2009 was a memorable year for many of the teams and players in the Mid-American Conference. The ’09 season saw the conference send five of its teams to bowl games for a 2nd straight year and league champ Central Michigan ended the conference’s 14 game bowl losing streak by defeating Troy 44-41 in 2OT in the GMAC Bowl. The Chippewas also finished in the final AP Top 25 at #23.

Temple had one of its best seasons in school history by winning 9 straight games and made their 1st bowl appearance since 1979! Temple HC Al Golden was named MAC coach of the year as the Owls have improved their win total in each of his 4 seasons as coach. With Temple breaking their bowl drought, 11 MAC teams have now been to a bowl game since 2004! 

I was very pleased with the way the East Division played out in ‘09 as my magazine was the only magazine in the country to have Ohio winning the division. Every other magazine had the Bobcats projected 4th or lower! Frank Solich has done a great job here as the Bobcats were just 11-35 in the 4 years prior to his arrival. Since 2006, Ohio is 28-24 including 2 appearances in the MAC Title game!

2009 was also a banner year for several MAC players including Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes who was a Biletnikoff award finalist. Barnes had a dream season in ‘09 by smashing the all-time NCAA single season reception mark with 155 (11.4) and 19 TDs!

Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour set the all-time NCAA total TD mark (rushing, passing, receiving) with 150 and also finished 2nd all-time in total yards with 15,853. 

Finally Toledo DB Barry Church became one of only 3 players in MAC history to be named 1st Team All-MAC four times!

This year figures to be just as exciting for the MAC as they announced their 2010 football schedules on Monday, which is nearly a month earlier than usual.

The schedule will feature at least 19 regular season games on the ESPN networks and the regular season will conclude with the 13th MAC Championship game on Friday, December 3 at Ford Field in Detroit on ESPN2.  This will be the 7th year the game will be played at Ford Field.

The schedule will also feature a non-conference slate of opponents from all 6 BCS conferences including 11 games against the Big Ten, 4 games vs the Big East, 3 games vs the SEC, Big 12 and ACC and 1 game vs the Pac-10.

The season kicks off on Thursday, September 2nd with 5 MAC teams in action highlighted by Northern Illinois traveling to Iowa St in a matchup between two bowl teams in ‘09. On Friday, September 3rd Toledo hosts Arizona in what arguably will be the MAC’s biggest non-conference home game in 2010. The Rockets (5-7 in ’09) will look to improve in HC Tim Beckman’s 2nd year while the Wildcats are fresh off their best season since ’98.  The game will be televised on ESPN at 8 pm EST.

The 1st Saturday of the college football season will see the MAC playing 3 games against BCS conference teams with Akron hosting Syracuse, Western Michigan playing at in-state foe Michigan St and Miami traveling down to Gainesville to take on Florida.

September 11th features 3 conference games highlighted by defending MAC champ Central Michigan traveling to Temple. On September 25th there will be 8 games involving teams from the MAC and Big Ten highlighted by Bowling Green at Michigan, Temple at Penn St, and Eastern Michigan at Ohio St as the two conferences continue their longstanding relationship.

October 9th will see two MAC schools taking on non-conference marquee teams as Toledo will travel to Boise St and Central Michigan will visit Virginia Tech. On October 16th, in what possibly is the biggest non-conference game of the year for the MAC sees Western Michigan traveling to Notre Dame. While MAC teams are 0-4 all-time vs Notre Dame, all of the games were played prior to 1921 and this game will mark the 1st time since it was founded in 1946 that a MAC school will play against the Irish!

The month of November will see the MAC play 10 mid-week league games televised by the ESPN networks highlighted by Bowling Green at Toledo on Wednesday, November 17. The regular season action concludes on Friday, November 26 featuring 5 conference games including Central Michigan at Toledo and Ohio at Kent St.

To get complete schedules on all 13 MAC schools click here and make sure to select any game to get all the matchups played between the two teams in the last 13 years with complete statistics including first downs, rushing, passing, sacks, TO’s and much more.

Also don’t forget to check out our Spring Central section to get all the conference schedules, coaching changes, who’s back/who’s not and all the NFL Draft early entrants.

Finally within the next week we will start our coverage of the 2010 NFL Draft with bios on all the top players at each position complete with stats, strengths, weaknesses and projections on what round they will be drafted only at PhilSteele.com!

In today’s blog I will give you the odds to win the 2010 National Championship from the Hilton. If you are in Las Vegas at anytime in the next couple of months make sure to stop by the Hilton to get advanced odds on the 2010 college football season and advanced odds to win the Super Bowl.

