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This marks the second year of the new conference schedule format in the MAC which allows each team to face all 12 conference opponents home and away at least once during a three-year cycle. Additionally, the format incorporates protected opponents based on geographic location and rivalries and eliminates the MAC East and West Divisions.
Despite the loss of Tim Albin to Charlotte (see more below under Head Coaching Changes), Ohio has the second-best odds to win the MAC in 2025 (+290), trailing only Toledo. The Rockets most recently claimed the MAC crown in 2022. They played in, and lost, the 2023 championship to Miami.
No MAC team is even one of the Darkhorse picks to make the College Football Playoffs.
The 2025 conference season will kick off Saturday, September 13 as Kent State hosts Buffalo. The 29th MAC Football Championship Game will be held on Saturday, December 6 (Time TBA) between the top two teams based on conference winning percentage. This will mark the 22nd MAC Football Championship game at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.
UMass this season will compete as a full-fledged MAC member. The Minutemen were previously football-only members of the conference from 2012-2015 and were basically expelled when they refused to join for all sports.
The addition of UMass will offset the loss of Northern Illinois to the Mountain West as a football-only member in 2026. NIU will join the Horizon League in nearly all other sports, but will stay in the MAC as an affiliate member for gymnastics and wrestling.
UMass is one of four MAC teams that will be led by a new head coach in 2025, joining Ball State, Central Michigan and the 2024 MAC Champion Ohio Bobcats.
On Wednesday, December 4, Rutgers DC Joe Harasymiak was named the new HC at UMass. Harasymiak was the 2018 national FCS Coach of the Year after he led Maine to the semifinals of the playoffs where the Black Bears lost to Eastern Washington. After that season, he left to become an assistant charged with coaching safeties at Minnesota and was named co-DC the following year. He moved to Rutgers as DC in 2022. At UMass, he becomes the official replacement for Don Brown whose second stint as HC of the Minutemen came to an end when his dismissal was announced on Monday, November 18. Brown, 69, has had a long career in sports, mainly as a much-respected defensive coordinator in football. But he also spent some time coaching baseball and basketball. The Minutemen were just 2-8 at the time of his firing, and his teams were 7-28 in almost three full seasons. His first stint as the UMass HC ran from 2004-2008 when football competed as a FCS program and played in the 2006 FCS Championship game (lost). During that period, his record was 43-19. Shane Montgomery, who was 17-38 as HC of the Miami RedHawks from 2005-2008, was named interim head coach with the unenviable task of facing Georgia for his first game. Montgomery went 0-2.
Ball State on Wednesday, December 4 named Mike Uremovich as its permanent replacement for Mike Neu who was fired on Sunday, November 16 after nearly 9 full seasons that produced records of 30-63 overall and 25-43 in the MAC. At the time, the Cardinals were 3-7 over-all and 2-4 on the MAC. Three of the losses were by 3 points or less, and five losses were by 3 points or less going back to November 1 of last season. Offensive line coach Colin Johnson served as interim head coach for the final two games of the season, going 0-2. Neu only had one winning season with the Cardinals and that was in the Covid-shortened 2020 season when they finished 7-1 overall, 5-1 in the conference, won the MAC title and beat San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl for the first and only bowl win in school history (1-8). Uremovich has spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Butler (23-11, 15-9 Patriot) where his team was 7-4 twice and 9-3 this past year with a 5-3 conference mark each season. He was previously the head coach at St. Francis (IL), an NAIA school, from 2005-2011 where his teams went 33-45 over-all, but 17-7 in the last two seasons. His final team advanced to NCAA quarterfinals. He left St. Francis for an assistant position at Northern Illinois and spent 10 years at various FBS schools, including NC State and Temple, before taking the job at Butler.
Central Michigan on December 9 announced that Matt Drinkall, the offensive line coach and co-coordinator of the offense for the Army West Point Black Knights, is the new head coach of the Chippewas. Drinkall had served on Jeff Monken's staff since 2019, overseeing one of the highest-ranked offenses in the country in multiple categories. Prior to his time at Army, Drinkall was the HC at NAIA Kansas Wesleyan where his teams were 42-17 over 5 seasons and advanced to the National Championship playoff semifinals his final year. At CMU, Drinkall replaces Jim McElwain who announced on November 20 that he was retiring at the end of the season, his 6th with the Chippewas. They finished with a third straight losing season with records of 4-8 over-all and 2-6 in the MAC. In his first three seasons in Mt. Pleasant, his teams were 8-6, 3-3 (Covid-19 pandemic season) and 9-4, and finished tied for first in the MAC West in 2019 and 2021. The 2021 squad won the Sun Bowl, 23-21, over Washington State, for the school's first bowl win since 2012 and just the fourth in history.
