The 2010 Mid-American Conference football season was the 65th season for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The season began on Thursday, September 2, with five games: Ball State hosted Southeast Missouri State, Central Michigan hosted Hampton, Kent State hosted Murray State, Buffalo hosted Rhode Island, and Northern Illinois traveled to Ames, Iowa to face Iowa State. The conference's other eight teams began their respective 2010 seasons of NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) competition on Friday, September 3, and Saturday, September 4. The first in-conference game was September 9, with Temple hosting Central Michigan.
The 2010 MAC Championship Game featured the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Miami RedHawks, held December 3, at Ford Field in Detroit. Miami defeated Northern Illinois 26-21 on a 33-yard pass from Austin Boucher to Armand Robinson for a touchdown with 33 seconds remaining in regulation.
Four MAC teams were invited to post-season bowl games, with conference champion Miami, West Division champion Northern Illinois, West Division runner-up Toledo, and East Division runner-up Ohio getting bids. The only bowl-eligible schools not to receive invitations were Western Michigan (6-6) and Temple (8-4), the latter being the first team with a winning record to be passed over for a team with a .500 record under an NCAA rule change.
Previous season
West Division champion Central Michigan entered the 2009 MAC Championship Game undefeated in MAC play, their only losses coming at Arizona and at Boston College. The Ohio Bobcats were selected to represent the East Division by virtue of a tie-breaking head-to-head victory against the Temple Owls in the final regular-season game; both teams were 9-3 overall and 7-1 in conference games. In a rematch of the 2006 game, Central Michigan again won, for their third MAC championship in four years. Following the game, Central Michigan coach Butch Jones left to become the head coach at the University of Cincinnati. Steve Stripling, the defensive ends coach, became interim head coach and coached the GMAC bowl.
Five MAC teams Ohio, Temple, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Central Michigan played in post-season bowl games, though only Central Michigan won, defeating Sun Belt Conference champion Troy 44-41 in two overtimes in the 2010 GMAC Bowl. In mid-January, Dan Enos, previously a running backs coach for the Michigan State Spartans, was named the new head coach at Central Michigan. There were no other coaching changes in the conference.
Conference realignment
The Mid-American Conference was entirely left out of the 2010 NCAA conference realignment, with no school entering or leaving the conference. There was some speculation that football-only member Temple was under consideration to become a football-only member of the Big East Conference.
After being rebuffed by the Big East in November, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Minutemen are expected to become a football-only member starting in the fall of 2013, following a two-year transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. The arrangement is expected to be similar to Temple's, with UMass required to schedule certain numbers of non-conference games in other sports against MAC schools.
Preseason
Preseason poll
The 2010 MAC Preseason poll results were announced at the Football Media Preview in Detroit on July 30. In the West Division, Northern Illinois was picked as champion, while Temple was picked to win the East Division and the MAC Championship Game.
East Division
Temple – 137 points; 17 first-place votes
Ohio – 116 points; 3 first-place votes
Kent State – 94 points
Bowling Green – 74 points
Miami – 53 points
Buffalo – 48 points
Akron – 38 points
West Division
Northern Illinois – 115 points; 15 first-place votes
Central Michigan – 83 points; 3 first-place votes
Western Michigan – 77 points; 2 first-place votes
Toledo – 75 points
Ball State – 50 points
Eastern Michigan – 20 points
MAC Championship
Three votes were not cast for any team.
Temple – 11 votes
Northern Illinois – 5 votes
Ohio – 1 votes
Head coaches
East Division
Rob Ianello, Akron (1st Year) Dave Clawson, Bowling Green (2nd Year) Jeff Quinn, Buffalo (1st Year) Doug Martin, Kent State (6th Year) Michael Haywood, Miami (2nd Year) Frank Solich, Ohio (6th Year) Al Golden, Temple (5th Year)