MAC Football Championship Game

For the Basketball championships, see MAC Men's Basketball Tournament and MAC Women's Basketball Tournament
Marathon MAC Football Championship Game
Conference Football Championship
Sport College football
Conference Mid-American Conference
Current stadium Ford Field
Current location Detroit, Michigan
Played 1997–present
Last contest 2016
Current champion Western Michigan
Most championships Marshall Thundering Herd (5)
TV partner(s) ESPN2
Official website MAC-Sports.com football
Sponsors
Marathon Petroleum (2003–present)
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)

The Marathon MAC Football Championship is a football game between the winners of the East and West divisions of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to determine the conference champion. The game has been played since 1997, when the conference was first divided into divisions and since 2003 has been sponsored by Marathon Oil. The winner of the game is guaranteed a berth in a bowl game which the MAC has contractual obligations to field a team. Since 2004, the championship game has been played at Ford Field in Detroit. Previously the game was held at campus sites.

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 2016 MAC Football Championship was held Friday December 2, 2016 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

Results by year

Rankings reflect last AP poll prior to game being played. Winner in bold.

From 1997 through 2003, the championship game was played at campus sites. Since 2004, the game has been played at Ford Field in Detroit.

Year East Score West Score Stadium • City Attendance
1997 Marshall 34 Toledo 14 Marshall University StadiumHuntington, WV 28,021
1998 Marshall 23 Toledo 17 Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV 28,085
1999 No. 11 Marshall 34 Western Michigan 30 Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV 28,069
2000 Marshall 19 Western Michigan 14 Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV 24,816
2001 No. 20 Marshall 36 Toledo 41 Glass BowlToledo, OH 20,025
2002 Marshall 49 Toledo 45 Marshall University Stadium • Huntington, WV 24,582
2003 No. 13 Miami 49 No. 20 Bowling Green 27 Doyt Perry StadiumBowling Green, OH 24,813
2004 Miami 27 Toledo 35 Ford FieldDetroit, MI 22,138
2005 Akron 31 Northern Illinois 30 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 12,051
2006 Ohio 10 Central Michigan 31 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 25,483
2007 Miami 10 Central Michigan 35 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 25,013
2008 Buffalo 42 No. 12 Ball State 24 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 12,871
2009 Ohio 10 Central Michigan 20 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 23,714
2010 Miami 26 No. 24 Northern Illinois 21 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 12,031
2011 Ohio 20 Northern Illinois 23 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 13,052
2012 No. 18 Kent State 37 No. 19 Northern Illinois 44 (2 OT) Ford Field • Detroit, MI 18,132
2013 Bowling Green 47 No. 16 Northern Illinois 27 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 21,106
2014 Bowling Green 17 Northern Illinois 51 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 15,110
2015 Bowling Green 34 Northern Illinois 14 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 16,425
2016 Ohio 23 No. 13 Western Michigan 29 Ford Field • Detroit, MI 45,615

Results by team

Appearances School W L Pct Years appeared Years won
7 Northern Illinois 3 4 .429 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 2011, 2012, 2014
6 Marshall 5 1 .833 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
5 Toledo 2 3 .400 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004 2001, 2004
4 Miami 2 2 .500 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010 2003, 2010
4 Bowling Green 2 2 .500 2003, 2013, 2014, 2015 2013, 2015
4 Ohio 0 4 .000 2006, 2009, 2011, 2016
3 Central Michigan 3 0 1.000 2006, 2007, 2009 2006, 2007, 2009
3 Western Michigan 1 2 .333 1999, 2000, 2016 2016
1 Akron 1 0 1.000 2005 2005
1 Buffalo 1 0 1.000 2008 2008
1 Kent State 0 1 .000 2012
1 Ball State 0 1 .000 2008
0 Eastern Michigan 0 0

Current conference members in bold

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

Photo gallery

See also

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.