1 draft pick Eric Fisher block effectively, but that has less mass appeal.)Īt the start, the MAC’s midweek slot served as a showcase for the league’s biggest games. (Viewers could also see Central Michigan left tackle and future no. In various MACtion contests over the years, fans had the chance to watch Kent State quarterback Julian Edelman rush for three touchdowns, Central Michigan receiver Antonio Brown rack up 170 yards, aptly named Buffalo edge rusher Khalil Mack tally three sacks, and Western Michigan wideout Corey Davis go off for 272 yards with three scores. The midweek MAC games brought widespread attention to the college careers of Marshall’s Byron Leftwich and Miami (Ohio)’s Ben Roethlisberger, who skyrocketed from relative anonymity to become top-10 NFL draft picks with some exposure from nationally televised games. It’s given us a chance to elevate and build a national brand, which is challenging to do.” -MAC commissioner John Steinbrecher “We’re not competing against the NFL, we’re not competing against other college properties. It’s given us a chance to elevate and build a national brand, which is challenging to do.” We’re not competing against the NFL, we’re not competing against other college properties. “We have a couple of days where we’re the only games in the country. “In the sport of college football, you have 130 teams playing on basically the same day,” Steinbrecher says. But on a Tuesday, with no other football on, people might tune into a MAC game, winning potential fans for the league and viewers for ESPN. “Conference USA began this, but they stepped out of it, and we moved into that vacuum.” The reasoning was simple: On a traditional college football Saturday, casual fans would almost never choose to watch Eastern Michigan play Central Michigan instead of a marquee matchup involving the sport’s perennial powerhouses. “In the beginning, ESPN came to us,” commissioner Jon Steinbrecher says. Since 2000, the MAC has played football games in the middle of the week, a setup that’s been mutually beneficial for the conference and its television network partner. The cult of followers who got hooked on these midweek offerings gave the games a name-MACtion. I came to love the MAC because it plays football games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in November, allowing me to watch football seven nights a week instead of merely five. In truth, though, my love for the MAC blossomed out of convenience more than romance. I even tried to train my dogs to high-five me like former Northern Illinois mascot Diesel the Husky high-fived his trainers. And I made the case that Buffalo’s Tyree Jackson should have been a first-round NFL draft pick this spring. I told anyone who would listen that 13-0 Western Michigan deserved a spot in the 2016 playoff. I stumped for NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch’s 2013 Heisman Trophy campaign. I got deeply invested in the 2011 Toledo team that lost a nationally televised game 63-60 one week, then won another nationally televised game 66-63 the next. I’d like to think my love for the MAC blossomed out of its many beautiful, unusual football phenomena. When she told me that she vaguely knew Dri Archer during her time at Kent State, I felt compelled to ask her dozens of questions about it. My closest connection to MAC football is my girlfriend’s former roommate. I went to college in northern Illinois, but have never met anyone who went to Northern Illinois University. This may seem strange, because I did not attend a MAC school, nor did any of my family members or close friends. I have been in love with Mid-American Conference football for about eight years now.
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