The University of Akron and Kent State will have a new opponent in the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. The league announced Wednesday that UMass will be added to the East Division and that Bowling Green will move to the West.
This fall, UMass will join the conference, bringing the number of football teams to 14. This alignment will be for football only:
MAC East: UA, Buffalo, Kent State, UMass, Miami, Ohio and Temple.
MAC West: Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan.
“UMass has always had a very strong program and we know they will challenge us right away,” Kent State football coach Darrell Hazell said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to playing out there, which should help our recruiting on the East Coast.”
The Flashes’ 2012 conference schedule will include home games against UA, Ohio, Temple and Western Michigan. The road games are Miami, UMass, Buffalo and Eastern Michigan.
UA’s home games will be Buffalo, Miami, UMass and Northern Illinois. The road games are Kent State, Temple, Ohio and Toledo.
In nonconference play, Kent State will host Towson and will play road games at Army, Rutgers and Kentucky, and UA will play Central Florida and Morgan State at home and face Tennessee and Florida International on the road.
Each team will play an eight-game conference schedule, however each member will now play six divisional games and two nondivisional crossover games. There will no longer be protected crossover games.
UMass will begin play in the conference in 2012 but won’t be eligible for the conference championship game or a bowl game until 2013.
The conference office will announce dates for the 2012 regular season by the first week of March.
