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101-790: The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl featured a bowl-eligible team from the Mid-American Conference (usually the winner of the MAC Championship Game , although that team was not required to accept the bid; prior to the formation of the bowl the MAC champion earned an automatic bid to the Las Vegas Bowl ) playing a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Conference . If the Big Ten did not have an eligible team,

202-615: A "landmark moment" in the history of WKU football. Keeping the programs momentum going, on April 1, 2013, it was announced that WKU would join Conference USA in all sports effective July 1, 2014, the following season. In their first game under Petrino and to start the season, the Hilltoppers won their second straight game over SEC opponent Kentucky , playing at a neutral site in Nashville, Tennessee. The Hilltoppers finished

303-485: A 57–39–7 record for a .587 winning percentage. In 1963 , Denes led the Hilltoppers to their second bowl game victory, defeating Coast Guard 27–0 in the Tangerine Bowl , a season where the Hilltoppers went 10–0–1 and set a new school record for wins. Denes retired after the 1967 season following a 42–19 win over Murray State . After serving under Nick Denes as an assistant coach for all 11 seasons, Jimmy Feix

404-436: A MAC member in men's swimming & diving. Appalachian State joined MAC field hockey, and SIU Edwardsville (SIUE) joined in men's soccer. SIUE was initially announced as joining in both men's soccer and wrestling in 2018, but less than a week after the initial announcement, the conference indicated that SIUE men's soccer would immediately join. SIUE wrestling joined on its originally announced schedule. On March 5, 2019,

505-551: A chrome helmet, and an all white kit complete with the classic white helmet. In 2023, the WKU football program introduced new Nike uniforms, which featured a new, larger but consistent and traditional striping pattern across the helmets (white, black and chrome), jerseys and pants, as well as drop shadow numbers. The football team's helmets added a metallic red facemask and larger "WKU" decals than before, including their primary towel logo and “Tops” script, which appears on two versions of

606-755: A full member of the football-sponsoring portion, the American Athletic Conference , ending its membership in the Atlantic 10 at that time. The Chicago State Cougars were an affiliate for men's tennis until joining the Western Athletic Conference , which sponsors that sport, in July 2013. The conference unveiled the addition of women's lacrosse to its sport sponsorship in November 2019. Lacrosse began competing under

707-414: A member in that sport from 2005 until dropping field hockey after the 2016 season. Binghamton University is an affiliate in men's tennis. In June 2017, SIU Edwardsville (SIUE) was invited to become an affiliate member in both men's soccer and wrestling in 2018. When Buffalo suddenly dropped four sports, including men's soccer, SIUE's move in that sport was made immediately. The UMass Minutemen joined

808-475: A record of 30–17, and two playoff berths. On November 2, 2006, prior to the end of the season, WKU's board of regents voted in favor of moving from NCAA Division I-AA to NCAA Division I-A football (now FBS) and would be joining the Sun Belt Conference in all sports by 2009. The move allowed WKU to add 22 scholarships by 2009 and increase the overall football budget by an estimated $ 2.5 million by

909-475: A revenge match becoming just the second team to repeat as C-USA champions in back-to-back years and the first team in C-USA to host the championship and win in back-to-back years. On December 5, 2016, it was announced that Jeff Brohm would be leaving to take the head coach position at Purdue and that defensive coordinator Nick Holt would be filling in as interim head coach leading into their bowl game. Holt led

1010-595: A rivalry between the two schools) as well as winning the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl , their first FBS bowl win with a 49–48 victory over Central Michigan . Brohm is credited with developing leading quarterback Brandon Doughty who led the FBS in passing yards and passing touchdowns in 2014 with 4,830 yards and 49 touchdowns respectively. Doughty was named 2014 Sammy Baugh Trophy winner as well as 2014 Conference USA Most Valuable Player. In 2015 , Brohm led WKU to

1111-431: A second stint with the Hilltoppers where he served as head coach through the 1937 season posting a 24–9–3 record with wins over EKU in all four seasons. The Hilltoppers were very successful in this era posting an outstanding a 60–20–4 record. After Anderson left the hill once again, this time to be an assistant coach at Indiana , the Hilltoppers selected Gander Terry to lead the program. In their four seasons under Terry,

