by Thursday, August 29
Albany at Central Michigan, 7:00 pm ET (ESPN3)
Morgan State at Bowling Green, 7:00 pm ET (ESPN3)
Robert Morris at Buffalo, 7:00 pm ET (ESPN+)
Kent State at Arizona State, 10:00 pm ET (Pac-12 Networks)
Saturday, August 31
Akron at Illinois, Noon ET (Big Ten Network)
Indiana at Ball State, Noon ET (CBS Sports Network)
(at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.)
Toledo at Kentucky, Noon ET (SEC Network)
Rhode Island at Ohio, 2:00 pm ET (ESPN+)
Eastern Michigan at Coastal Carolina, 3:30 pm ET (ESPN+)
Illinois State at NIU, 7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT (ESPN+)
Monmouth at Western Michigan, 7:00 pm ET (ESPN3)
Miami at Iowa, 7:30 pm ET (FS1)
MAC QUICK NOTES submitted by the MAC Media team to KEE On Sports Below.
• MAC football continues its 73rd season of competition and will hold its 23rd championship game in 2019. This year’s Marathon MAC Football Championship game will be Saturday, Dec. 7 at Noon ET on ESPN or ESPN2 at Ford Field in Detroit. Northern Illinois is the defending MAC Champion as the Huskies defeated Buffalo, 30-29, last November.
• The 2019 football season will bring the transition of four new head coaches into the Conference. Tom Arth (Akron), Scot Loeffler (Bowling Green), Jim McElwain (Central Michigan) and Thomas Hammock (Northern Illinois) were all named head coaches of their respective programs following the end of the 2018 campaign.
• The MAC will open the season by hosting seven games and playing on the road in five others. Buffalo opens the season on Thursday, Aug. 29 by hosting Robert Morris (ESPN+), while Bowling Green hosts Morgan State (ESPN3), Central Michigan welcomes Albany (ESPN3) and Kent State travels to Arizona State (Pac-12 Network). MAC programs will play eight games on Saturday, Aug. 31, highlighted by Ball State hosting Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis at Noon ET (CBS Sports Network).
• MAC programs will face opponents from the Big Ten (Illinois, Indiana and Iowa), Pac-12 (Arizona State), SEC (Kentucky) and Sun Belt Conference (Coastal Carolina) in Week One. The MAC will also face six FCS opponents.
MAC CELEBRATES COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S 150TH ANNIVERSARY
The Mid-American Conference will join our FBS brethren in celebrating 150 years of college football this 2019 season and the MAC has created a specific celebration plan to utilize the 150th anniversary date of November 6, 2019 as the MAC will be the only Conference playing a live game on this date. Our MAC specific 150th Anniversary celebration will run in addition to the national 150th platform for all FBS programs.
A 10-person ‘MAC-150 Celebration’ committee, led by Central Michigan Director of Athletics, Michael Alford, was created in the Spring of 2018 and the MAC’s collaborative plan for the 2019 season focuses on inclusion of all 12 MAC football programs, engagement of our fan base, opportunity for engagement with our partners with the primary goal of telling our lengthy and celebrated MAC football story.
On Wednesday, November 6th the MAC will be the only FBS conference playing a live college football game on the 150th anniversary as the Miami RedHawks travel to face the Ohio Bobcats at Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio on ESPN2.
MAC TO FACE TOP RANKED NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
The first 2019 Associated Press Top 25 Poll was released on Aug. 19th and the MAC will face 10 of the top 25 ranked teams this season in the country during non-conference play (AP ranking):
No. 5 Miami at Ohio State on Sat., Sept. 21 (time TBA)
No. 9 Bowling Green at Notre Dame on Sat., Oct. 5 at 3:30 pm ET (NBC)
No. 14 NIU at Utah on Sat., Sept. 7 at 1:00 pm ET/Noon CT (Pac-12 Network)
No. 15 Buffalo at Penn State on Sat., Sept. 7 at 7:30 pm ET (FOX)
No. 16 Kent State at Auburn on Sat., Sept. 14 at 7:00 pm ET (ESPN2/ESPNU)
No. 18 Western Michigan at Michigan St. on Sat., Sept. 7 at 7:30 pm ET (BTN)
No. 19 Central Michigan at Wisconsin on Sat., Sept. 7 at 3:30 pm ET (BTN)
No. 19 Kent State at Wisconsin on Sat., Oct. 5 (TBA) (ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU)
No. 20 Miami at Iowa on Sat., Aug. 31 at 7:30 pm ET (FS1)
No. 22 Western Michigan at Syracuse on Sat., Sept. 21 (time TBA)
No. 24 NIU at Nebraska on Sat., Sept. 14 at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT (FS1)
