It’s been a bit since the last post, but now it’s time to talk about one of my favorite conferences: the Mid-American Conference aka the MAC. Every November, the MAC plays conference games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays giving us daily football (between college and the pros) for that month. They call it MACNation and it’s so popular that Conference USA is going to do the same thing this year in October. That means for around 60 days this fall, there will be a football game on TV every…single…day. As if cooler temperatures weren’t enough to get excited about, I may need to take a moment.
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Last season, the MAC only had a single 10-game winner (Ohio went 10-4), but had 6 bowl teams (Ohio, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Miami OH, E Michigan, and Toledo) and 3 others (Kent St, Ball St, and W Michigan) ended 5-7 just ever so close to a December game. These teams are not afraid to play against some of the major powerhouse teams playing a combined 21 games against Power 5 opponents. If you get a chance to catch a game with these teams, do so. They are fun to watch. There were no additions or subtractions to the conference make up in this offseason of change. Overall, the 12-team conference has an average Preseason Strength of Schedule (PS SOS) of 6.5442 compared to the Group of 5 average of 6.5303. For an additional comparison the FBS PS SOS average (includes the Power 5 as well) of 7.3955 is bested by 4 teams and is just above the 5th strongest schedule. There are no neutral site games, but as a reminder (P) indicates a Power 5 opponent and (F) indicates an FCS foe. Here is the 2023 MAC:
| Team/ Conf Rank | PS SOS/ Rank | ’22 Record/ SOS Rank | ’23 Opp’s W-L | Conf Home | Conf Away | Non-Conf Home | Non-Conf Away |
| W Michigan (1) | 8.029/42 | 5-7/103 | 85-69 (.552) | (21-29) Ball St, Miami OH, C Michigan, Bowling Green | (31-22) Toledo, Ohio, E Michigan, N Illinois | (9-3) (F) St Francis | (24-15) (P) Syracuse, (P) Iowa, (P) Mississippi St |
| C Michigan (2) | 7.558/61 | 4-8/95 | 85-68 (.556) | (25-26) E Michigan, Akron, N Illinois, Toledo | (27-24) Buffalo, Ball St, W Michigan, Ohio | (9-4) (F) New Hampshire | (24-14) (P) Michigan St, (P) Notre Dame, South Alabama |
| Bowling Green (3) | 7.440/66 | 6-7/80 | 77-75 (.507) | (26-26) Ohio, Akron, Ball St, Toledo | (23-27) Miami OH, Buffalo, Kent St, W Michigan | (2-9) (F) E Illinois | (26-13) Liberty, (P) Michigan, (P) Georgia Tech |
| Kent St (4) | 7.438/67 | 5-7/60 | 76-78 (.494) | (22-29) Miami OH, Buffalo, Bowling Green, N Illinois | (26-25) Ohio, E Michigan, Akron, Ball St | (2-9) (F) C Connecticut | (26-15) (P) UCF, (P) Arkansas, Fresno St |
| Ball St (5) | 7.374/69 | 5-7/104 | 77-78 (.497) | (24-27) Toledo, C Michigan, Kent St, Miami OH | (23-27) W Michigan, E Michigan, Bowling Green, N Illinois | (8-16) (F) Indiana St, Ga Southern | (22-6) (P) Kentucky, (P) Georgia |
| Buffalo (6) | 6.718/97 | 7-6/91 | 81-73 (.526) | (29-23) C Michigan, Bowling Green, Ohio, E Michigan | (22-29) Akron, Kent St, Toledo, Miami OH | (17-8) (F) Fordham, Liberty | (13-13) (P) Wisconsin, Louisiana |
| Akron (7) | 6.231/109 | 2-10/ 100 | 68-82 (.453) | (25-26) Buffalo, W Illinois, Kent St, Ohio | (25-26) C Michigan, Bowling Green, Miami OH, E Michigan | (4-7) (F) Morgan St | (14-23) Temple, (P) Kentucky, (P) Indiana |
| Miami OH (8) | 6.181/111 | 6-7/128 | 69-81 (.460) | (24-28) Bowling Green, Toledo, Akron, Buffalo | (25-25) Kent St, W Michigan, Ohio, Ball St | (5-6) (F) Delaware St | (15-22) (P) Miami FL, UMASS, (P) Cincinnati |
| Toledo (9) | 5.671/124 | 9-5/113 | 66-82 (.446) | (24-26) W Michigan, N Illinois, Buffalo, E Michigan | (21-29) Ball St, Miami OH, Bowling Green, C Michigan | (12-11) (F) Texas Southern, San Jose St | (9-16) (P) Illinois, UMASS |
| N Illinois (10) | 5.546/125 | 3-9/113 | 65-82 (.442) | (29-22) Ohio, E Michigan, Ball St, W Michigan | (20-30) Toledo, Akron, C Michigan, Kent St | (10-13) (F) S Illinois, Tulsa | (7-17) (P) Boston College, (P) Nebraska |
| E Michigan (11) | 5.297/128 | 9-4/130 | 64-82 (.438) | (17-31) Ball St, Kent St, W Michigan, Akron | (23-28) C Michigan, N Illinois, Toledo, Buffalo | (6-17) (F) Howard, UMASS | (18-6) (P) Minnesota, Jacksonville St |
| Ohio (12) | 5.048/133 | 10-4/ 115 | 58-89 (.395) | (20-29) Kent St, W Michigan, Miami OH, C Michigan | (18-32) Bowling Green, N Illinois, Buffalo, Akron | (8-15) (F) Long Island, (P) Iowa St | (12-13) San Diego St, FAU |
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That’s it for today. Tune in next time for the preview of the conference with the 8th most difficult schedule. Thank you for reading and for sharing with others. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, G