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1212-492: A sport that it last sponsored in 1995, for the 2014 season. The new affiliates for 2014–15 were Binghamton in men's tennis and Longwood in field hockey. On July 1, 2017, one associate member left the MAC, another associate member dropped one of its two MAC sports, and two new schools became associate members. Northern Iowa wrestling moved from the MAC to the Big 12 Conference . Missouri State dropped field hockey, but remained

1313-800: A statement 45–19 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks . In his first season, Helton won 2019 C-USA Coach of the Year . In addition to that honor, DeAngelo Malone won 2019 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year while Ty Storey won C-USA Newcomer of the Year. On December 8, WKU announced it would be accepting an invite to play in the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl in Dallas, TX against Western Michigan on December 30, 2019, and won 23–20. Western Kentucky has had 22  head coaches and two interim head coaches since it began play during

1414-445: A string of losses to open the 2018 campaign, including a home loss to FCS-level Maine 31–28 (a game in which WKU had once held a 21–0 lead), WKU limped to a 3–9 finish. Despite winning their final two games, including a road upset of Louisiana Tech, WKU fired Mike Sanford on November 25, 2018. Mike Sanford finished his WKU tenure with a 9–16 record, and a 6–10 record against Conference USA opponents. On November 26, 2018, WKU announced

1515-463: A suite of major changes to the conference's competitive format across multiple sports in response to fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic . Specific to men's and women's basketball, the following changes took effect in 2020–21 and will continue through at least 2023–24: The following are the most recent conference champions of each MAC sport. Champions from the previous academic year are indicated with

1616-514: A ten-win regular season, highlighted by an undefeated conference record, WKU's first appearance in the top 25, and a Conference USA Championship beating Southern Miss 45–28. The Hilltoppers went on to defeat South Florida , who was coached by former Hilltopper quarterback and coach Willie Taggart , in the Miami Beach Bowl 45–35, ending the season with a 12–2 record and ranked 24th in the nation. Quarterback Brandon Doughty again led

1717-465: A total of 14 games, 6 of which were against Eastern Kentucky . From 1917 to 1919 the Hilltoppers didn't compete in football from due to World War I. In 1920, L. T. Smith, whose name bears the Hilltoppers' home stadium, took the reins and coached the team for two seasons. From 1922 to 1928 , the Hilltoppers saw their first success as Coach E.A. Diddle took over the football program for seven seasons leading them to four winning seasons while also coaching

1818-487: A winless season under Elson, WKU finally broke their 26-game losing streak with a 54–21 win at UL Lafayette . The Hilltoppers finished 2–10 that season. From there, Taggart is credited with getting WKU's football program back on track after posting back to back 7–5 regular seasons that included an upset of Kentucky in Lexington in 2012. That was Western Kentucky's first win over a SEC opponent in program history. Despite

1919-515: Is 12–9. Traditionally, the logo for Western Kentucky athletics was a diagonal "WKU" lettering. The primary logo was switched in 2003 to a red towel with an embossed "WKU" wordmark in white. Red and white are the primary colors of the football uniforms. Historically, there has also been an occasional gray or black alternate uniform. On August 13, 2016, WKU released 2 new (red home and white away) jerseys with 3 pants (red, white, and black.) The houndstooth design from legendary coach, Jimmy Feix's fedora

2020-648: Is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois . Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan , with single members located in Illinois, Indiana , and New York . For football , the MAC participates in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision . The MAC

2121-767: Is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University . The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level and represents the university as a member of Conference USA in the Eastern division. The 2002 team was the FCS national champion. The program has 13 conference championships (1 SIAA , 9 OVC , 1 Gateway , 2 Conference USA ) and 7 FBS -level bowl game victories. The Hilltoppers play their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky and

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2222-644: Is headquartered in the Public Square district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio , and has two members in the nearby Akron area . The conference ranks highest among all ten NCAA Division I FBS conferences for graduation rates. The five charter members of the Mid-American Conference were Ohio University , Butler University , the University of Cincinnati , Wayne University (now Wayne State University), and Western Reserve University, one of

