THIS IS THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Providing leadership in education and diversity, the Mid-American Conference moves into its 65th year of service to the student-athlete.
Since its inception in 1946, the Mid-American Conference has progressively grown and developed into one of the most aggressive Division I conferences in the country. One of only 11 football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences, the MAC named Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher as its eighth commissioner in the 65-year history of the league in March of 2009. Steinbrecher came to the MAC after serving six years as the commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference.
The league has grown its commitment to championships by expanding to six its number of neutral site post season events – football (Detroit’s Ford Field), volleyball (SPIRE Academy, Geneva, Ohio), men’s and women’s basketball (Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena), softball (Akron’s Firestone Stadium) and baseball (Avon, Ohio All Pro Freight Stadium).
In 2010, four MAC programs received bowl invitations and it marked the first time in conference history that the MAC had four or more teams receive bowl invitations in a three-year consecutive span. In addition, the MAC has sent four or more teams to bowl games in five of the last seven years. The four MAC programs that played in bowl games were: Miami (GoDaddy.com Bowl), Northern Illinois (uDrove Humanitarian Bowl), Toledo (Little Caesars Pizza Bowl) and Ohio (R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl). The MAC record for bowl appearances is five, which happened in consecutive years (2008, 2009) and only three times (2004, 2008, 2009) in conference history. The 2010 season also witnessed Miami win the 2010 Marathon MAC Championship and record the best turnaround in college football with an eight win improvement over the previous season (1-11 in 2009). Northern Illinois entered the Marathon MAC Football Championship ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press Poll. Two more MAC teams defeated Big Ten opponents during the regular season as Northern Illinois defeated Minnesota, 34-23 in Minneapolis, while Toledo rolled to a 31-20 win at Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
For the first time in its 65-year history, the MAC will have eight bowl relationships--three primary and five secondary. The three primary agreements are with the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl (Detroit, Mich.), GoDaddy.com Bowl (Mobile, Ala.) and uDrove Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, Ida.). In addition, the MAC has secured secondary agreements with the BBVA Compass Bowl (2011-2013), the New Mexico Bowl (2011-2013), the Beef O’Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl (2011-13), the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (2011) and the TicketCity Bowl (2012).
In its partnership with ESPN, the MAC is in the third year of its eight-year rights agreement (through 2016-2017 academic years) for football, as well as men’s and women’s basketball. The deal is the most extensive in the 65-year history of the conference. The agreement calls for a minimum of 25 events annually to be produced and aired on an ESPN platform including the men’s and women’s basketball championships, a regular-season MAC presence on ESPN, the Marathon MAC Football Championship and a minimum of 11 regular-season football games.
In 2010, the University of Akron Men’s Soccer team won its first National Championship by defeating Louisville, 1-0, in the NCAA College Cup. Akron junior defender Kofi Sarkodie was named Player of the Year by Soccer America, and Sarkodie was joined by senior midfielder Anthony Ampaipitakwong and junior striker Darlington Nagbe on Soccer America’s MVP First Team, as Akron’s three honorees were the most by any school. In addition, Nagbe was presented the Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious honor in intercollegiate soccer, as it marked the second consecutive year for a member of the Akron program to be honored with the Hermann Trophy (Teal Bunbury, 2009). History was made in the 2011 Major League Soccer Super Draft as seven members of the Akron’s National Championship Men’s Soccer Team were drafted, including five of the first eight selections in the first round. This set an MLS draft record for the most first-round selections from a single school.
In 2010-11 for men’s basketball, the MAC set a conference mark as six programs received invites to postseason tournaments. Akron won the MAC tournament as the No. 6 seed and played Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament. Kent State won the MAC regular season title and represented the conference in the NIT with impressive road wins at St. Mary’s and Fairfield. Buffalo, Ohio and Western Michigan were invited to the CollegeInsider.com tournament, while Miami received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational. Three freshmen were named to the Mid-Major Freshman All-America Team—Juwan Howard, Jr. (Western Michigan), Javon McCrea (Buffalo) and Trey Ziegler (Central Michigan), while Kent State junior Justin Green was named MAC Player of the Year and named All-America by three different organizations—named Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press, tabbed Mid-Major All-America by College Insider.com; and second team Mid-Major All-American by College Hoops.net.
In wrestling, Central Michigan won its tenth consecutive MAC championship, while the MAC sent 23 wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship as Kent State’s Dustin Kilgore won the NCAA national championship at the 197 weight class. In addition, four grapplers secured All-America honors--Central Michigan’s Scotti Sentes (133), Ben Bennett (174) and Jarod Trice (285), along with Kent State’s Dustin Kilgore (197). Buffalo won its first championship in men’s swimming and diving, while Kent State won its 19th MAC title in men’s golf and received its 24th NCAA appearance. Ball State made its seventh automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament.
