CLEVELAND, OH — Amidst a backdrop of conference realignment and NIL, the Mid-American Conference kicked of it’s 76th season in rock and roll style at the House of Blues in Downtown Cleveland Tuesday.
After years of having their annual media day in Ford Field and most recently down at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, the Cleveland-based conference decided to shake things up a little in having their annual football media day right down the street from their headquarters.
And it didn’t take long for the conference, thanks to commission Jon Steinbrecher to make both the conference’s position clear on the aforementioned issues that are premiering the sport.
In his opening remarks during his press conference, Steinbrecher stated that there are no current or future plans for the conference to expand or add any teams despite what is happening in the SEC and neighboring B1G. Steinbrecher also made a light joke about the possibility of adding heavyweight Norte Dame as an attempt to keep things light and humorous.
Humor aside, Steinbrecher went on to add that the MAC is currently in a good place and that the current teams have competed in New Years Day bowl games and that the league recently secured a three-year contract with Ford Field to host the MAC title game thru 2025, and the conference securing a $1.8 million grant for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District over a five-year period for TEACHing Cleveland, that will focus on developing new teachers for the CMSD.
Defending conference champion, Northern Illinois, tabbed as the favorites to return to Detroit are led by senior quarterback, Rocky Lombardi. The team to watch out of the East appear to be the Miami (OH) RedHawks led by junior QB Brett Gabbert and head coach Sean Lewis, who is entering his tenth season down in Oxford and aiming for his second MAC title in three seasons.
With the Football Kickoff now in the books from the Rock n’ Roll Capital of the World, the road to Motown began in style.