It’s time for MNC Wednesday again and our look at the best seasons conference by conference. Last week, we examined the storied history of independent schools, which probably is coming to an end. Now, the Mid-American Conference is up for analysis; better known as the MAC, the league has been around since the 1962 season—and rarely in the mix for a mythical national championship, of course, due to “stature” …

That doesn’t mean the conference has been devoid of good teams and good seasons, of course. Or great players—despite the 52-81 bowl record. Seventeen MAC teams have ended up ranked in the final Associated Press polls over the seasons of the league’s existence. Generally, that’s not too bad, and many of the conference’s coaches have moved up to bigger schools and more popular glory. But they started here.

10. 1966

Miami-OH and Western Michigan finished tied for the conference crown, although the RedHawks had the superior overall record by two games. Their 9-1 record did not warrant a bowl invitation in this era, and Miami was not ranked in the final AP poll, either. Overall, the league had a .514 winning percentage, with Bowling Green State finishing 6-3 overall. Oddly, the Broncos were outscored by 1.9 points per game, too.

9. 1970

League champion Toledo went undefeated (12-0) with a Tangerine Bowl victory over William & Mary. The Rockets finished No. 12 in the AP poll, too, so that carries a lot of weight in this narrow analysis. Other teams to finish over .500 for the year were Miami-OH and Western Michigan. Overall, the MAC finished third among Division I-A conferences with a .592 winning percentage. Hard to argue with that success.

8. 2011

Five teams went to bowl games, led by conference champ Northern Illinois. The Huskies beat Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Toledo beat Air Force in the Military Bowl; Ohio beat Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; and Temple beat Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl. The only school to lose in the postseason was Western Michigan, to Purdue in the Little Caesars Bowl. Not a bad showing at all!

7. 2015

Both Bowling Green State and Toledo won 10 games, and overall, a whopping seven teams received bowl bids: Akron (Famous Idaho Potato), Bowling Green State (GoDaddy), Central Michigan (Quick Lane), Northern Illinois (Poinsettia), Ohio (Camellia), Toledo (Boca Raton), and Western Michigan (Bahamas). MAC teams won three of those matchups, although no team ended up ranked in the final AP poll this time.

6. 1974

Miami-OH went 10-0-1 and beat Georgia in the Tangerine Bowl to finish ranked No. 10 in the AP poll. Overall, the MAC finished third in Division 1-A with a .591 winning percentage, thanks to winning seasons from every other school in the conference except Western Michigan (3-8). The league finished seventh, too, out of 13 conferences in the overall SRS rankings, so it wasn’t a throwaway league at the time. Impressive.

5. 1962

Bowling Green State won the conference with a 5-0-1 record in league, but the Falcons were passed over for bowl bids in favor of second-place Ohio (Sun) and third-place Miami-OH (Tangerine). BGSU finished 7-1-1 while the Bobcats and the RedHawks both had 8 victories, despite losing their respective bowls. Western Michigan also had a winning season; the MAC posting a .574 winning percentage—the best in the country.

4. 1969

Toledo completed an undefeated season (11-0) with a Tangerine Bowl victory—and wasn’t even ranked in the final AP poll. The MAC’s .585 winning percentage was also the second-best league mark in the nation, but it evidently didn’t mean anything to the voters at the time. Only Marshall and Western Michigan had losing records in the conference. This was clearly a time when small-school bias reigned supreme in voting.

3. 1971

We are starting to sound like a broken record here, as Toledo (12-0) won the league and the Tangerine Bowl on its way to a final AP poll ranking (No. 14). With a .635 winning percentage, the MAC finished second in the country among Division I-A conferences. Only Kent State finished with a losing record. From 1969 to 1971, the Rockets posted a 35-0 record and won three straight Tangerine matchups. That’s amazing, right?

2. 1973

This time it was Miami-OH finishing undefeated (11-0) and ending the season ranked (15th) after a Tangerine Bowl victory over the Florida Gators. Once again, too, the MAC finished first in the nation for conference winning percentage (.641). Kent State finished 9-2 and was ranked as high as 19th at one point. Only Toledo (!) finished under .500 on the year, in quite the decline from its previous heights. Unreal!

1. 2020

This was the Covid season, of course: Ball State won the conference championship and finished ranked (No. 23), along with the Buffalo Bulls (No. 25). Both schools won their bowl matchups, too, with the Cardinals beating San José State in the Arizona Bowl to finish 7-1—and the Bulls winning the Camellia Bowl over Marshall to finish 6-1 overall. Two teams actually went winless here, so the rating/ranking is a little odd.