2024 MAC Conference Football Odds and Predictions

Miami returns 14 starters from last year’s 11-3 MAC championship team. Will the Redhawks repeat? Toledo lost to Miami 23-14 in last year’s MAC title game. It’s the second straight year the Rockets played for the conference title. Toledo loses a ton of talent, especially on an offense that averaged 32.3 points per game last season. Will there be a surprise in the MAC in 2024?

One thing has not changed in the MAC. The programs that are able to keep their head coach and most of their staffs intact are the ones that continue to win. Chuck Martin has been at Miami for 10 years now. Jason Candle has been the head coach at Toledo for nine seasons, but he’s been at Toledo since 2009. It’s a similar story for Ohio’s Tim Albin. He’s been the Bobcats head coach for the last three seasons (23-16), but he’s been at Ohio since 2005. Not surprisingly, in the last two MAC championship games, the participants have been Miami, Toledo, and Ohio.

In the big picture, it’s very difficult for the MAC to even be in the discussion for an NCAA football championship. Each season, a number of MAC teams will play teams from the Big Ten. If a MAC team could gain a win over a quality Big Ten program, maybe, just maybe, they could work their way into the playoff discussion. The problem is that Big Ten programs beat MAC programs over 85 percent of the time.

This season, most MAC teams will begin their conference schedules in late September. Scores & Stats will have all of your NCAA football odds, game previews, and picks each week of the season. Those will include Group of 5 conferences like the MAC. Our experts will keep you updated on the MAC all the way through to the conference championship game which will be played on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

MAC Conference Realignment

With all of the shifting of conferences and moving of teams, one conference has remained intact throughout the entire process. The MAC has stayed at 12 teams for the last nine seasons. The conference’s last realignment was when UMass left to become an independent in 2016.

Even though there has been no realignment, the conference has undergone some changes. The MAC used to be a breeding ground for developing late-bloomers. There are a number of MAC alums like the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby who have put together long and productive careers in the NFL.

That is changing. Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell was a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, but it may be a while before the conference gets another. In this new era of the transfer portal combined with the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money available the best players in the MAC are leaving early for Power 5 programs.

Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke was the 2022 MAC Player of the Year. He’ll play in the Big Ten this season with Indiana. Toledo QB Dequan Finn is off to Baylor and teammate Peny Boone, a running back, is now at UCF. The teams will stay the same this year, but the faces will change.

2024 MAC Conference Odds

Check out the latest MAC conference odds, courtesy of the top sports betting sites:

Who Wins the 2024 MAC Football Championship?

The 2024 MAC championship discussion starts with the defending champions. As mentioned, Miami will return 14 starters, including seven on offense. Head coach Chuck Martin gets the luxury of having sixth-year quarterback Brett Gabbert back. The Redhawks will also have four offensive line starters returning.

The championship discussion should also include Toledo, which has played for the last two conference titles. Don’t forget Northern Illinois where head coach Thomas Hammock also returns 14 starters. Bowling Green and Central Michigan also return 14 starters each. As in year’s past, the race for the MAC championship should be a tight one.

Miami +240

• Head coach: Chuck Martin
• 2023 Record: 11-3 (7-1)

Martin and the Redhawks won a MAC title in 2019 and finally got back to the title game last year where the Redhawks avenged a regular season loss to Toledo. Miami will play at Toledo in early October and with an improved offense led by Gabbert and a defense that finished eighth in the country in scoring (15.9 ppg), the conference championship runs through Miami. Six starters, including MAC Defensive Player of the Year Matt Salopek, return to the Redhawks defense.

Miami plays Cincinnati and at Notre Dame in non-conference games early. The Redhawks beat Cincy last season in overtime on the road. Miami gets Northern Illinois at home this year. The regular season finale at Bowling Green could be the deciding factor in who plays for the conference title.

Toledo +275

• Head coach: Jason Candle
• 2023 Record: 11-3 (8-0)

Candle loses a big percentage of his offensive success from last year. QB Dequan Finn and RB Peny Boone both left in the transfer portal. Finn is at Baylor and Boone transferred to UCF. Not only does Candle have to replace the MAC leaders in passing and rushing, he also has to replace the entire offensive line. Candle has recruited well and QB Tucker Gleason did start in the Arizona Bowl last season.

The Rockets defense is a little better off with five returning starters. Toledo’s defense finished 21st in scoring, allowing 20.3 points per game last year. DT Darius Alexander and S Maxen Hook are both back after earning All-MAC first-team status last year. The Rockets have a favorable non-confernece schedule, playing FCS Duquesne and UMass at home to start the season. Toledo will play at Mississippi State and Western Kentucky before the MAC schedule begins in last September.

