Both Kent State and Northern Illinois continue to rise in the national polls. Kent State is ranked No. 17 and Northern Illinois No. 21 in the current BCS Standings.
Kent State is ranked No. 18 and Northern Illinois No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, while the Huskies are ranked No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Golden Flashes No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The 2012 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game will feature the East Division Champion Kent State Golden Flashes against the West Division Champion Northern Illinois Huskies on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 pm ET in front of a national television audience on ESPN2 from Detroit’s Ford Field. This contest will mark the 16th annual championship game for the MAC and will mark the ninth neutral site game at Ford Field in downtown Detroit, Mich.
Northern Illinois clinched the West Division with a 31-24 win over Toledo on Nov. 14 and ended the regular season with a 49-7 win at Eastern Michigan on Nov. 23 to improve to 11-1 overall, 8-0 in the MAC. The Huskies will be making their third consecutive trip to Detroit as West Division Champions. Last season, Northern Illinois claimed their first conference football championship in 28 years (since 1983) with a 23-20 win over Ohio.
Kent State clinched the East Division with a 31-24 win at Bowling Green on Nov. 17 and concluded the regular season with a 28-6 win over Ohio to improve to 11-1 overall, 8-0 in the MAC. This is the first MAC East Division Championship for the program as the Flashes are off to the program’s best record in 90 years. This also marks the first 8-0 team from the MAC East since Miami in 2003.