Whether you're a college football fan who spends every Saturday glued in front of several screens for 12 hours or a fan who just watches your favorite team whenever they may play, you've probably heard other fans or even your friends talk about MACtion.
MACtion has gained a lot of popularity in recent years for being one of the most entertaining and wildly unpredictable entities in the sport. And even better, whenever it kicks into full gear, it helps fill the voids between Monday Night and Thursday Night football in the NFL.
However, if you're scrolling through the channels on Tuesday or Wednesday night in November and see #MACtion on the screen, you might be confused about what that actually is and what's going on with this midweek college football. That's where we're coming in to help!
What is MACtion in college football?
First off, to explain MACtion, you need to know that it's a term that refers to the MAC, or the Mid-American Conference, which was initially founded in 1946. As such, MACtion is largely used to refer to conference games within the league. However, it has more colloquially been used by college football fans to refer to the midweek games in November when the conference's matchups are played almost exclusively on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
More importantly, with the majority of the teams in the MAC playing these games in near-winter nights in the Great Lakes region (headquartered in Cleveland, OH), MACtion has caught on in a massive way in popularity for some of the wild games we're able to witness and the potential weather elements (Re: Snow Games!) that we are often treated to as fans.
What teams are in the MAC?
There are 12 teams in the current Mid-American Conference for college football divided into the East and West divisions.
The six teams in the MAC East are as follows: Akron Zips, Bowling Green Falcons, Buffalo Bulls, Kent State Golden Flashes, Miami (OH) Redhawks, Ohio Bobcats.
The six teams in the MAC West are as follows: Ball State Cardinals, Central Michigan Chippewas, Eastern Michigan Eagles, Northern Illinois Huskies, Toledo Rockets, Western Michigan Broncos.
The conference has undergone several changes since its founding in 1946 with five universities once being full-time members, college football included, now having left for new conferences. Those programs are as follows with their tenures: Butler Bulldogs (1946-1950), Cincinnati Bearcats (1946-1953), Marshall Thundering Herd (1954-1969, 1997-2005), Wayne State Warriors (1946-1947), Case Western Reserve Spartans (1946-1955).
Three programs were also football-only members of the MAC for various periods of time. That list is as follows: UCF Golden Knights (2002-2005), UMass Minutemen (2012-16), Temple Owls (2007-12)
Current MAC standings
Here are the standings in the MAC, both for the East and West divisions, entering Week 11 of the 2023 season.
MAC East Standings
- Miami (OH) Redhawks (4-1, 7-2)
- Ohio Bobcats (3-2, 6-3)
- Bowling Green Falcons (3-2, 5-4)
- Buffalo Bulls (3-2, 3-6)
- Akron Zips (1-4, 2-7)
- Kent State Golden Flashes (0-5, 1-8)
MAC West Standings
- Toledo Rockets (5-0, 8-1)
- Central Michigan Chippewas (3-2, 5-4)
- Northern Illinois Huskies (3-2, 4-5)
- Western Michigan Broncos (2-3, 3-6)
- Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-3, 4-5)
- Ball State Cardinals (1-4, 2-7)
MACtion Schedule and Results for 2023
We're not going to give the full MAC schedule here, just the Tuesday and Wednesday night MACtion schedule for fans who want a little midweek college football treat for their diet.
List of MAC Champions in college football
Here is every Mid-American Conference champion in college football since the conference's expansion in 1997. The MAC Championship Game has been played at Ford Field in Detroit, MI since 2004.
Best MAC teams of all-time
Historically, the best MAC football program is the Miami (OH) Redhawks, with a program record of 674-446-44 since its inception in 1888. They are tied with the Central Michigan Chippewas with a .598 winning percentage but have 71 more program wins. Miami (OH) has the most MAC championships in the history of the conference with 15. The Toledo Rockets, however, have the most bowl appearances in the conference (15) and the most bowl game wins as well (10).
Arguably the greatest MAC team of all-time is the 2003 Miami (OH) Redhawks. That team finished as conference champions and won the GMAC Bowl (49-28) over Louisville to finish at 13-0 with a perfect record in the conference and ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25. Their one loss for a team that, most notably, was led by QB Ben Roethlisberger, was in the season-opener at Iowa.
The 2012 Northern Illinois Huskies are among the best ever as well with one extremely notable accomplishment behind QB Jordan Lynch, crashing the BCS party. The Huskies went 11-1 in the regular season, topped Kent State in the MAC Championship Game and earned a berth in the Orange Bowl. The Huskies, coached by now NC State head coach Dave Doeren, lost to Florida State in that game (31-10), but still finished at 12-2 and ranked No. 22 in the AP poll.
Best MAC players of all-time
Here's a look at our rankings of the 10 greatest MAC football players of all-time, a ranking that takes into account both college and NFL careers.
- Randy Moss, WR (Marshall)
- Jack Lambert, LB (Kent State)
- Ben Roethlisberger, QB (Miami-OH)
- Antonio Gates, TE (Kent State)
- Gerry Philbin, DE (Buffalo)
- Jason Taylor, DE (Akron)
- James Harrison, LB (Kent State)
- Greg Jennings, WR (Western Michigan)
- Dan Lefevour, QB (Central Michigan)
- Michael Turner, RB (Northern Illinois)
Yes, Randy Moss played his college football with Marshall while they were in the MAC, so that's an easy inclusion, as is most everyone on this list. The one name that might be a bit unfamiliar is former CMU quarterback Dan Levfevour, who did not go on to have a great NFL career, but is one of just three college football QBs ever throw 90+ touchdown passes and rush for 35+ touchdowns as well.
