Early Wednesday evening, the Mid-American Conference unveiled its entire 2018 football schedule, confirming its national TV schedule, as well as conference matchups.

There are plenty of changes to this year’s calendar, with a clear emphasis on Saturday games in conference play. Last season, the MAC played its late October-early November games entirely on weekdays, save for a Saturday game between Buffalo and Akron.

This will surely be a boon for fans, as two of the conference’s biggest rivalries, The Battle of I-75 between Toledo and Bowling Green, and the Battle for the Victory Cannon between Central and Western Michigan, were played on weeknights in 2017 and have been moved to Oct. 6 and Oct. 20, respectively, in 2018.

The schedule will feature at least one Saturday game a week from Oct. 25 onward, culminating in four Black Friday games at the end of the season.

The MAC will feature 16 nationally-televised games in October and November, as per recent tradition. Those games will be featured on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2 , ESPN3, ESPNU or ESPN News) and the CBS Sports Network.

Other nationally-televised games, especially in the non-conference slate, will be annonuced closer to the season’s official kickoff. As part of ESPN’s megacontract with the conference, it’s likely that most, if not all, of the conference games will air on ESPN3. An updated schedule will be released in June or July to confirm TV times, dates and channels for gams involving MAC programs.

If a game does not have such information even after the update, it is safe to assume information will be updated no later than 12 days before kickoff.

Ball State, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami, NIU, Ohio, Toledo and WMU seem to have picked up the majority of the heavy lifting for the weeknight #MACtion slate, while teams like CMU and EMU will only have to endure one weeknight game in-conference.

There’s several interesting observations to make, especially about the non-conference season, but that’s for another article here on Hustle Belt.

Without further ado, here’s the schedule for all 12 MAC programs, listed here in alphabetical order:

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Akron Zips

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Sep.

1 at Nebraska

8 Morgan State

15 at Northwestern

22 at Iowa State

Oct.

6 Miami

13 at Buffalo

20 at Kent State

27 Central Michigan

Nov.

1 NIU, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network)

10 at Eastern Michigan

17 Bowling Green

23 at Ohio, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Ball State Cardinals

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Aug.

30 Central Connecticut State

Sep.

8 at Notre Dame

15 at Indiana

22 Western Kentucky

29 Kent State

Oct.

6 NIU

13 at Central Michigan

20 Eastern Michigan

25 at Ohio, time TBA (ESPN2/CBS Sports Network)

31 at Toledo, time TBA (ESPN2)

Nov.

13 Western Michigan, time TBA (ESPN2)

20 at Miami, time TBA (ESPN2 or ESPNU/ESPN3

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Bowling Green Falcons

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Sep.

1 at Oregon

8 Maryland

15 Eastern Kentucky

22 Miami

29 at Georgia Tech

Oct.

6 at Toledo

13 Western Michigan

20 at Ohio

30 Kent State, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

Nov.

10 at Central Michigan

17 at Akron

23 Buffalo, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Buffalo Bulls

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Sep.

1 Delaware State

8 at Temple

15 Eastern Michigan

22 at Rutgers

29 Army

Oct.

6 at Central Michigan

13 Akron

20 at Toledo

30 Miami, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

Nov.

6 Kent State, time TBA (ESPNU)

14 at Ohio, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

23 at Bowling Green, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Central Michigan Chippewas

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Sept.

1 at Kentucky

8 Kansas

15 at NIU

22 Maine

29 at Michigan State

Oct.

6 Buffalo

13 Ball State

20 Western Michigan

27 at Akron

Nov.

3 at Eastern Michigan

10 Bowling Green

23 at Toledo, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Eastern Michigan Eagles

Kenneth Bailey

Aug.

31 Monmouth

Sep.

8 at Purdue

15 at Buffalo

22 at San Diego State

29 NIU

Oct.

6 at Western Michigan

13 Toledo

20 at Ball State

27 Army

Nov.

3 Central Michigan

10 Akron

23 at Kent State, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Kent State Golden Flashes

Photo by Todd Bennett/Getty Images

Sep.

1 at Illinois

8 Howard

15 at Penn State

22 at Ole Miss

29 at Ball State

Oct.

6 Ohio

13 at Miami

20 Akron

30 at Bowling Green, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

Nov.

6 at Buffalo, time TBA (ESPNU)

15 Toledo, time TBA (CBS Sports Network)

23 Eastern Michigan, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Miami RedHawks

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Sep.

1 Marshall

8 Cincinnati (neutral site game at Paul Brown Stadium)

15 at Minnesota

22 at Bowling Green

29 Western Michigan

Oct.

6 at Akron

13 Kent State

20 at Army

30 at Buffalo, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

Nov.

7 Ohio, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

14 at NIU, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

20 Ball State, time TBA (ESPN2 or ESPNU/ESPN3)

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Northern Illinois Huskies

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Sep.

1 at Iowa

8 Utah

15 Central Michigan

22 at Florida State

29 at Eastern Michigan

Oct.

6 at Ball State

13 Ohio

27 at BYU

Nov.

1 at Akron, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network)

7 Toledo, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

14 Miami, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

20 at Western Michigan, time TBA (ESPN2 or ESPNU/ESPN3)

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Ohio Bobcats

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Sep.

1 Howard

15 at Virginia

22 at Cincinnati

29 UMass

Oct.

6 at Kent State

13 at NIU

20 Bowling Green

25 Ball State, time TBA (ESPN2/CBS Sports Network)

Nov.

1 at Western Michigan, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network)

7 at Miami, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

14 Buffalo, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

23 Akron, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Toledo Rockets

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Sep.

1 VMI

15 Miami (FL)

22 Nevada

29 at Fresno State

Oct.

6 Bowling Green

13 at Eastern Michigan

20 Buffalo

25 at Western Michigan, time TBA (ESPN2/CBS Sports Network)

31 Ball State, time TBA (ESPN2)

Nov.

7 at NIU, time TBA (ESPN2/ESPNU)

15 at Kent State, time TBA (CBS Sports Network)

23 Central Michigan, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network/ESPN3)

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Western Michigan Broncos

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Aug.

31 Syracuse, Time TBA (CBS Sports Network)

Sep.

8 at Michigan

15 Delaware State

22 at Georgia State

29 at Miami

Oct.

6 Eastern Michigan

13 at Bowling Green

20 at Central Michigan

25 Toledo, time TBA (ESPN2/CBS Sports Network)

Nov.

1 Ohio, time TBA (ESPNU/CBS Sports Network)

13 at Ball State, time TBA (ESPN2)

20 NIU, time TBA (ESPN2 or ESPNU/ESPN3)

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