2323-418: Is used on team shirts and down the stripe of the helmet. The university's cupola is inscribed on the chest plate and the line from the school's alma mater "We shall never fail thee" is written on the bottom of the jersey. On the pants, visibility of "Hilltoppers" lettering down the side of the pants increases with intensity of the game. The Hilltoppers had a long relationship with Russell Athletic, which became

2424-603: The 1913 season . Since November 2018, Tyson Helton has served as head coach at Western Kentucky. WKU won the NCAA Division 1AA football national championship in 2002 and finished ranked number 1 in both final 1AA national polls that year. They were NCAA Division 2 national runners-up in 1973 and 1975 . Western Kentucky has won 13 conference titles, ten outright and three shared. They were an I-AA football independent from 1982 through 1998 and again in 2007 and 2008 while transitioning from FCS to FBS. Additionally,

2525-444: The 1928 team defeated all other Kentucky teams on its schedule and claimed to be state champions. † Co-champions In addition to conference championships, Western Kentucky has won 3 conference divisional titles. † Co-champions The Hilltoppers competed in two "College Division" bowl games prior to the NCAA instituting playoffs for lower division teams in 1973, with a record of 2–0. WKU played in four bowl games that were part of

2626-515: The 2013 regular season 8–4, posting their best record since 2004, but were once again snubbed from a bowl appearance. In WKU's last season as members of the Sun Belt, Antonio Andrews won Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year while Xavius Boyd won Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year. WKU became the first school in league history to sweep the top three honors with just two players. On January 8, 2014, it

2727-449: The Big 12 Conference as a wrestling-only member. At the same time, four schools became single-sport MAC members— Bellarmine in field hockey, Georgia Southern and Georgia State in men's soccer, and Valparaiso in men's swimming (the school does not include diving in its men's aquatics program). In 2022, West Virginia men's soccer was scheduled to leave the MAC for single-sport membership in Conference USA (CUSA). However, due to

2828-561: The Football Bowl Subdivision in 2007, two of these rivalry games are no longer played on an annual basis. 100 Miles of Hate is the name of the long-standing rivalry with Middle Tennessee . As WKU's oldest rivalry the two programs played together for several decades in the Ohio Valley Conference before both became members of the Sun Belt Conference and then transitioned to Conference USA about

2929-463: The Group of Five . Leaving his job as offensive coordinator at Notre Dame , Mike Sanford returned to WKU, this time as head coach, after serving as quarterbacks coach under Willie Taggart in 2010. Sanford also served on the same coaching staff as Taggart under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford . During his first year at WKU, the team went 6–7, losing in the 2017 Cure Bowl to Georgia State, 27–17. After

3030-760: The Horizon League , were announced as incoming associates at the same time the MAC announced the addition of lacrosse. RMU was announced as an incoming associate in late June 2020, shortly after the school announced it would join the Horizon League in July 2020. In June 2020, SIUE announced that it would leave the MAC men's soccer league in 2021 to rejoin its previous men's soccer home of the Missouri Valley Conference . It remains in MAC wrestling to this day. Also in 2021, Missouri left MAC wrestling and returned to its former home of

3131-554: The NCAA Division II postseason during the 1973 to 1977 timeframe, with a record of 2–2. In 2009 WKU completed its transition from Division I-AA/FCS to FBS. All bowl games since then have been at the NCAA Division I FBS level, with a record of 7–3. The NCAA began Division II National Football Championship in 1973. WKU played in the NCAA Division II playoff championship game in 1973 and 1975. NCAA Division I-AA

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3232-529: The Northeast Louisiana head coaching job. Though going 16–8 in his last two season, Roberts left with a 26–30–1 record becoming the first Hilltopper coach to leave with a losing record in over 60 years. Jack Harbaugh served as the Hilltoppers head football coach for 14 seasons, compiling a 91–68 record, three 10+ win seasons, two conference championships (OVC 2000 , Gateway 2002 ) and the 2002 Division I-AA National Championship . Harbaugh took

3333-413: The Western Athletic Conference in all sports, including soccer. Also in 2022, the MAC gained another affiliate when another Chicago institution, UIC , joined for men's swimming & diving. Ultimately, Chicago State's tenure as a MAC affiliate lasted only for the 2022 season, as the conference dropped men's soccer at season's end. 2023 saw UIC adding men's tennis to its affiliate membership, as well as

