Providing leadership in education and diversity, in 2023 the Mid-American Conference moves into its 77th year of service to our students.
Since its inception in 1946, the Mid-American Conference has progressively grown and developed into one of the most aggressive Division I conferences in the country. One of only 10 football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences, the MAC named Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher as its eighth commissioner in March of 2009. The league hosts championships in 23 sports, including neutral site events at some of the finest facilities in the nation, including football (Ford Field/Detroit) and men’s and women’s basketball (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse/Cleveland). The 2023 Football Championship Game will be the 19th in Detroit while the 2023-24 Basketball Tournaments will be the 24th in Cleveland.
Steinbrecher has been aggressive in pursuing NCAA Championship events. The MAC served as the host for the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Midwest Regional in Cleveland and the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which set NCAA Wrestling three-day Championship total attendance and single-session attendance records. The MAC was also selected to host the 2020 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First and Second Rounds (canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), 2024 Women’s Final Four, 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First & Second Rounds and 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships also at Fieldhouse. The MAC was also chosen to host the 2026 NCAA Women’s Bowling Championships after previously hosting the 2012, 2014 and the 2019 NCAA Women’s Bowling Championships under Steinbrecher’s direction.
Several key MAC initiatives include the development of the first of its kind Conference-wide Mental Health Program, which includes a bi-annual Mental Health Summit to focus on student well-being, along with grassroots efforts with a Mental Health Awareness Week on each member campus. A comprehensive Diversity & Inclusion Program was created to accelerate the growth of minority candidates for collegiate job opportunities in coaching and administration, and the development of the MAC Academic Consortium to integrate across membership the next generation of leaders in higher education, providing leadership development opportunities among faculty and administration.
ESPN has exclusive television and digital distribution rights for MAC sporting events, and guarantees coverage of every football game, men’s and women’s basketball games and select Olympic sporting events. Through this ESPN partnership, the MAC and CBS Sports Network announced another four-year sublicensing agreement to expand its national coverage of football and basketball through the 2022-23 season.
History of the MAC
Based in Cleveland since July 1999 following a 15-year stay in Toledo, Ohio, the MAC has established historic measurements in both football and men’s and women’s basketball since moving to Northeast Ohio. The MAC was founded as a five-school league on February 24, 1946 in Columbus, Ohio with Ohio, Butler, Cincinnati, Wayne State and Western Reserve admitted as charter members. The Mid-American Conference membership currently consists of 12 universities across five states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York and Ohio). In 1946 men’s basketball was the first competitive sport in the MAC, which now sponsors a total 23 sports. Women’s sports were brought into the Conference’s structure in 1980. For men, there are 10 championships sponsored in football, basketball, baseball, cross country, swimming and diving, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, wrestling, golf and tennis. For women, 13 championships are sponsored in basketball, softball, volleyball, cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, gymnastics, track & field, tennis and lacrosse.
