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Mac logo 2008

New conference logo adopted in 2008

The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I baseball conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members located in Illinois, Indiana and New York. The MAC is headquartered in the Public Square district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

Member schools[]

There are twelve schools with full membership:

Institution Nickname Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Endowment
East Division
University of Akron Zips Akron, Ohio
(217,074)
1870 Public 25,942[1] $212 million
Bowling Green State University Falcons Bowling Green, Ohio
(29,636)
1910 Public 22,882 $70 million
Kent State University Golden Flashes Kent, Ohio
(27,946)
1910 Public 34,411[1] $158 million
Miami University RedHawks Oxford, Ohio
(21,943)
1809 Public 20,126 $320 million
Ohio University Bobcats Athens, Ohio
(21,342)
1804 Public 20,437 $240 million
West Division
Ball State University Cardinals Muncie, Indiana
(65,287)
1918 Public 20,113 $117 million
Central Michigan University Chippewas Mount Pleasant, Michigan
(25,946)
1892 Public 26,788 $41 million
Eastern Michigan University Eagles Ypsilanti, Michigan
(22,362)
1849 Public 22,974 $50 million
Northern Illinois University Huskies DeKalb, Illinois
(39,018)
1895 Public 25,313 $63 million
University of Toledo Rockets Toledo, Ohio
(295,029)
1872 Public 19,706 $173 million
Western Michigan University Broncos Kalamazoo, Michigan
(77,145)
1903 Public 24,818 $197 million

History[]

MidAmericanConference 100

Former conference logo

The Mid-American Conference charter members were Ohio University, Butler University, the University of Cincinnati, Wayne State University and Western Reserve University, one of the predecessors to today's Case Western Reserve University. Wayne State never participated and quickly bowed out. Butler left after the first year. Miami University and Western Michigan University took the place of those charter members for the 1948 season. By the time the University of Cincinnati left after the 1952–1953 season, the MAC had already added University of Toledo (1950), Kent State University (1951) and Bowling Green State University (1952).

The membership stayed steady for the next two decades except for the addition of Marshall University in 1954 and the departure of Western Reserve, which chose to de-emphasize intercollegiate athletics. Marshall was kicked out of the conference in 1969. The first major expansion since the 1950s took place in the mid-1970s with the addition of Central Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University in 1972 and Ball State University and Northern Illinois University in 1973. Northern Illinois left after the 1986 season. The University of Akron joined the conference in 1992. The conference became the largest in Division I with the re-admittance of Marshall and Northern Illinois and addition of the University at Buffalo in 1997 and 1998, respectively. The University of Central Florida joined for football only in 2001, becoming the first football-only member in conference history. Marshall (a second time) and Central Florida would leave after the 2004–2005 academic year, both joining Conference USA in all sports.

Former members[]

Commissioners[]

  • Dave Reese, 1946–1964
  • Bob James, 1964–1971
  • Fred Jacoby, 1971–1982
  • Jim Lessig, 1982–1990
  • Karl Benson, 1990–1994
  • Jerry Ippoliti, 1994–1999
  • Rick Chryst, 1999–present

External links[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 O'Brien, Dave. "Enrollment at KSU up 1 percent", Record-Courier, Record Publishing, 2008-09-13. Retrieved on 15 November 2008.
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