3434-596: The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team . Diddle, who was a dual-athlete himself, encouraged his players to participate in multiple sports so they could stay in shape. His first team set a school record for wins that would stand for 41 years and his last team claimed to be state champions. When he retired from coaching football in 1928, Diddle posted a record of 38–24–2. The Hilltoppers outscored opponents 171–7 in Diddle's final year of coaching

3535-519: The 1992 "Save the Program" season and 10 years after the 2002 championship season. After serving on Harbaugh 's coaching staff seven seasons, David Elson was promoted to head coach where he led the Hilltoppers for seven seasons. Elson's first four seasons as head coach were at the Division I-AA level (now FCS) where he picked up where Harbaugh left and posted four straight winning seasons,

3636-708: The 2 MAC schools (Ball State and Miami) joining the MVC as affiliates for that sport. However, shortly after dropping men's swimming, the MAC announced it would begin sponsoring a new sport, women's rowing, in 2025–26. Accordingly, it brought on 3 new affiliates for that sport: Delaware , High Point , and former football affiliate Temple . School names, nicknames, and colors listed here reflect those used during each school's MAC tenure. School names, nicknames, and colors listed here reflect those used during each school's MAC tenure. Full members  Full members (non-football)  Associate members (football only)  One of

3737-467: The 2002 national championship team. The Hilltoppers went 7–4 in 1996 and returned to the NCAA Playoffs in 1997 behind the arm and legs of quarterback Willie Taggart, which started a long series of winning seasons. Jack and his wife Jackie are credited with saving the program which led to being honored in 2012 with naming rights to the stadium club at L. T. Smith Stadium . This was 20 years after

3838-799: The 2004–05 academic year, both joining Conference USA in all sports. In May 2005, the Temple Owls in Philadelphia signed a six-year contract with the MAC as a football-only school and began play in the East Division in 2007. The Louisville Cardinals were a MAC affiliate for field hockey for a number of years when Louisville was a member of the Metro Conference and Conference USA, winning two MAC tourney titles in 2003 and 2004. The Missouri State Bears , Evansville Purple Aces , and Southern Illinois Salukis participate in

3939-541: The 2008 game, Chrysler was replaced by the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights as a presenting sponsor. In 2009, Little Caesars became the title sponsor of the game after General Motors and Chrysler reorganized under bankruptcy protection. Ford remained as a sponsor. In 2011, the three automakers, along with the UAW , began contributing $ 100,000 jointly to become presenting sponsors of

4040-550: The 2012–13 school year, and began full conference play in 2013–14. Old Dominion did not begin MAC competition until 2013–14, when it left the Colonial Athletic Association (which had sponsored wrestling, but no longer does so ) for Conference USA (which has never sponsored the sport). Old Dominion discontinued wrestling in April 2020. On July 1, 2013, Florida Atlantic's men's soccer program moved with

4141-602: The Big East/ American for 2013–14), and Massachusetts replaced Temple as a football-only member in the MAC East Division. On September 19, 2012, the MAC announced Missouri , Northern Iowa and Old Dominion would join as wrestling affiliates; as the Southeastern and Missouri Valley Conferences do not sponsor wrestling. Missouri and Northern Iowa participated only in the conference tournament in

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4242-622: The Big Ten's opponent through 2019 ). Organizers explored the possibility of moving the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl to nearby Comerica Park as an outdoor game, but the game would instead be cancelled. The Motor City Bowl started in 1997 at the Pontiac Silverdome . The game was jointly sponsored by the "Big Three" automakers in Detroit from 1998 to 2007 ( Ford , General Motors and Chrysler ). Starting with

4343-715: The Detroit-based game should the Big Ten Conference not have an available bowl-eligible team to play. In August 2013, the Detroit Lions announced that it would hold a new bowl game at Ford Field beginning in 2014, between the Big Ten and an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent. While Pizza Bowl organizers attempted to move the bowl to Comerica Park (which is owned by Little Caesars' parent company Ilitch Holdings ) and convert it to an outdoor game, these plans never came to fruition. In August 2014,

