For most Mid-American Conference schools, the goal of the nonconference portion of the schedule is to get a couple of wins and make a trip or two to a Power Five school for a decent payout.
But in the case of Ohio, Bowling Green, Toledo and Northern Illinois, that’s changed. They’re also trying to win those Power Five games with the home-field advantage of bringing top opponents to their stadiums.
Last season, Ohio completed a home-and-home series with Kansas. The Bobcats won both games. NIU hosted Utah and the Falcons took on Maryland at home Saturday. This weekend, Toledo will bring No. 21 Miami into the Glass Bowl.
In those games, MAC schools have gone 1-2. But in the losses, teams were competitive, like when the Huskies didn't allow a touchdown until the third quarter.
“The thing that we try to do is make sure that our team is ready to go into any kind of environment,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “I kind of like the challenge of playing power conference schools at their place. It's a little bit more of a challenge, and I love presenting those challenges to our team. Getting them here is great. I think they're deserving of trying to get a power conference team here in Athens, and we've been able to do that to some degree.”
For a conference that introduced a pirate flag to hoist after nonconference wins in August, it’s obvious that there’s a push to do well against Power Five opponents.
Coaches agreed it elevates the notoriety of their programs by winning those games. But it’s also great for attendance and even recruiting to just host those games. It makes recruiting visits more fun, and it allows fans to see a quality opponent come into their team’s stadium.
Maybe most importantly, for teams such as Toledo and NIU, it helps with the push to be the top of the Group of Five. Teams that contend for the MAC Championship have an opportunity to put themselves in the national spotlight with a win, and it gives the school a chance to feel comfortable in the environment of its own confines.
“It certainly brings notoriety when you can bring in a top-ten program historically to play in front of your home fans,” Rockets coach Jason Candle said. “We’re in a good-size market with a pro team in town, we have a great following. This game will be sold out, it will be a big deal for our city. We’ve had some major players here, but none with the magnitude of the Miami Hurricanes. Yeah, I think its a great opportunity for this program.”
The conference has to compete for TV time with other conferences up until the start of mid-week games, which don’t get going until late October, but lasts until the end of the season. This means that the only times that the MAC sees itself on a national market before that is when its playing Power Five teams.
What’s better than having that game at home?
“From a broad perspective, our community really thrives on it,” NIU coach Rod Carey said. “Our university loves it as well. On a more micro level our team gets really excited because we have the opportunity to play that team at home."
