The 2026 Mid-American Conference football season will be the 81st season for the Mid-American Conference (MAC), as part of the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Non-conference play will begin on September 3. Conference play will begin on October 3 and conclude with the MAC championship game on December 5 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. For the third straight season, the MAC will not have divisions. The Championship game will feature the two teams with the best conference records. This will be the first season without Northern Illinois since 1997 as it joined the Mountain West Conference for football. On February 14, 2026, the conference announced that Sacramento State would transition from FCS to FBS and begin play in the MAC in 2026.
The MAC will enter the 2026 season with four head coaching changes from the start of the 2025 season.
On October 30, 2025, Mark Carney, who had been the interim head coach for most of the 2024 season, was promoted to permanent head coach.
On December 1, 2025, Ohio University announced that head coach Brian Smith was on indefinite leave. Defensive coordinator John Hauser was named the interim head coach. On December 16, the University terminated Smith for cause. Hauser was named full-time head coach, three days after winning the Frisco Bowl, on December 26.
Brennan Marion left after one 7âÂÂ5 season with the Hornets to accept the offensive coordinator position at Colorado On December 15, 2025, Alonzo Carter was named the new head coach.
On December 6, 2025, Rocket head coach Jason Candle accepted head coach position at the University of Connecticut. Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs was named head football coach by the on December 10, 2025.
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All times Eastern time.
2026âÂÂ2027 records against non-conference foes, including bowl games:
Regular season & bowls
This is a list of regular season games the MAC has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
The following regular season games include MAC teams competing against teams from the American, CUSA, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt.
The following regular season games include MAC teams competing against FBS Independents, which only includes UConn for 2026.
The following regular season games include MAC teams competing against FCS schools.
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