4444-591: The FBS in passing yards with 5,055, and passing touchdowns with 48, but also led in pass completion percentage with 71.9 and total yards per play with 8.7. Doughty was named the C-USA Most Valuable Player for a second straight year becoming the first player in league history to win the award in back-to-back seasons. In 2016 , Brohm led WKU to their second consecutive 10+ win season for the first time in school history and their second straight C-USA Football Championship title. WKU beat LaTech 58–44 in

4545-483: The Hill for his second stint as head coach. Thomas only stuck around WKU two more seasons with much less success than his first go around posting a 5–10–2 record. Jack Clayton provided some much-needed stability to the WKU football program where he served as head coach for 9 seasons. In 1949, after losing the first two games to start the season, Clayton started a freshman quarterback by the name of Jimmy Feix winning 5 of

4646-467: The Hilltopper football program from the depths of despair in the early 1990s to its best stretch since the legendary Jimmy Feix coached on the Hill. In 1992, WKU was on the verge of losing its football program after a state-mandated $ 6.1 million budget cut. Harbaugh was notified of the plans to shut down the program just before spring practice was about to begin. Having already made up his mind that he

4747-489: The Hilltoppers hired former Vanderbilt assistant Dave Roberts to be the head coach with hopes of continuing what Feix started. Roberts struggled through his first three seasons posting a record 10–22–1 before turning things around. In 1987 and 1988 Roberts took the Hilltoppers to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs coming up short to rival EKU both years. After the 1988 season, Roberts left Western Kentucky for

4848-414: The Hilltoppers in a transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS). In 1973 , the Hilltoppers went undefeated in the regular season before competing in the first-year NCAA Division II championship playoffs. They made it to the championship game against Louisiana Tech coming up just short and finishing the season 12–1, setting a new school record for wins that still stands. In 1975 ,

4949-606: The Hilltoppers made the playoff field again advancing to the title game for the second time, but once again having to settle for runner-up honors finishing their season with an 11–2 record. Feix was named OVC Coach of the Year in 1973, 1978 and 1980 and remains the winningest football coach in WKU history. Feix coached 16 athletes who followed him on the list of WKU football All-Americans. Feix retired as head coach moving to work in Alumni Affairs for two years before taking over as director of athletics in 1986. In his vacancy,

5050-536: The Hilltoppers to their 3rd straight bowl victory beating Memphis 51–31 in the Boca Raton Bowl finishing the season 11–3. In his three seasons as head coach Jeff Brohm posted an outstanding 30–10 record, 17–2 at home, and 20–5 against Conference USA opponents. With the bowl win under Coach Holt, that brought their total wins over three years to 31 becoming a dominant force in Conference USA and among

5151-461: The Hilltoppers went 25–9–3 beating rivals Middle Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky in every game they played. Terry left the program after the 1941 season following a 4–5–1 record, the Hilltopper's first losing season since 1925. Arnold Winkenhofer took over in 1942 coaching the Toppers for one season before the program was stopped from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II. In 1946, Jesse Thomas returned to

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5252-560: The Lions announced that the new game would be known as the Quick Lane Bowl , and that it would be held on the same day—December 26—that the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was traditionally held on. In a statement to Crain's Detroit Business , Motor City Bowl executive director Ken Hoffman confirmed that "there is no Pizza Bowl for 2014. We will have to see about the future", implying that the game has been cancelled indefinitely in favor of

5353-514: The MAC as a football-only member in July 2012; the university announced that the team would leave the MAC at the end of the 2015 season due to contractual issues. Meanwhile, Temple ended its affiliation with the MAC in football and joined the Big East for football in July 2012. Following the split of the Big East into football-sponsoring and non-football conferences in July 2013, Temple became

5454-416: The MAC banner with six teams in the 2021 season with MAC members Akron, Central Michigan and Kent State joined by associate members Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State. Eastern Michigan became the seventh women's lacrosse member when it added the sport in the 2022 season. At the end of the 2022 season, the MAC discontinued men's soccer as a sponsored sport. While the conference realignment of

5555-693: The MAC for men's swimming and diving. In 2012, the West Virginia Mountaineers joined the Florida Atlantic Owls and Hartwick College Hawks as men's soccer affiliates. Florida Atlantic departed upon joining Conference USA in 2013. Hartwick's contract was not renewed by the MAC in 2015. Nine schools are wrestling affiliates; most became affiliates when the MAC absorbed the former Eastern Wrestling League in 2019. Appalachian State University and Longwood University are associates in field hockey; Missouri State had also been

