MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

The MAC opens the bowl season with the Ohio Bobcats vs. the Marshall Thundering Herd on December 26th in a match-up of former MAC rivals. Ohio returns to Detroit, the site of their loss to CMU in the MAC Championship, for the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl, formerly the Motor City Bowl. Interestingly enough, the two will begin a 6-game series next season as the 9-4 Bobcats will look for the program’s first ever bowl victory. Temple will face UCLA on December 29th in what should be a very entertaining game in the Eagle Bank Bowl in Washington DC.  The Bowling Green Falcons will battle surprising Idaho on December 29th in Idaho’s backyard at the Humanitarian Bowl.  Northern Illinois will face a very tough South Florida team on January 2nd.  The conference finishes its bowl schedule with their best team as Central Michigan will battle Troy on January 6th at the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

Central Michigan defeated a game Ohio Bobcat squad 20-10.  The Chippewas were led by superstar QB Dan LeFevour who threw for 255 yards with two scores in the victory.  Central Michigan will play Troy on January 6th at the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, while the Bobcats will face Marshall in Detroit at the Little Caesar’s Bowl. For the entire bowl schedule to see where all 5 MAC teams in bowl games are playing look to Football-Bowl.com

While the national attention has been on the Big Ten’s bowl struggles in the 2008-2009 season, back home the MAC has been a huge disappointment. We were pleased when it was announced that the MAC had a record-typing 5 bowl teams this holiday season, but MAC football teams unfortunately got off to a rough start in bowl games. It started with heavily-favored Central Michigan fell to Florida Atlantic in the Motor City Bowl, then continued with Northern Illinois’ loss to Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl and when Western Michigan was crushed by Rice in the Texas Bowl it proved that the MAC would have a losing bowl season.

Today, the Buffalo Bulls are playing in the first bowl game in school history led by head coach Turner Gill and QB Drew Willy. Gill, a candidate for the Nebraska job last season and the Auburn job this year, is considered a “rising star” in college football after turning Buffalo from one of the worst programs in college football into the 2008 MAC Champions. After the 0-3 start by MAC teams this season Buffalo has a chance to get the MAC a notch in the win column as they face the Connecticut Huskies in the International Bowl in Toronto, Ontario.

Consistently one of the last conference looked to when bowl bids are handed out, anytime the MAC has more than their expected 3 teams in bowl games it is a big deal. In 2004 when 5 MAC teams were selected to play in bowl games it marked the first time that the Mid-American Conference had this many teams participating in bowl games and the 2008 bowl season will once again feature 5 MAC football teams after 6 teams were bowl eligible. Only Bowling Green, who recently dismissed head coach Gregg Brandon, was bowl eligible in the MAC and not selected to participate in the postseason.

Of the 5 MAC teams in bowl games, the list is headlined by the 2008 MAC Football Champion Buffalo Bulls. Despite Turner Gill’s name being floated around for the Auburn & Syracuse openings, Gill lead his Bulls to a 8-5 season and a upset of previously-unbeaten Ball State in the MAC Championship Game. UB will face the Connecticut Huskies in the International Bowl on January 3rd in Toronto. The GMAC Bowl, played in Mobile, Alabama on January 6th, will feature 12-1 Ball State vs 10-3 Tulsa as once of the few bowl games featuring multiple 10+ win teams. Northern Illinois was just 6-6 this season but landed in the Independence Bowl to face Louisiana Tech of the WAC on December 30th. On that same day Western Michigan travels to Houston for the Texas Bowl to face the hometown Rice Owls. Kicking off the 2008 bowl season for the MAC will be Central Michigan, a participant in both the 2006 & 2007 Motor City Bowl games, as they once again play in Detroit on the day after Christmas as they play Sun Belt member Florida Atlantic.