Midweek MACtion returns with a 17-game slate, and the conference championship is set for December 7 in Detroit.
Our anticipated slate of MACtion in 2024 is officially set.
On Tuesday morning, the Mid-American Conference became the final of the nine full FBS conferences to release its 2024 football schedule.
This marks the first year of a division-less MAC since 1996. On Nov. 30, conference commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher revealed the league’s plan to scrap divisions in favor of a pod system. In 2024, the MAC will operate with four separate pods, guaranteeing round-robin matchups between the teams of each pod:
- Akron, Buffalo Kent State
- Ball State, Miami (OH), Ohio
- Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Toledo
- Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan
It is currently unknown how the pod system will sustain with the upcoming addition of UMass, which joins for the 2025 football season.
Without pods, the 2024 MAC Championship Game at Ford Field will feature the two teams with the best conference record, as opposed to the traditional MAC East champion vs. MAC West champion format. The 2024 title game is set for Saturday, Dec. 7.
Additionally, we are treated to the return of midweek MACtion, where the conference takes center stage of the college football universe on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The 17 midweek games commence Tuesday, Nov. 5 and continue through Tuesday, Nov. 26 — covering the final four weeks of the regular season as usual. Midweek MACtion is typically broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and CBS Sports Network.
Midweek MACtion schedule
Week 11
- Tuesday, Nov. 5 — Miami (OH) at Ball State
- Tuesday, Nov. 5 — Bowling Green at Central Michigan
- Wednesday, Nov. 6 — Ohio at Kent State
- Wednesday, Nov. 6 — Northern Illinois at Western Michigan
Week 12
- Tuesday, Nov. 12 — Ball State at Buffalo
- Tuesday, Nov. 12 — Western Michigan at Bowling Green
- Tuesday, Nov. 12 — Central Michigan at Toledo
- Wednesday, Nov. 13 — Akron at Northern Illinois
- Wednesday, Nov. 13 — Eastern Michigan at Ohio
- Wednesday, Nov. 13 — Kent State at Miami (OH)
Week 13
- Tuesday, Nov. 19 — Akron at Kent State
- Tuesday, Nov. 19 — Western Michigan at Central Michigan
- Tuesday, Nov. 19 — Northern Illinois at Miami (OH)
- Wednesday, Nov. 20 — Buffalo at Eastern Michigan
- Wednesday, Nov. 20 — Ohio at Toledo
Week 14
- Tuesday, Nov. 26 — Toledo at Akron
- Tuesday, Nov. 26 — Kent State at Buffalo
MAC rivalry and trophy games
- Anniversary Award — Kent State at Bowling Green — Saturday, Oct. 19
- Battle of the Bricks — Ohio at Miami (OH) — Saturday, Oct. 19
- Battle of I-75 — Bowling Green at Toledo — Saturday, Oct. 26
- Bronze Stalk — Northern Illinois at Ball State — Saturday, Oct. 26
- Red Bird Rivalry — Ball State at Miami (OH) — Tuesday, Nov. 5
- Wagon Wheel — Akron at Kent State — Tuesday, Nov. 19
- Battle for the Cannon — Western Michigan at Central Michigan — Tuesday, Nov. 19
Schedule notes and trivia
- The 2024 MAC Championship Game will be held at Ford Field in Detroit for the 21st consecutive year. For the first time since the event’s inception in 1997, the conference championship will not feature the MAC East champion vs. the MAC West champion. Instead, the two teams with the best conference records will partake in this neutral-site contest. Scheduled Saturday, Dec. 7, this is the fourth consecutive year the game will be played on Saturday.
- The MAC officially kicks off its season Thursday, Aug. 29 with three teams in action that night against FCS opponents. Bowling Green hosts Fordham, Buffalo hosts Lafayette, and Toledo hosts Duquesne. The MAC went a perfect 12-0 against FCS competition in 2023.
- Midweek MACtion kicks off Tuesday, Nov. 5 with a two-game slate and continues for four weeks through Tuesday, Nov. 26. There are 17 midweek games on the docket this year. All 12 teams partake in Midweek MACtion during Week 12, with a three-game Tuesday slate and three-game Wednesday slate. Kent State is the only MAC team to play four midweek games in 2024.
- Excluding Thursday of Week 1 and Midweek MACtion, every single MAC game transpires on a Saturday in 2024.
- UMass does not join the MAC until the 2025 football season, but the Minutemen are a staple on the schedule. Five of UMass’ first six games are against MAC opponents — hosting Eastern Michigan for the opener before road trips to Toledo, Buffalo, Miami (OH), and Northern Illinois. The Minutemen played three non-conference games against MAC teams in both 2023 and 2022, as well as two in 2021. They ride an 8-game losing streak versus the conference, last claiming victory Sept. 28, 2019 over Akron.
- No MAC team plays more than two home games in the non-conference slate. Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Toledo each have two home non-conference games. Akron, Ball State, Kent State, and Western Michigan host one FCS opponent and play the rest of their non-conference slates on the road.
- Miami (OH) is the only MAC team to have 12 FBS opponents on its regular season schedule. In their non-conference schedule, the RedHawks host Cincinnati and UMass, with visits scheduled to Northwestern and Notre Dame. The crosstown rivalry with Cincinnati is the fourth-most played FBS matchup with 127 meetings — only interrupted by COVID-19 and World War II in the last 100 years. The all-time series heading into this year’s matchup at Yager Stadium is 60-60-7, after Miami (OH) snapped a 16-game skid against the Bearcats on the road last fall.
- Ball State has an atypical Week 1 bye. Last season, every college football team played Week 0 or Week 1. The Cardinals make their 2024 debut in Week 2 on Saturday, Sept. 7 against Missouri State of the FCS.
- MAC play opens Week 4 with Northern Illinois hosting Buffalo and Central Michigan hosting Ball State.