Also make sure to check out our team schedules for next year.  On the left side of the home page under 2010 click onSchedules/13 Year Logs. Go to your favorite conference to get schedules for all your teams for 2010.

Click on any game to get all the games played between the two teams in the last 13 years with complete statistics including first downs, rushing, passing, sacks, TO’s and much more.

Because we want all the information to be complete and accurate as possible, if you see any games we have missed for next seasons’ schedules or if there have been any recent changes to your favorite teams 2010 schedule please emailBrandon@philsteele.com and we’ll get it corrected.

Don’t forget to check out our Spring Central section to get 2010 schedules, coaching changes, who’s back/who’s not and all the NFL Draft early entrants.

We will back by the end of this week with my projections of what the 2010 Preseason AP Top 10 will be.

Here are the Odds to win the 2010 National Championship courtesy of the Hilton.

1. Alabama  Odds: 3/1
Alabama returns 10 starters (8 on off) from last year’s National Championship team including Heisman Trophy winner RB Mark Ingram.  Alabama does suffer heavy losses on defense including DT Cody and LB McClain. The Tide get Penn St, Florida and Auburn at home while their toughest road games will probably be at Arkansas and at LSU.
Key Players Back: QB Greg McElroy, RB Mark Ingram, WR Julio Jones, S Mark Barron, C William Vlachos and LB Dont’a Hightower
Key Players Lost: DT Terrence Cody, LB Rolando McClain, DB/PR Javier Arenas, OG Mike Johnson, K Leigh Tiffin, TE Colin Peek, CB Kareem Jackson, OG Barrett Jones, LB Eryk Anders

2. Ohio St 7/1
QB Terrelle Pryor is back along with 8 other starters on offense. While the defense does lose 5 starters they reload that side of the ball year after year with 8 consecutive seasons allowing less than 20 ppg. The Bucks do have road games at Wisconsin and at Iowa but get Miami, Penn St and Michigan at home.
Key Players Back: QB Terrelle Pryor, DL Cameron Heyward, CB Chimdi Chekwa, OG Justin Boren, RB Brandon Saine, WR DeVier Posey, LB Ross Homan and LB Brian Rolle, CB Devon Torrence
Key Players Lost: DL Thaddeus Gibson, S Anderson Russell, S Kurt Coleman, WR/PR Ray Small

3. Oregon 10/1
The Ducks return 17 starters from last year’s Pac-10 championship team including 10 back from an offense that avg 412 ypg and 36 ppg. Oregon does face a difficult schedule having road trips to Tennessee, USC, California, and rival Oregon St.
Key Players Back: QB Jeremiah Masoli, RB LaMichael James, OL Bo Thran, RB/KR Kenjon Barner, LB Casey Matthews, S John Boyett, WR Jeff Maehl, DT Brandon Bair
Key Players Lost: TE Ed Dickson, DE Will Tukuafu

4. Boise St 12/1
Boise will bring back 21 starters from last years Fiesta Bowl winning team losing only CB Kyle Wilson. QB Kellen Moore is a Heisman Candidate after throwing for 3536 yds (64%) with a 39-3 ratio. Boise has two tough non-conference games at home against Oregon St on Sept. 25 and against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field on Oct. 2.
Key Players Back: QB Kellen Moore, RB Jeremy Avery, WR/KR Titus Young, WR Austin Pettis, DT Billy Winn, OG Kevin Sapien, OT Nate Porter, DE Ryan Winterswyk, CB Brandyn Thompson, SS Jeron Johnson, K/P Kyle Brotzman, LB Winston Venable
Key Player Lost: CB/PR Kyle Wilson

5. TCU 15/1
The Horned Frogs return 16 starters from last year’s 12-1 team including 9 from an offense that avg 453 ypg and 38 ppg.  The defense has 7 starters back but lose All-American DE Jerry Hughes and LB Daryl Washington. TCU opens its season at Dallas Cowboys Stadium against Oregon St on Sept. 4.
Key Players Back: QB Andy Dalton, C Jake Kirkpatrick, KR/PR/WR Jeremy Kerley, DL Wayne Daniels, LB Tank Carder, K Ross Evans, OT Marcus Cannon, S Tejay Johnson, DL Cory Grant
Key Players Lost: DL Jerry Hughes, LB Daryl Washington, CB Rafael Priest, OT Marshall Newhouse, CB Nick Sanders,

