MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE

'Mid-American Conference'
Mid-American Conference
'Data'
Classification	NCAA Division I-A
Established	1946
Members	12
Sports fielded	23 (11 men's, 12 women's)
Region	Primarily the Midwestern United States
States	5 - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio
Headquarters	Cleveland, Ohio
'Locations'

The 'Mid-American Conference' ('MAC') is a College Athletic Conference whose members are located mainly in the Midwestern United States; nine of the 12 member schools are in Ohio and Michigan alone. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I-A. The MAC Headquarters is located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The Mid-American Conference has been referred to as the ''Conference of Quarterbacks'' and ranks highest among all 11 NCAA Division 1-A conferences for graduation rates.
Member schools participate in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross-country, field hockey, football, men's and women's golf, women's gymnastics, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track, women's volleyball and wrestling.

Contents

Member schools

Division breakdown

History

Commissioners of MAC

Championships

Broadcasts

Conference facilities

External links

Member schools

There are 12 schools with full membership:

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment
East Division
University of Akron	Zips	Akron, Ohio	1870	Public	23,292
Bowling Green State University	Falcons	Bowling Green, Ohio	1910	Public	20,200
University at Buffalo	Bulls	Buffalo, New York	1846	Public	27,000
Kent State University	Golden Flashes	Kent, Ohio	1910	Public	35,458
Miami University	RedHawks	Oxford, Ohio	1809	Public	15,300
Ohio University	Bobcats	Athens, Ohio	1804	Public	28,804
West Division
Ball State University	Cardinals	Muncie, Indiana	1918	Public	20,113
Central Michigan University	Chippewas	Mount Pleasant, Michigan	1892	Public	27,836
Eastern Michigan University	Eagles	Ypsilanti, Michigan	1849	Public	25,000
Northern Illinois University	Huskies	DeKalb, Illinois	1895	Public	25,000
University of Toledo	Rockets	Toledo, Ohio	1872	Public	19,480
Western Michigan University	Broncos	Kalamazoo, Michigan	1903	Public	26,239

There are two schools with affiliate membership status:

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Sport(s)
Missouri State University	Bears	Springfield, Missouri	1905	Public	20,814	Field hockey
Temple University	Owls	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1884	Public	33,693	Football

Division breakdown

'MAC East'

★ Akron Zips

★ Bowling Green Falcons

★ Buffalo Bulls

★ Kent State Golden Flashes

★ Miami RedHawks

★ Ohio Bobcats

★ Temple Owls (football only)
'MAC West'

★ Ball State Cardinals

★ Central Michigan Chippewas

★ Eastern Michigan Eagles

★ Northern Illinois Huskies

★ Toledo Rockets

★ Western Michigan Broncos

History

The Mid-American Conference charter members were Ohio University, Butler University, the University of Cincinnati, Wayne State University and Western Reserve University, one of the predecessors to today's Case Western Reserve University. Wayne State never participated and quickly bowed out. Butler left after the 1st year. Miami University and Western Michigan University took the place of those charter members for the 1948 season. By the time the University of Cincinnati left after the 1952/53 season, the MAC had already added University of Toledo (1950), Kent State University (1951), and Bowling Green State University (1952).
The membership stayed steady for the next two decades except for the addition of Marshall University in 1954 and the departure of Western Reserve, which chose to deemphasize intercollegiate athletics. Marshall was kicked out of the conference in 1969. The first major expansion since the 50's took place in the mid seventies with the addition of Northern Illinois University (1973), Ball State University (1973), Eastern Michigan University (1972) and Central Michigan University (1972). NIU left after the 1986 season. The University of Akron joined the conference in 1992. The conference became the largest in Division I-A with the readmittance of Marshall and NIU and addition of University at Buffalo's Bulls in 1997 and 1998 respectively. The University of Central Florida joined for football only in 2001, becoming the first football-only member in conference history. Marshall and UCF would leave after the 2004-05 academic year, both joining Conference USA in all sports.
In May 2005, Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania signed an initial six-year contract with the MAC as a football-only school which will play in the East Division starting in 2007.
Missouri State University is a MAC affiliate for field hockey.

Commissioners of MAC

★ Dave Reese 1946-1964

★ Bob James 1964-1971

★ Fred Jacoby 1971-1982

★ Jim Lessig 1982-1990

★ Karl Benson 1990-1994

★ Jerry Ippoliti 1994-1999

★ Rick Chryst 1999-present

Championships

The MAC is contracted to provide a team for three college football bowl games, the GMAC Bowl, Motor City Bowl and International Bowl. In the event that a Big East team cannot be provided for the newly created Papajohns.com Bowl, a fourth MAC team is selected.

Broadcasts

A number of MAC sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, soccer, wrestling and volleyball, are telecast on the midwest regional sports network Comcast Local

Conference facilities

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity
Akron	Rubber Bowl	35,202	James A. Rhodes Arena	5,500
Ball State	Scheumann Stadium	23,500	John E. Worthen Arena	11,500
Bowling Green	Doyt Perry Stadium	28,599	Anderson Arena	5,000
Buffalo	University at Buffalo Stadium	31,000	Alumni Arena	6,100
Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium	30,199	Daniel P. Rose Center	5,200
Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium	30,200	Convocation Center	8,800
Kent State	Dix Stadium	29,287	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center	6,327
Miami	Yager Stadium	24,286	Millett Hall	9,200
Northern Illinois	Huskie Stadium	31,000	Convocation Center	10,000
Ohio	Peden Stadium	24,000	Convocation Center	13,080
Temple ★	Lincoln Financial Field	68,532	''Atlantic Ten Conference member for basketball''
Toledo	Glass Bowl	26,248	Savage Hall	9,000
Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium	30,200	University Arena	5,421

★ Football affiliate

External links

★ Official Athletic Site of the Mid-American Conference

★ midampub.com