 DETROIT, MI - The 2011 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game will feature the East Division Champion Ohio Bobcats against the West Division Champion Northern Illinois Huskies on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 pm ET in front of a national television audience on ESPN2 from Detroit’s Ford Field.
This contest will mark the 15th annual championship game for the MAC and will mark the eighth neutral site game at Ford Field in downtown Detroit, Mich.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
In the East Division, the Ohio Bobcats clinched the East Division with a 29-28 win at Bowling Green on Nov. 16 and ended the regular season with another victory, a 21-14 win over Miami on Nov. 22. Ohio finished 6-2 in the conference, 9-3 overall. The Bobcats will be making their second trip to the Marathon MAC Football Championship game in the last three years. The Bobcats last visit was in 2009 in a 20-10 loss to Central Michigan.
In the West Division, Northern Illinois clinched with a 18-12 win over Eastern Michigan on Friday, Nov. 25. The Huskies finished with a 7-1 conference record, 9-3 overall. Northern Illinois will be making their second consecutive appearance in the Marathon MAC Football Championship game. Last year, the Huskies suffered a 26-21 loss to Miami.
Last year’s MAC Championship game witnessed East Division champion Miami RedHawks defeat Northern Illinois 26-21 to claim the 2010 MAC title and an invitation to the GoDaddy.com Bowl, where the RedHawks defeated Middle Tennessee State, 35-21.
Miami finished the season with a 10-4 record. Northern Illinois accepted an invitation to the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl and defeated Fresno State, 41-17. Miami and Northern Illinois were part of four MAC football programs to accept bowl invitations last season (Ohio, Toledo).
The final 2011 MAC football standings are as follows:
West Division MAC Overall
&Northern Illinois 7-1 9-3
Toledo 7-1 8-4
Western Michigan 5-3 7-5
Ball State 4-4 6-6
Eastern Michigan 4-4 6-6
Central Michigan 2-6 3-9
East Division MAC Overall
#Ohio 6-2 9-3
Temple 5-3 8-4
Kent State 4-4 5-7
Miami 3-5 4-8
Bowling Green 3-5 5-7
Buffalo 2-6 3-9
Akron 0-8 1-11
#Clinched MAC East Division
&Clinched MAC West Division
MAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RESULTS (games played at Ford Field)
2010 Miami 26, Northern Illinois 21
2009 Central Michigan 20, Ohio 10
2008 Buffalo 42, Ball State 24
2007 Central Michigan 35, Miami 10
2006 Central Michigan 31, Ohio 10
2005 Akron 31, Northern Illinois 30
2004 Toledo 35, Miami 27
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