5656-596: The MAC was contracted to provide a team for each of five college football bowl games : the Bahamas Bowl , LendingTree Bowl , Famous Idaho Potato Bowl , Camellia Bowl (later renamed the Salute to Veterans Bowl ) and Quick Lane Bowl (later renamed the GameAbove Sports Bowl). The MAC also has secondary agreements with several ESPN-owned bowls . The MAC champion receives an automatic berth in one of

5757-546: The MAC. In July, the conference announced that it would begin sponsoring women's rowing for the 2025–26 season; full members Eastern Michigan, Toledo, and UMass would be joined by affiliate members Delaware, High Point, and Temple. There are twelve public universities with full membership: Sixteen schools have MAC affiliate membership status as of 2024. On July 1, 2012, Temple joined the Big East Conference for football only (the school's other sports would join

5858-570: The NFL, Jim joined the WKU football coaching staff as an NCAA-certified unpaid assistant which allowed him to recruit. John, on the other hand, was a coach at Cincinnati and could rely on his scouting services, deep contacts, and endless high school game footage to help out. Jim set out and started contacting recruits, his first being Willie Taggart , an All-American and four-year starter at quarterback for WKU. Jim also recruited future NFL players Rod Smart and Mel Mitchell to WKU as well as 17 players on

5959-818: The Quick Lane Bowl. The MAC holds a secondary tie-in for the Quick Lane Bowl. There were 17 playings of the bowl (34 total appearances). Won: Boston College , Connecticut , Florida Atlantic , FIU , Memphis , Mississippi , Pittsburgh Loss: Akron , BYU , Louisville , Middle Tennessee , Northwestern , Ohio , Western Kentucky , Western Michigan Central Michigan (2–2) Toledo (1–3) Bowling Green (1–1) Akron (0–1) Ohio (0–1) Western Michigan (0–1) Marshall (1–0) Memphis (1–0) Louisville (0–1) Florida Atlantic (1–0) Middle Tennessee (0–1) Western Kentucky (0–1) Northwestern (0–1) Connecticut (1–0) Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference ( MAC )

6060-486: The Sun Belt Conference. That win over MTSU in 2007 would be the last major win for the Hilltoppers under Elson. The 2008 season shed a truer light to the transition as the Hilltoppers went 2–10 with no wins over FBS opponents, only beating their two other long-time rivals and FCS-level opponents EKU and Murray State . Things only got worse for the Hilltoppers in 2009 after they finally became full members of

6161-705: The Sun Belt Conference. WKU lost every game that season, going 0–12, posting their worst record in school history. Elson was hopeful to survive the transition as he asked for patience in building the program, but on November 9, 2009, prior to the end of the season, athletic director, Wood Selig had enough and fired Elson. The Hilltoppers went 39–44 under Elson, going 9–27 in his final three seasons (1–26 against FBS opponents). WKU Quarterback Legend, Willie Taggart , returned to his alma mater as head football coach in 2010 after leaving his position as Stanford running backs coach, where he served under Jack Harbaugh 's son Jim Harbaugh . In their first year under Taggart, coming off

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6262-425: The announcement that James Madison would be joining as an affiliate for field hockey in 2024. In 2024, the Missouri Valley Conference announced it would begin sponsoring men's swimming & diving for the 2024–25 season. At the time, the MAC men's swimming programs consisted of 2 MAC schools and 5 affiliates from the MVC; correspondingly, all of these programs would move to the MVC for the following season, with

6363-445: The black and white helmets, which also appears on the pants. present Western Kentucky has retired four jersey numbers. Jimmy Feix Jack Harbaugh 1973, 1978, 1980 2000 Antonio Andrews 2013 Xavius Boyd 2013 Five players have been designated by the NCAA as "Consensus All-Americans" as of 2017. WKU has several historic rivalries that stem from its time in the Ohio Valley Conference . Since WKU's transition to

