The Mid-American Conference out of conference scheduling model is a tricky one. On the one hand, you need to play the payday games to fund the athletics budget. On the other hand, you want to hit that magic six win mark to give yourself the opportunity for a postseason appearance (though seven or eight takes you off the bubble). Then there’s the unicorns: the FBS P5 schools that you have the opportunity of upsetting. If you’re lucky, they’ll venture into MAC territory. More likely than not, you’re doing it on the road.
This season there are 48 out of conference football games ranging from the biggest of the big to the smallest of the small.