Mid-American Conference releases conference-only 2020 football schedule

Last week, the Mid-American Conference made their intention to return to football known, a couple months removed from being the first FBS conference to delay all fall sports to the spring semester due to the coronavirus outbreak.

On Wednesday afternoon, the MAC made it official, releasing their formal 2020 schedule, with six conference games, including five division opponents and a cross-division game. The schedule, which will feature a bye week over Thanksgiving break, will kick off three weekday games to start the season for every team, with the schedule then rotating to the weekends as the season winds down.

The weeknights will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the 2020 season. In most seasons, the MAC does Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the November weeknight slate. The championship game has been shifted back to its traditional Friday date, after being played on a Saturday afternoon in 2019.

The highlight of the calendar is a Week 1 #MACtion extravaganza, with all 12 teams set to play on Wednesday night, including the rivalry trophy game between Toledo and Bowling Green.

TV networks and times for the truncated season are yet to be finalized, and as with everything in this COVID-affected season, the schedule is subject to change.

Here’s what the schedule looks like for the 2020 season, per the MAC’s release:

Mid-American Conference

Here is a breakdown of the schedule by game week in text form:

Week 1, start date Nov. 4

• Ball State at Miami
• Eastern Michigan at Kent State
• Western Michigan at Akron
• Bowling Green at Toledo
• Buffalo at Northern Illinois
• Ohio at Central Michigan

Week 2, start date Nov. 10

• Akron at Ohio (Tues)
• Kent State at Bowling Green (Tues)
• Miami at Buffalo (Tues)
• Central Michigan at Northern Illinois (Wed)
• Eastern Michigan at Ball State (Wed)
• Toledo at Western Michigan (Wed)

Week 3, start date Nov. 17

• Akron at Kent State (Tues)
• Buffalo at Bowling Green (Tues)
• Ohio at Miami (Tues)
• Northern Illinois at Ball State (Wed)
• Toledo at Eastern Michigan (Wed)
• Western Michigan at Central Michigan (Wed)

Week 4, start date Nov. 28

• Ball State at Toledo
• Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan
• Northern Illinois at Western Michigan
• Bowling Green at Ohio
• Kent State at Buffalo
• Miami at Akron

Week 5, start date Dec. 5

• Ball State at Central Michigan
• Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan
• Toledo at Northern Illinois
• Bowling Green at Akron
• Buffalo at Ohio
• Kent State at Miami

Week 6, start date Dec. 12

• Central Michigan at Toledo
• Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan
• Western Michigan at Ball State
• Akron at Buffalo
• Miami at Bowling Green
• Ohio at Kent State

Friday, Dec. 18: MAC Football Championship Game at Ford Field