6464-550: The calendar year of their title. In sports in which regular-season and tournament champions are recognized, "RS" indicates regular-season champion and "T" indicates tournament champion. Fall 2024 Winter 2024–25 Spring 2025 Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program

6565-496: The conference announced that it would be adding the seven former members of the Eastern Wrestling League as affiliate members in wrestling, making the MAC the second-largest wrestling conference for academic year 2019–20. With the addition of women's lacrosse, the MAC added affiliate members Detroit Mercy , Robert Morris , and Youngstown State in the 2020–21 academic year. UDM and YSU, all-sports members of

6666-811: The current full member schools, the University at Buffalo , is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). All members of the MAC are classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" except for the University at Buffalo, Kent State University , and Ohio University , which are classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Member schools are also ranked nationally and globally by various groups, including U.S. News & World Report and Times Higher Education . The Mid-American Conference sponsors championship competition in 9 men's and 13 women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with women's lacrosse becoming

6767-420: The early 2020s did not affect the MAC's core membership up to that time, it significantly impacted the amount of men's soccer sponsoring programs within the conference, and ultimately led to the conference lacking enough teams to maintain its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Of the four full MAC members that sponsored men's soccer in the 2022 season, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan moved

6868-636: The efforts paid off and on April 30, 1992, the WKU Board of Regents voted to allow football to stay but with a reduced budget. The Hilltoppers finished the 1992 season with a losing record of 4–6. As the budget remained tight over the next few years WKU managed an 8–3 record in 1993 before having back-to-back losing seasons. No one ever doubted Harbaugh's ability to coach but he clearly needed better players. In 1994, with unwavering faith in their father, both of his sons, Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh , decided to help however they could. While still playing in

6969-421: The era of the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series (BCS), one MAC team appeared in a BCS bowl game. In 2012 , NIU qualified by being ranked in the top 16 (15th) in the season's final BCS standings, and also higher than at least one champion of a conference that received an automatic berth in a BCS game. In the 2012 season, two such conference champions were ranked below NIU: Big East champion Louisville , who

7070-465: The game featured a team from the Sun Belt Conference that met the NCAA requirement of at least six wins. In the event that the Sun Belt did not have an available team, an at-large team could be chosen. The final Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was held in 2013; it was displaced by the Quick Lane Bowl , which is organized by the Detroit Lions and also features Big Ten and MAC opponents (though the ACC served as

7171-582: The game. A bowl record crowd of 60,624 fans witnessed the 2007 bowl game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Central Michigan Chippewas . On April 12, 2010, it was announced that the Big Ten Conference had extended its affiliation with the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (Big Ten no. 8) through the 2013 season. Also the Sun Belt Conference agreed to a secondary tie-in that would allow a Sun Belt Conference team to play in

7272-400: The highest pass completion percentage in the nation (.612). Under Clayton, the Hilltoppers posted a record of 50–33–2 before he left to coach at Northwestern Louisiana State College , his alma mater. Nick Denes , who was also a Western Kentucky Hilltoppers baseball head coach and for whom Nick Denes Field is named, coached WKU football for 11 seasons. In his time on the Hill, Denes compiled

7373-399: The hire of Tennessee offensive coordinator Tyson Helton as the new Hilltoppers head coach. Helton came back to WKU after formerly holding the role of OC at WKU in 2014–2015 under Jeff Brohm before he was hired by his brother Clay Helton as the quarterbacks coach at USC . In his first year as head coach, Helton was able to turn the program around and finished the season 8–4 including

7474-588: The largest in Division I-A with the re-admittance of Marshall and NIU in 1997 and addition of the Bulls from the University at Buffalo in 1998. The University of Central Florida , a non-football all-sports member in the Atlantic Sun Conference at the time, joined for football only in 2002, becoming the first football-only member in conference history. Marshall and Central Florida left after

7575-469: The last 7 games that season. By 1952 , with Feix now in his senior year, Clayton coached WKU to their first Ohio Valley Conference championship, tied the school record for wins, and the school's first bowl appearance, winning 34–19 over Arkansas State in the Refrigerator Bowl , finishing the season 9–1. Feix became the first WKU football athlete ever to earn All-America honors after posting

