MAC Football Championship Game
The MAC Football Championship Game is a football game between the winners of the East and West divisions of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to determine the conference champion.
| MAC Football Championship Game | |
|---|---|
| Conference Football Championship | |
 Championship Game Logo | |
| Sport | College football |
| Conference | Mid-American Conference |
| Current stadium | Ford Field |
| Current location | Detroit, Michigan |
| Played | 1997–present |
| Last contest | 2020 |
| Current champion | Ball State Cardinals |
| Most championships | Marshall Thundering Herd (5) |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN/ESPN2 |
| Official website | MAC-Sports.com football |
| Sponsors | |
| Marathon Petroleum (2003–2019) Rocket Mortgage (2020) | |
| Host stadiums | |
| Marshall University Stadium (1997–2000, 2002) Glass Bowl (2001) Doyt Perry Stadium (2003) Ford Field (2004–present) | |
| Host locations | |
| Huntington, West Virginia (1997–2000, 2002) Toledo, Ohio (2001) Bowling Green, Ohio (2003) Detroit, Michigan (2004–present) | |
History
The game has been played since 1997, when the conference was first divided into divisions and since 2003 has been sponsored by Marathon Petroleum (officially known as the Marathon MAC Football Championship Game). The winner of the game is guaranteed a berth in a bowl game which the MAC has contractual obligations to field a team. Unlike the MAC's Group of Five contemporaries, which hold their respective championship games on campus sites, the MAC Championship Game is held at a neutral site, Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan since 2004.
In 2000, 2001, and 2007, due to an unbalanced conference schedule, the team with best division record within each division was awarded that division's championship game berth. In other years, the teams with the best overall conference records received a berth.
The game is held on the first Saturday in December, on the same weekend that other NCAA Division I FBS conferences hold their championship games.
Results by year
Below are the results from all MAC Football Championship Games played. The winning team appears in bold font, on a background of their primary team color. Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.
From 1997 through 2003, the championship game was played at campus sites. Since 2004, the game has been played at Ford Field in Detroit.
Results by team
| Appearances | School | Wins | Losses | Win % | Year(s) Won | Year(s) Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | [[Northern Illinois Huskies football|Northern Illinois]] | 4 | 4 | .500 | 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018 | 2005, 2010, 2013, 2015 |
| 6 | [[Marshall Thundering Herd football|Marshall]] | 5 | 1 | .833 | 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 | 2001 |
| 6 | [[Toledo Rockets football|Toledo]] | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2001, 2004, 2017 | 1997, 1998, 2002 |
| 5 | [[Miami RedHawks football|Miami]] | 3 | 2 | .600 | 2003, 2010, 2019 | 2004, 2007 |
| 4 | [[Central Michigan Chippewas football|Central Michigan]] | 3 | 1 | .750 | 2006, 2007, 2009 | 2019 |
| 4 | [[Bowling Green Falcons football|Bowling Green]] | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2013, 2015 | 2003, 2014 |
| 4 | [[Ohio Bobcats football|Ohio]] | 0 | 4 | .000 | 2006, 2009, 2011, 2016 | |
| 3 | [[Buffalo Bulls football|Buffalo]] | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2008 | 2018, 2020 |
| 3 | [[Western Michigan Broncos football|Western Michigan]] | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2016 | 1999, 2000 |
| 2 | [[Akron Zips football|Akron]] | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2005 | 2017 |
| 2 | [[Ball State Cardinals football|Ball State]] | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2020 | 2008 |
| 1 | [[Kent State Golden Flashes football|Kent State]] | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2012 | |
Eastern Michigan is the only team currently in the conference to have not attended a Championship Game. Marshall is the only Championship Game Winner to not be a current member of the MAC. Bowling Green is the only team that has represented both the East and West Divisions in the Championship Game (was a member of the West Division prior to Marshall's departure from the MAC). Temple, UCF and UMass were previously in the conference during this era and never reached the championship game.
MVPs
| Year | MVP(s) | Team | Position | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Randy Moss | Marshall | WR | |||
| 1998 | Chad Pennington | Marshall | QB | |||
| 1999 | Chad Pennington | Marshall | QB | |||
| 2000 | Byron Leftwich | Marshall | QB | |||
| 2001 | Chester Taylor | Toledo | RB | |||
| 2002 | Byron Leftwich | Marshall | QB | |||
| 2003 | Ben Roethlisberger | Miami | QB | |||
| 2004 | Bruce Gradkowski | Toledo | QB | |||
| 2005 | Luke Getsy | Akron | QB | |||
| 2006 | Damien Linson | Central Michigan | WR | |||
| 2007 | Dan LeFevour | Central Michigan | QB | |||
| 2008 | Mike Newton | Buffalo | DB | |||
| 2009 | Dan LeFevour | Central Michigan | QB | |||
| 2010 | Thomas Merriweather | Miami | RB | |||
| 2011 | Nathan Palmer | Northern Illinois | WR | |||
| 2012 | Jordan Lynch | Northern Illinois | QB | |||
| 2013 | Matt Johnson | Bowling Green | QB | |||
| 2014 | Drew Hare | Northern Illinois | QB | |||
| 2015 | Travis Greene | Bowling Green | RB | |||
| 2016 | Corey Davis | Western Michigan | WR | |||
| 2017 | Logan Woodside | Toledo | QB (Offensive) | |||
| Danzel McKinley-Lewis | Toldeo | WR (Special Teams) | ||||
| 2018 | Marcus Childers | Northern Illinois | QB (Offensive) | |||
| Sutton Smith | Northern Illinois | LB (Defensive) | ||||
| 2019 | Jack Sorenson | Miami | WR (Offensive) | |||
| Emmanuel Rugamba | Miami | LB (Defensive) | 2020 | Drew Plitt | Ball State | QB (Offensive) |
| Jimmy Daw | Ball State | LB (Defensive) |
Photo gallery
Before 2006 MAC Championship Game
2006 MAC Championship: Central Michigan vs. Ohio