butler Ro ...

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. 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 at the 2020 United S ...

, WHME in

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

WTVW WTVW (channel 7) is a television station in Evansville, Indiana, United States, serving as a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station of The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Nexst ...

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

WYIN WYIN (channel 56), branded on-air as Lakeshore PBS, is a secondary PBS member television station licensed to Gary, Indiana, United States, serving the Chicago area. It is owned by Northwest Indiana Public Broadcasting, Inc., as a sister station ...

in Merrillville and

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

. All Ball State Sports Link games are also broadcast on student radio station WCRD and on the Ball State Radio Network produced by WLBC-FM and Backyard Broadcasting. 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