Northern Illinois +650

• Head coach: Thomas Hammock
• 2023 Record: 7-6 (5-3)

The MAC should be on the lookout for NIU. The Huskies return six offensive starters, but will break in a new quarterback. Whoever it is – Ethan Hampton is the favorite – Antario Brown and four offensive line starters will get the Huskies’ top-30 running game going in 2024. Eight starters return to a defense that ranked in the conference’s top three or four in most categories.

Hammock and company will be tested in its non-confernece games at Notre Dame and at NC State. The hope is that competition will better prepare them for MAC play. NIU will play Toledo at home in mid-October, but has to play Miami on the road in late November. The Huskies are only three years removed from winning the 2021 MAC title.

2024 MAC Football Championship Prediction

With so many starters back and a sixth-year veteran quarterback, the road to the MAC championship will go through Miami. QB Brett Gabbert returns behind four offensive line returning starters. The defense should be one of the better units in the nation again with MAC Defensive Player of the Year Matt Salopek back among six defensive starters. Don’t be surprised if Miami is 2-0 after playing Northwestern and Cincinnati to start the 2024 season.

Bet: Miami +240

Will Any MAC Football Teams Make the Playoffs?

The short answer is no. There is not a MAC team that will even come close to being in any College Football Playoff discussion at any point this season. The last MAC team that realistically had a shot at anything was Western Michigan under PJ Fleck, now the Minnesota head coach. Fleck led the Broncos to a perfect 13-0 regular season. WMU earned a New Year’s Six bowl bid and got beat by Wisconsin 24-16 in the 2016 Cotton Bowl.

Bet: Pass

The Best MAC Football Teams Overs

Miami won 11 games last season, finishing 7-1 in MAC play. They won at Cincinnati and get the Bearcats at home this season. They’ll play at Northwestern and Notre Dame, but they should be able to run through the MAC schedule once again. The Redhawks get Ohio, CMU, and NIU all at home. Eight wins is definitely in the cards for the defending MAC champions.

Bet: Miami Over 7.5 Wins

Throw out the COVID season (2020) and the Ohio Bobcats have won at least eight games in six of the last eight seasons. They’ve cleared this prop – 6.5 – in all but one of those seasons. The Bobcats only return one starter on each side of the ball, but they’ve got plenty of transfer talent. The Ohio running game is always strong and the defense is coming off a season in which it was ranked the national top-10 in total defense, run defense, and scoring defense. The non-conference schedule features games at Syracuse and Kentucky, but the Bobcats should be very competitive as usual in the MAC.

Bet: Ohio Over 6.5 Wins

The Best MAC Conference Football Teams Unders

It will be an adjustment year for Buffalo. Pete Lembo is the Bulls new head coach and he’ll need a new quarterback as well five other starters on an offense that averaged just 20.9 points per game last season. It will take some time to get used to the new offense. Defensively, the Bulls return five starters, but they were awful against the run last year. The non-conference schedule features UMass and Lafayette at home, but the rest of the schedule is tough. The only good thing…Buffalo avoids Miami in the regular season. Finding six wins will be extremely difficult.

Bet: Buffalo Under 5.5 Wins

The MAC Conference Football Team Sleeper

While the pundits fawn all over Miami and Toledo, and even show some love to Northern Illinois, there is one MAC team ready to make its move in 2024. Central Michigan lost its last three games in a row last season to finish 5-7. The Chips lost non-conference games at Michigan State and Notre Dame and don’t play either this season. In fact, CMU has a non-conference schedule featuring FCS Central Connecticut State, FIU, and San Diego State at home.

QB Bert Emanuel Jr. is back after an injury cut his 2023 season short. He is a dynamic player that will have all three wide receivers and his starting running back returning. Six starters return on defense and Notre Dame transfer and Michigan native Nolan Ziegler only makes that unit better. The Chippewas could make some noise in the race for the MAC title.

MAC Conference Heisman Watch

Just like the College Football Playoff discussion, a MAC player in the Heisman race is extremely unlikley. It’s even more unlikely this year since the conference doesn’t really have any bona fide superstars. Gabbert, the Miami quarterback, missed the last few games of last season. Bowling Green QB Connor Bazelak played injured for most of last season. The conference DPOY – Salopek, the Miami LB – is a defensive player from a Group of 5 school. That’s just not happening.

Those three are probably the MAC’s best shot at a Heisman, but you will not find any of them on a betting board anywhere. Keep it tuned to Scores & Stats all season long. We’ll have your Heisman Trophy odds updated each week of the 2024 season.  All of the top 20 players on our board are from Power 5 conferences. It’s difficult to get a MAC player into the discussion for the award.