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Finally, I figured, one of these MAC related gigs was paying off and in a big way.  

It was the night before the annual Mid-American Conference's Football Media Day in Detroit and I was being showered with cash and checks. Now, this is what life is all about I figured, covering college football and getting cash rich. I felt like an SEC recruit. 

Then my wife brought me back to earth.

Oh yeah, these were dues from my fellow members of the MAC News Media Association. Well, no trips to the casino after all. Not even a sack of White Castles.

Seriously though, it was a nice to start to the annual MAC football fest and even though no big news was broken over the course of the event, there was enough information shared that is of interest to fans of the MAC.

Crew Chief Breaks It Down
Mid-American Conference referee and crew chief Bill Algee reviewed some of the updated rules that will affect the upcoming 2007 season. Algee has been with the MAC for 16 seasons, has officiated two MAC Championships as well as the Hawaii Bowl, Cotton Bowl and a few of those bowls that have since ceased to exist.

There are many minor rules adjustments affecting timing that will be barely noticeable to the average fan but the good news is that many of the new rules involve shorter time frames between when networks return from commercial breaks and play actually resumes. What this means is that the average fan will need to hustle back from the fridge a little quicker when ESPN comes back to live action.

The most noticeable difference for this season will be that kickoffs will now originate from the 30 yard line as opposed to the 35 yard line so we can expect more returns and fewer touchbacks.

MAC Commish Gives The Dish
Mid-American Conference Commissioner Rick Chyrst also made an appearance at the MAC News Media Association event Tuesday night at Ford Field.

Among the tidbits shared by Chryst:

Record Attendance
Anticipated attendance for the six opening home MAC contests is expected to exceed 200,000 which would be an all-time record. With Ball State opening their newly renovated home field with a conference matchup against Miami along with Temple hosting Navy; Akron battling Army in the first annual Patriot Bowl at Cleveland Browns Stadium; Toledo hosting Purdue at the Glass Bowl and Northern Illinois hosting Iowa in sold-out Soldier Field, it will be a record-shattering weekend for MAC attendance which means we should be spared all of the bleating about attendance this season.

 TV Saturation?
 Out of 72 home MAC contests, 55 will be televised. The remaining 17 games will be made available via streaming on the MAC's official website through XOS Technologies,

 MAC Championship Game Kickoff
 While tentative and subject to change, the kickoff time for the MAC Championship Game on Saturday, December 1 is likely to be at 11:00 AM on ESPN2 and will be part of ESPN's "Championship Saturday" promotion.

Parity
Six different teams have appeared in the MAC Championship Game over the past three seasons and nine different teams have gone bowling.

 Big Ten Visitors
 This season MAC teams will host a record-setting six Big Ten schools after hosting five in 2006. 

Chyrst also defended the recent schedule changes over the past few seasons in the MAC that has seen many games changed to weeknights to garner greater televised coverage. "I honestly believe that if we had not taken those steps, we would not have had nine different teams in bowl games over the past three seasons and currently have over 100 former MAC players in the NFL," said Chryst making a strong argument for the benefits of the added television exposure for the conference.

Also notably, since 1999 the MAC has gone 12-8 in bowl games, second best among all FBS conferences.

Finally, acknowledging that "thirteen is certainly awkward" for scheduling purposes, Chryst did not offer any indications that there are any immediate solutions to the MAC's scheduling situation with thirteen football teams. While the issue will be taken up at the 2008 President and Athletic Directors meetings, it does not appear that there are any identifiable schools on the immediate horizon that could be added as a 14^th member to even out the scheduling situation however this still appears to be the most likely resolution at some point.

Ford Field Digs The MAC Too
Ford Field officials are also pretty happy with their association with the MAC.  To date Ford Field has hosted eleven contests involving MAC teams between the annual Collegiate Clash featuring Eastern Michigan, the MAC Championship Game and the Motor City Bowl with attendance exceeding 350,000 for those eleven games, an average of 31,818 fans per game.

MAC Media Picks Broncos and Bobcats
The annual MAC News Media Association preseason poll was released with Western Michigan getting the dreaded favorite role in the West and Ohio being picked to win the East with the Broncos picked to win it all. Before anyone gets too excited in Kalamazoo or Athens, keep in mind that we in the media haven't gotten this preseason polling thing right since before Paris Hilton lost her virginity.

 Here is the breakdown of the voting:

 EAST

 WEST

MAC Championship Game Winner: Western Michigan 11; Central Michigan 10; Ohio 6; Toledo 5; Kent State 2; Akron 1; Temple 1.

Quotable
Proof that hope springs eternal, and in the MAC where anything can happen, Eastern Michigan standout junior linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw receives our eternal optimist award telling us "This is going to be our year." It would make a great story, going from worst to first in the West. Considering the closeness of EMU's losses last season, maybe that is not an unreasonable statement after all.

Among MAC coaches, Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit is probably not considered to be the class cut-up to say the least but he actually got off the best line at the Kickoff Luncheon at Ford Field when he was asked by emcee Jeff Phelps what to expect in the MAC this season. "It will be a dog fight...oh, wait, maybe that was not a good choice of words," noted Cubit no doubt referencing Michael Vick's latest troubles.

Finally, keynote speaker Chris Spielman was his usual engaging, intense self. If Spielman weren't an Ohio State grad, you would swear he was a MAC alum. Spielman kept intoning "if the WAC, why not the MAC?" Meaning quite simply that he believes that the MAC could easily turn in the kind of season this season as we have recently seen by schools like Utah and Boise State who have crashed the BCS parties the last two seasons. "You're on the rise, it's your turn, take it," Spielman implored MAC football players in attendance. I know I was looking for the nearest set of tackling dummies and ready to suit up.

2007 should be an intriguing season in the MAC. In the immortal words of the late Mills Lane, "Let's get it on!"