The University of Toledo did not sign up for a 7-5 record this season.
But it has attained one of its central goals: securing a spot in the Mid-American Conference championship game.
When the Rockets returned from the Bahamas last January after a dispiriting loss in the Bahamas Bowl — their sixth in 2021 — they banded together and vowed not to have another disappointing season. UT was 17-13 in the MAC over the previous four seasons and never won more than five conference championship games.
A similar story took hold in 2022, but Toledo’s 5-3 record was good enough for a share of its first MAC West title since 2017 and a tiebreaking win over Eastern Michigan clinched a MAC championship game berth.