Mid-American Conference

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

The Mid-American Conference is a College Athletic Conference whose members are located mainly in the Midwestern United States; nine of the schools are in Ohio and Michigan alone. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I-A. MAC Headquarters is located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The MAC is nicknamed the Conference of Quarterbacks and ranks highest among all 11 NCAA Division 1-A conferences for graduation rates.

Contents

[edit] Member Schools

There are 12 schools with full membership:

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

[edit] Membership 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. Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne is an affiliate member in tennis and men's soccer. This affiliation is scheduled to end on July 1, 2007 when IPFW becomes a full member of the Mid-Continent Conference.

Member schools participate in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross-country, field hockey, American 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.

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.

[edit] 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 University 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 Liacouras Center 10,224
Toledo Glass Bowl 26,248 Savage Hall 9,000
Western Michigan Waldo Stadium 30,200 University Arena 5,421

* Football-only affiliate

[edit] Championships

[edit] External link


NCAA Division I-A Football Conferences:
Atlantic Coast Conference*Big 12 Conference*Big East Conference*Big Ten Conference*Conference USAMid-American ConferenceMountain West ConferencePacific Ten Conference*Southeastern Conference*Sun Belt ConferenceWestern Athletic ConferenceIndependents
* – BCS Conference
In other languages