Ohio on December 18 removed the interim tag from Brian Smith before he had ever coached a ball game. The AHC and OC under Albin was named as the temporary replacement for Tim Albin when he left to take the same position at Charlotte on December 8. Smith and the Bobcats then defeated Jax State 30-27 in the Cure Bowl on December 20. Albin leaves Ohio after four seasons where he posted a 33-19 record including a 23-9 mark against conference opponents. The move comes a day after Albin led Ohio to its first MAC title since 1968 with a 38-3 whipping of the Miami RedHawks. Over the past three seasons, the Bobcats had 30 wins, including three straight 10-win seasons from 2022-24, and a 20-4 mark vs. MAC foes. The 30 wins marked the most successful three-year run in program history.
Scroll down for Team-by-Team Schedules.
*- donotes Conference game
Thursday, August 28
Wyoming at Akron
Buffalo at Minnesota
Central Michigan at San Jose State
Lafayette at Bowling Green
Miami at Wisconsin
Ohio at Rutgers
Saturday, August 30
Ball State at Purdue
Eastern Michigan at Texas State
Merrimack College at Kent State
Temple at UMass
Holy Cross at Northern Illinois
Toledo at Kentucky
Western Michigan at Michigan State
Saturday, September 6
Akron at Nebraska
Ball State at Auburn
Bowling Green at Cincinnati
Saint Francis at Buffalo
Central Michigan at Pitt
Long Island at Eastern Michigan
Kent State at Texas Tech
Bryant at UMass
Miami at Rutgers
Northern Illinois at Maryland
West Virginia at Ohio
Western Kentucky at Toledo
North Texas at Western Michigan
Saturday, September 13
*Buffalo at Kent State
Akron at UAB
New Hampshire at Ball State
Liberty at Bowling Green
Central Michigan at Michigan
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky
UMass at Iowa
Ohio at Ohio State
Morgan State at Toledo
Western Michigan at Illinois
Saturday, September 20
*Toledo at Western Michigan
Duquesne at Akron
Ball State at UConn
Bowling Green at Louisville
Troy at Buffalo
Wagner at Central Michigan
Louisiana at Eastern Michigan
Kent State at Florida State
UNLV at Miami
Northern Illinois at Mississippi State
Gardner Webb at Ohio
Saturday, Sept. 27
*Akron at Toledo
*Bowling Green at Ohio
*Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan
UConn at Buffalo
UMass at Missouri
Lindenwood at Miami
San Diego State at Northern Illinois
Rhode Island at Western Michigan
Saturday, October 4
*Central Michigan at Akron
*Ohio at Ball State
*Eastern Michigan at Buffalo
*Western Michigan at UMass
*Miami at Northern Illinois
Kent State at Oklahoma
Saturday, October 11
*Miami at Akron
*Ball State at Western Michigan
*Toledo at Bowling Green
*Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan
*UMass at Kent State
Saturday, October 18
*Akron at Ball State
*Central Michigan at Bowling Green
*Buffalo at UMass
*Eastern Michigan at Miami
*Kent State at Toledo
*Northern Illinois at Ohio
Saturday, October 25
*Akron at Buffalo
*Ball State at Northern Illinois
*Bowling Green at Kent State
*UMass at Central Michigan
*Ohio at Eastern Michigan
*Western Michigan at Miami
Toledo at Washington State
Saturday, November 1
*Buffalo at Bowling Green
*Central Michigan at Western Michigan
Tuesday, November 4
*UMass at Akron
*Miami at Ohio
Wednesday, November 5
*Kent State at Ball State
*Northern Illinois at Toledo
Saturday, November 8
*Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan
Tuesday, November 11
*Kent State at Akron
*Ohio at Western Michigan
Wednesday, November 12
*Buffalo at Central Michigan
*Northern Illinois at UMass
*Toledo at Miami
Saturday, November 15
*Eastern Michigan at Ball State
Tuesday, November 18
*Akron at Bowling Green
*UMass at Ohio
*Western Michigan at Northern Illinois
Wednesday, November 19
*Miami at Buffalo
*Central Michigan at Kent State
Saturday, November 22
*Ball State at Toledo
Tuesday, November 25
*Bowling Green at UMass
*Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan
Friday, November 28
*Ohio at Buffalo
*Kent State at Northern Illinois
Saturday, November 29
*Ball State at Miami
*Toledo at Central Michigan
Saturday, December 6
MAC Football Championship Game
8/28 Wyoming
9/6 at Nebraska
9/13 at UAB
9/20 Duquesne (FCS)
9/27 at Toledo*
10/4 Central Michigan*
10/11 Miami (O)*
10/18 at Ball State*
10/25 at Buffalo*
11/4 UMass*
11/11 Kent State*
11/18 at Bowling Green*
8/30 at Purdue
9/6 at Auburn
9/13 New Hampshire
9/20 at UConn
10/4 Ohio*
10/11 at Western Michigan*
10/18 Akron*
10/25 at NIU*
11/5 Kent State*
11/15 Eastern Michigan*
11/22 at Toledo*
11/29 at Miami (O.)*
8/28 Lafayette (FCS)
9/6 at Cincinnati
9/13 Liberty
9/20 at Louisville
9/27 at Ohio*
10/11 Toledo*
10/18 Central Michigan*
10/25 at Kent State*
11/1 Buffalo*
11/8 at Eastern Michigan*
11/18 Akron*
11/25 at UMass*
8/28 at Minnesota
9/6 St. Francis, PA. (FCS)
9/13 *at Kent State
9/20 Troy
9/27 UConn
10/4 *Eastern Michigan
10/18 *at UMass
10/25 *Akron
11/1 *at Bowling Green
11/12 *at Central Michigan
11/19 *Miami (O.)
