By Bobby Narang
In many ways, the saying fits perfectly: The Return of the MAC.
In this case, it’s in regards to football in the Mid-American Conference. September 25, the Mid-American Conference Council of Presidents voted to resume the Fall football season.
A six-game schedule will start November 4, plus the Conference championship game December 18 or 19.
“I am pleased to inform our student athletes, coaches, and fans, that the Mid-American Conference will resume the Fall football season,” said MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher. “Our decisions, in August and again today, have been guided by an overriding concern for the well-being of the student athletes, institutions, and the community at large. Our medical advisory group, presidents, directors of athletics, and others, have worked hard to develop a plan that provides the opportunity for student athletes to compete. We will be diligent in monitoring the dynamic health environment across the Conference footprint and the country.”
The Big Ten Conference will begin an eight-game schedule Friday, Oct. 23, plus a championship game Saturday, Dec. 19.
August 8, the MAC suspended all Fall sports after the Big Ten Conference announced it was not playing non-conference games. Many MAC teams, such as Kent State, make the majority of their athletic budget from non-conference road games against Power Five Conference teams. The Golden Flashes, for example, were set to make $1.5 Million from their season opener against Penn State. The Conference lost at least $10.5 Million from the cancellation of games against the Big Ten.
With many other conferences caving into the pressure of playing and reversing course and decided to play games this Fall, most notably the Big Ten and Pac-12, the MAC elected to join the party in spite of setting a conference-only schedule. Right now, the MAC noted that football is the only Fall sport set to resume, with men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, and volleyball set to return during the Spring sports season.
“The Council of Presidents has been having fulsome discussions with our Mid-American Conference medical advisors,” said Council of Presidents chair and University at Buffalo president Dr. Satish Tripathi. “Throughout these discussions, we have underscored that the health and safety of our student-athletes, and our entire Mid-American Conference university community, is paramount.”
Northern Illinois University will enter the shortened season with plenty of motivation after several college football publications picked the Huskies to finish in the bottom half of the MAC West Division standings.
Northern Illinois athletic director Sean T. Frazier said the Conference will have strict guidelines to protect the safety of the student-athletes.
“From the beginning, NIU and the MAC, led by our Council of Presidents and with guidance of the MAC Medical Advisory Board, have prioritized the health and safety of student-athletes,” Frazier said in a statement. “That has not changed and will not change. With the commitment across the league to the rigorous testing and screening protocols, we feel optimistic about the opportunity to play a schedule beginning in November.”
The Pac-12 will begin a seven-game schedule against conference opponents only Friday, Nov. 6, in North and South Divisions, to include crossover and championship games December 18 and 19.