5. Virginia Tech 15/1
The Hokies have won at least 10 games for six consecutive seasons and return all of their main skill position players including QB Taylor and RB Williams. They do suffer some heavy losses on defense and have to play Boise St at FedEx Field. The Hokies also have tough road games in conference against North Carolina and Miami.
Key Players Back: QB Tyrod Taylor, RB Ryan Williams, WR Jarrett Boykin, CB Rashad Carmichael, C Beau Warren, KR Dyrell Roberts,
Key Players Loss: LB Cody Grimm, P Brent Bowden, OG Sergio Render, OT Ed Wang, S Kam Chancellor, K Matt Waldron, TE Greg Boone, DE Jason Worilds

5. Texas 15/1
The Longhorns will lose several starters from last year’s #2 team. The biggest obstacle will be replacing 4-yr starting QB McCoy but backup FR QB Gilbert did a nice job filling in for the injured McCoy in the title game. The Longhorns have UCLA, Oklahoma St, and Texas Tech at home but have to go on the road to Nebraska and Texas Tech. Also rival Oklahoma will be looking to break its 2 game losing streak to the Horns in Dallas on Oct. 2.
Key Players Back: QB Garrett Gabbert DL Sam Acho, LB Emmanuel Acho, and LB Keenan Robinson
Key Players Loss: QB Colt McCoy, WR Jordan Shipley, C Chris Hall, OT Adam Ulatoski, DL Sergio Kindle, LB Roddrick Muckelroy, S Earl Thomas, DL Lamarr Houston, K Hunter Lawrence and OG Charlie Tanner

5. Nebraska 15/1
The Huskers return 16 starters from last year’s team that came within :01 of winning the Big 12 championship. While the Huskers lose All-American DT Suh, Peillini thinks the Blackshirt defense is here to stay. The Huskers have a favorable schedule getting Texas and Missouri at home and playing non-conference home games against Western Kentucky, Idaho and South Dakota St.
Key Players Back: TE Mike McNeil, RB Roy Heulu, K Alex Henery, WR/PR Niles Paul, DL Jared Crick, CB Prince Amukamara
Key Players Loss: DL Ndamukong Suh, LB Phillip Dillard, S Larry Asante, C Jacob Hickman, DL Barry Turner and S Matt O’Hanlon

9. Florida 20/1
The Gators suffered heavy losses from last year’s 13-1 Sugar Bowl winning team including QB Tim Tebow and five juniors who declared early for the Draft.  However, the biggest question is possibly HC Meyer’s health status. However, Meyer recently announced he was going to coach thru the spring. The Gators do have 3 tough road games at Tennessee, Alabama and Florida St.
Key Players Back: OG Mike Pouncey, RB Jeff Demps, P Chas Henry, OT Marcus Gilbert, S Ahmad Black
Key Players Loss: QB Tim Tebow, TE Aaron Hernandez, C Maurkice Pouncey, LB Brandon Spikes, DE Jermaine Cunningham, CB Joe Haden, KR Brandon James, DE Carlos Dunlap, WR Riley Cooper,

9. Oklahoma 20/1
While the Sooners did not benefit last year from injuries to QB Bradford and TE Gresham it did allow for several younger players to get experience, which should help them in 2010. The Sooners return 13 starters including several skill position players on offense. Oklahoma does have a difficult schedule playing Florida St at home and having road games at Cincinnati, Missouri and rival Oklahoma St.
Key Players Back: WR Ryan Broyles, DL Jeremy Beal, QB Landry Jones, RB DeMarco Murray, P Tress Way
Key Players Loss: QB Sam Bradford, TE Jermaine Gresham, DL Gerald McCoy, LB Ryan Reynolds, CB Dominique Franks, OT Trent Williams, LB Keenan Clayton, CB Brian Jackson, OG Brody Eldridge, S Quinton Carter

9. LSU 20/1
2010 could be a critical year for HC Les Miles and the Tigers after an 8-5 season in 08 and 9-4 last year, The Tigers do return 10 starters but suffer some big losses in OT Black, WR Lafell, and S Jones who decided to skip his senior season and entered the draft. The Tigers open against North Carolina in the Georgia Dome on Sept. 4.
Key Players Back: CB Patrick Peterson, LB Kelvin Sheppard, WR Terrence Tolliver, QB Jordan Jefferson and QB Russell Shepard.
Key Players Loss: OT Ciron Black, WR Brandon LaFell, TE, Richard Dickson, S Chad Jones, PR Trindon Holliday, LB Harry Coleman, OG Lyle Hitt, DE Rahim Allen and LB Perry Riley