11/28 *Ohio
8/28 at San Jose State
9/6 at Pitt
9/13 at Michigan
9/20 Wagner (FCS)
9/27 Eastern Michigan*
10/4 at Akron*
10/18 at Bowling Green*
10/25 UMass*
11/1 at Western Michigan*
11/12 Buffalo*
11/19 at Kent State*
11/29 Toledo*
8/30 at Texas State
9/6 LIU (FCS)
9/13 at Kentucky
9/20 Louisiana
9/27 at Central Michigan*
10/4 at Buffalo*
10/11 Northern Illinois*
10/18 at Miami (O.)*
10/25 Ohio*
11/8 Bowling Green*
11/15 at Ball State*
11/25 Western Michigan*
8/30 Merrimack (FCS)
9/6 at Texas Tech
9/13 Buffalo*
9/20 at Florida State
10/4 at Oklahoma
10/11 UMass*
10/18 at Toledo*
10/25 Bowling Green*
11/5 at Ball State*
11/11 at Akron*
11/19 Central Michigan*
11/28 at Northern Illinois*
8/30 Temple
9/6 Bryant (FCS)
9/13 at Iowa
9/27 at Missouri
10/4 Western Michigan*
10/11 at Kent State*
10/18 Buffalo*
10/25 at Central Michigan*
11/4 at Akron*
11/12 Northern Illinois*
11/18 at Ohio*
11/25 Bowling Green*
8/28 at Wisconsin
9/6 at Rutgers
9/20 UNLV
9/27 Lindenwood (FCS)
10/4 at Northern Illinois*
10/11 at Akron*
10/18 Eastern Michigan*
10/25 Western Michigan*
11/4 at Ohio*
11/12 Toledo*
11/19 at Buffalo*
11/29 Ball State*
8/30 Holy Cross (FCS)
9/6 at Maryland
9/20 at Mississippi State
9/27 San Diego State
10/4 Miami (O)*
10/11 at Eastern Michigan*
10/18 at Ohio*
10/25 Ball State*
11/5 at Toledo*
11/12 at UMass*
11/18 Western Michigan*
11/28 Kent State*
8/28 at Rutgers
9/6 West Virginia
9/13 at Ohio State
9/20 Gardner Webb (FCS)
9/27 Bowling Green*
10/4 at Ball State*
10/18 Northern Illinois*
10/25 at Eastern Michigan*
11/4 Miami (O)*
11/11 at Western Michigan*
11/18 UMass*
11/28 at Buffalo*
8/30 at Kentucky
9/6 Western Kentucky
9/13 Morgan State (FCS)
9/20 at Western Michigan*
9/27 Akron*
10/11 at Bowling Green*
10/18 Kent State*
10/25 at Washington State
11/5 Northern Illinois*
11/12 at Miami (O)*
11/22 Ball State*
11/29 at Central Michigan*
8/30 at Michigan State
9/6 North Texas
9/13 at Illinois
9/20 Toledo*
9/27 Rhode Island (FCS)
10/4 at UMass*
10/11 Ball State*
10/25 at Miami (O)*
11/1 Central Michigan*
11/11 Ohio*
11/18 at Northern Illinois*
11/25 at Eastern Michigan*