In baseball, Kent State won the MAC championship and lost to Texas in the NCAA Regional Final. A total of 17 MAC student-athletes were selected in Major League Baseball’s 2011 Draft—including Kent State LHP Andrew Chafin to the Arizona Diamondbacks as a compensatory first round pick, 43rd overall.
Women’s athletics continued to shine for the MAC this past year. For the first time in MAC history, six women’s basketball programs were invited to postseason tournaments. Bowling Green won the MAC tournament and received the invitation to the NCAA tournament, while four programs were invited to the WNIT—Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Central Michigan. In addition, Buffalo was invited to the Women’s Basketball Invitational.
Toledo’s women’s basketball program won the Women’s NIT, the first post-season championship in school history with wins over Delaware, Auburn, Alabama, Syracuse, Charlotte and USC. In the WNIT Championship game, with a national television audience and sold out Savage Arena, Rocket junior Naama Shafir scored a career-high 40 points in the victory.
In women’s soccer, Central Michigan won their second consecutive MAC championship, while Ohio won their third consecutive MAC volleyball championship and defeated Penn in the opening round of the NCAA volleyball tournament. In field hockey, Kent State won the MAC tournament and senior Rachel Miller and junior Debbie Bell were named to the Longstreth/NFHCA All-America Team. In women’s swimming and diving, Ohio won its 11th MAC Championship and first since 2008. Four MAC swimmers were named to collegeswimming.com’s Mid-Major All-America team – Kelsey Vehr (Miami), Rachel Heim (Ohio), Jacy Dyer (Ohio) and Laura Lindsay (Toledo). Lindsay also was named All-America in the 100 Breaststroke at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
Both Central Michigan and Kent State competed at the NCAA Regional Championships in gymnastics, while Kent State advanced to its first trip in program history to the NCAA National Championship and finished 12th overall. The Kent State gymnastics coaching staff, led by Brice Biggin, were recognized by the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W). Biggin was named NACGC/W Head Coach of the Year, while assistant coaches Sharon Sabin and Tom Ward were named NACGC/W National Assistant Coaches of the Year.
Akron’s women’s tennis team won its first MAC Tournament in program history, while Western Michigan won the MAC softball championship. In women’s golf, Kent State won its 13th consecutive crown, while Western Michigan’s Brittney Hamilton and Ball State’s Brittany Kelly became their program’s first golfers to play in the NCAA Women’s Golf Central Regional.
From two-time Super Bowl quarterback winning Ben Roethlisberger (Miami University), NFL Defensive MVP James Harrison (Kent State University), three NFL Pro Bowlers (Cleveland KR Josh Cribbs, San Diego TE Antonio Gates, Pittsburgh LB James Harrison), British Open winner Ben Curtis (Kent State University), World Series winning manager Bob Brenly (Ohio University) and Olympic bobsled team member Brock Kreitzburgh (University of Toledo), the Mid-American Conference continues to excel in producing leaders in the world of athletics. In Super Bowl XLV between Green Bay and Pittsburgh there were 15 former MAC student-athletes on rosters competing in the Super Bowl, including nine with the Packers and six with the Steelers, and six former MAC players were named to the 2011 NFL Pro Bowl.
History of the MAC
Based in Cleveland since July 1999 following a 15-year stay in Toledo, Ohio, the MAC has established historic measurements in both football and men’s and women’s basketball since moving to Northeast Ohio. The MAC was founded as a five-school league on February 24, 1946 in Columbus, Ohio with Ohio, Butler, Cincinnati, Wayne State and Western Reserve admitted as charter members. The Mid-American Conference has 12 full-time schools and a 13th, Temple, and 14th, UMass for football only (beginning in 2012). Comprising the East Division is the University of Akron (joined in 1992), Bowling Green State University (1952), University at Buffalo (1998), Kent State University (1951), Miami University (1947), Ohio University (1946) and Temple University (2007). The West Division members are Ball State University (1973), Central Michigan University (1971), Eastern Michigan University (1971), Northern Illinois University (1975-86, 1997), University of Toledo (1950) and Western Michigan University (1947).
In 1946 men’s basketball was the first competitive sport in the MAC, which now sponsors a total 23 sports. Women’s sports were brought into the conference’s structure in 1980. For men, championships (11) are sponsored in football, basketball, baseball, cross country, soccer, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, wrestling, golf and tennis. For women, championships (12) are sponsored in basketball, softball, volleyball, cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, gymnastics, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and tennis.