The 2022 Mid-American Conference football season wwas the 77th season for the Mid-American Conference (MAC), as part of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 1 and concluded with its conference championship game on Saturday, December 3 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Ohio won the East Division with a conference record of 7–1 and Toledo won the West Division with a 5–3 conference record. Toledo won the championship over Ohio by a final score of 17–7.
Previous season
During the 2021 conference season, Kent State won the East Division, while Northern Illinois won the West Division, both with 6–2 conference records. In the 2021 MAC Championship Game, Northern Illinois defeated Kent State by a final score of 41–23. Northern Illinois advanced to the Cure Bowl, where they lost to Coastal Carolina, 41–47.
Preseason
Preseason polls
Media Poll
On July 26 the MAC announced the preseason media poll. Defending MAC champion Northern Illinois was named the preseason favorite.
Coaches Poll
On August 29 the MAC released the coaches poll. Defending champion Northern Illinois was favored to win the west while Kent State was selected as a slight favorite to win the East. Northern Illinois received 4 of the 12 MAC championship votes.
Individual Award Preseason Watchlists
Head Coaches
On November 4, 2021, Akron fired head coach Tom Arth after posting a 3–24 record during his tenure with the school. The school hired Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead as the new head coach for the 2022 season.
Post-season changes
On November 28, Western Michigan announced that they had fired head coach Tim Lester. Lester posted a record of 37–32 over six years at the school. On December 8, Western Michigan announced that they had hired Louisville offensive coordinator Lance Taylor to be the new head coach. On December 5, Kent State head coach Sean Lewis was announced as the new offensive coordinator at Colorado in the Pac-12 conference. On December 14, Kent State announced Kenni Burns as the new head coach for the 2023 season.
Rankings
Schedule
The schedule for the 2022 MAC football season was released on February 25, 2022.
All times Eastern time.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
MAC Conference Championship Game
Postseason
Bowl Games
The MAC finished with a 4–2 bowl record which was good enough to win the Bowl Challenge Cup
Selection of teams
Bowl eligible (6): Bowling Green, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo Bowl ineligible (6): Akron, Ball State, Central Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan
MAC records vs. other conferences
2022–2023 records against non-conference foes:
Regular season
Postseason
Mid-American vs Power 5 matchups
This is a list of games the MAC has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, BYU, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Mid-American vs Group of Five matchups
The following games include MAC teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, Mountain West or Sun Belt.
Mid-American vs FBS independents matchups
The following games include MAC teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn, or UMass.
Mid-American vs. FCS matchups
The following games include MAC teams competing against FCS schools.
Head to head matchups
Updated with the results of all games through December 3, 2022.
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors
East Division
West Division
MAC Individual Awards
The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Mid-American Conference football coaches at the end of the season.
All-Conference Teams
The following players were listed as part of the All-Conference teams.
NFL draft
The following list includes all MAC players who were drafted in the 2023 NFL Draft.