The Mid-American Conference is a College Athletic Conference whose members are located mainly in the Midwestern United States; nine of the schools are in Ohio and Michigan alone. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I-A. MAC Headquarters is located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The MAC is nicknamed the Conference of Quarterbacks and ranks highest among all 11 NCAA Division 1-A conferences for graduation rates.
Two schools left the conference after the 2004-05 academic year—Marshall University, an all-sports member, and the University of Central Florida (UCF), a football-only member. Both schools, which played in the MAC East Division, joined Conference USA in all sports.
In May 2005, Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania signed an initial six-year contract with the MAC as a football-only school which will eventually play in the East Division. Over the next three seasons, Temple's schedule of league games will gradually increase: 4 in 2005, 6 in 2006, 8 (a full schedule) in 2007. Due to Temple's partial league schedule in 2005 and 2006, the football program will have only associate membership in the league. According to the league's press release on the matter, Temple will be eligible for one of the league's two bowl tie-ins, and participate in the league's television arrangement, beginning immediately. Eligibility to compete in the MAC Championship Game, however, does not come until 2007. Presumably, this means they are also ineligible to win a Division Championship, although it is conceivable that, with a win percentage equal to or better than that of the best team in the division playing a full league schedule, they could be declared Divisional (co-)champions but ineligible to represent their Division in the Championship Game; the league has not made this distinction clear yet.
IPFW is an affiliate member in tennis and men's soccer. Another affiliate member is Missouri State University in field hockey.
The MAC is contracted to provide a team for three college football bowl games—the GMAC Bowl, Motor City Bowl, and the International Bowl. In the event that a Big East team cannot be provided for the newly created Birmingham Bowl, a fourth MAC team is selected.
