Tickets On Sale Tomorrow for 2009 Marathon MAC Football Championship Game

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Cleveland, OH - The Mid-American Conference and Ford Field announced today that tickets will go on sale tomorrow for the Marathon MAC Football Championship game that is played annually in Detroit. The 13th edition of the game is scheduled for Friday, December 4 at 8 pm.

The MAC has long been associated with the Detroit area, and played in its first-ever college football game at Ford Field as Bowling Green faced Northwestern in the 2003 Motor City Bowl. This year's Marathon MAC Football Championship game marks the conference's sixth year at Ford Field, and its sixth neutral site championship football game. Ford Field is home to the NFL's Detroit Lions, and is a premiere sports venue that has hosted many major sporting events, including the 2006 Super Bowl and the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four.

Tickets to the 2009 MAC Championship will be available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com beginning at 10:00am ET on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Tickets are priced at $20, $15 and $10.

After eight weeks of play, there are several teams still in the hunt to travel to Detroit for the Championship game. Currently leading the West Division are Central Michigan (5-0 MAC; 7-1 overall), Northern Illinois (2-1 MAC; 4-3 overall) and Western Michigan (3-2 MAC; 4-4 overall). Leading the East Division are Temple (4-0 MAC; 5-2 overall), Ohio (3-1 MAC; 5-3 overall) and Kent State (3-1 MAC; 4-4 overall). Fans can track MAC football teams throughout the remainder of the season by becoming a fan of the "MAC Football Championship Game" on Facebook and on Twitter at twitter.com/macchampionship.

Buffalo is the defending MAC Champion. The Bulls won their first MAC title trophy after beating #12 ranked Ball State by a score of 42-24 in 2008. Also in 2008, MAC Football tied a record with five schools participating in bowl games: Buffalo (International); Ball State (GMAC); Central Michigan (Motor City); Western Michigan (Texas); and Northern Illinois (Independence Bowl). The 2008 season also saw the first MAC football team ranked in the Top 25 since 2004. Ball State was ranked as high as 12th in the BCS Standings, 12th in the AP and 13th in the USA Today Poll. The Cardinals were ranked in all three polls for 10 straight weeks. MAC football teams won a record four games against opponents from the Big Ten. Toledo became the first MAC team ever to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor; Ball State won its first-ever game against a Big Ten team when the Cardinals beat Indiana; Central Michigan also defeated Indiana; and Western Michigan beat Illinois in a game played at Ford Field.

MAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RESULTS (games played at Ford Field)
2008 Buffalo 42
Ball State 24

2007 Central Michigan 35
Miami 10

2006 Central Michigan 31
Ohio 10

2005 Akron 31
Northern Illinois 30

2004 Toledo 35
Miami 27

About the MAC: Providing leadership in education and diversity, the Mid-American Conference moves into its 63rd year of service to the student-athlete. Since its inception in 1946, the Mid-American Conference has progressively grown and developed into one of the most aggressive Division I conferences in the country as one of only eleven football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences. The MAC named Dr. Jon Steinbrecher as its eighth commissioner in the 63-year history of the league this March. Steinbrecher came to the MAC after serving for six years as the commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference. The league has grown its commitment to championships by expanding to six its number of neutral site post season events -football (Detroit's Ford Field), volleyball (Toledo's SeaGate Centre), men's and women's basketball (Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena), softball (Akron's Firestone Stadium) and most recently baseball (Chillicothe's VA Memorial Stadium). For information on the MAC and to track MAC Football throughout the season, visit www.mac-sports.com.