7676-433: The men's semi-finals and championship regularly drawing large crowds at Quicken Loans Arena. In 2007, the MAC also announced a format change for both tournaments, bringing all twelve men's and women's teams to Cleveland. The MAC also co-hosted the 2007 Women's Final Four at Quicken Loans Arena after successfully hosting the 2006 NCAA Women's Basketball Regional at the same facility. On May 12, 2020, Steinbrecher announced

7777-559: The motivation of being eligible to compete for a championship, Elson and the Hilltoppers set two team goals that season; to win seven games and to go undefeated at home. Both goals required at least one win over an FBS team. If the Hilltoppers won seven games, they got rings. They were able to accomplish the first of those goals, going 7–5 that season as they beat long-time rival MTSU in Murfreesboro, but were unable to hold off Troy at home; both of which were FBS schools and members of

7878-448: The newest sport in 2020–21. As of the 2024–25 school year, 16 schools are associate members for four sports. As the MAC is an FBS conference, its full members are subject to the NCAA requirement that FBS members field teams in at least 16 NCAA-recognized sports. However, as of 2017, the MAC itself required sponsorship of only four sports: football, men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball. This may have since changed, as UMass

7979-513: The other 2 teams in its pod every season. Additionally, every team in the MAC will be guaranteed to face every other team in the MAC at least once every three years. The MAC Football Championship Game , which previously matched the winner of the East Division against the winner of the West Division, will instead pit the two teams in the MAC with the highest conference winning percentage. The pods are as follows: Bowl games In 2017,

8080-480: The predecessors to today's Case Western Reserve University . Wayne University left after the first year. Miami University and Western Michigan University took the place of those charter members for the 1948 season. The MAC added the University of Toledo (1950), Kent State University (1951), and Bowling Green State University (1952). The University of Cincinnati resigned its membership February 18, 1953, with an effective date of June 1, 1953. Cincinnati's decision

8181-469: The program. After Diddle left the football program to focus on coaching basketball, WKU football went through a series of instability in coaching but also a series of 9 winning seasons. In 1929, Carl "Swede" Anderson took over as head coach leading the Hilltoppers to a 7–3 record before leaving to take the head coach job over the Kansas State freshman football team. In 1934, Carl Anderson returned for

8282-474: The rest of its athletic program to Conference USA, and Chicago State's men's tennis team followed the rest of its sports to the Western Athletic Conference . The 2014–15 school year saw one affiliate member leave for another conference and two new affiliates join. The Hartwick men's soccer team left the MAC for the Sun Belt Conference , which had announced in February 2014 that it would reinstate men's soccer,

8383-567: The same time. The name comes from the fact that the two universities are separated by about 100 miles. WKU has an inactive rivalry with Eastern Kentucky . The two programs have met 84 times in football since 1914. The rivalry has taken a hiatus since leaving EKU behind as WKU transitioned to FBS in 2009. The programs scheduled a one-game match-up in 2017 in which WKU won 31–17 in Bowling Green, KY. WKU has an inactive rivalry with nearby Murray State . The two programs have met 67 times since

8484-535: The so-called "New Year's Six" bowl games associated with the College Football Playoff under either of the following circumstances: The first "Access Bowl" berth in 2014 went to Boise State (MW); the 2015 berth went to Houston (American). The MAC got its first berth in 2016 with Western Michigan, who had an undefeated regular season that year and finished ranked at No. 15 in the AP Poll . During

8585-549: The sport to the Missouri Valley Conference , and Akron moved it to the Big East Conference . The MAC eliminated its East and West divisions for football in January 2024. The divisions had already been eliminated for other sports in 2020. Later that year, in late February, it was announced that the UMass Minutemen and Minutewomen will join the conference as a full member beginning in 2025, returning UMass football to

8686-430: The sports program's apperal outfitter in 2007 for all of their team uniforms as the contract was initially renewed through 2016, before the program switched and made Nike its official team outfitter the very next year, in 2017. The 2017 Nike brand official uniform reveal, which was hosted by DJ Khaled , included three full uniform sets: a red jersey with white pants and a chrome helmet, a white jersey with black pants and

8787-535: The surprising 7–5 record in 2011 , a season in which the Hilltoppers went 7–1 in their final eight games, they were not invited to a bowl game. It wasn't until the following year, 2012 , that the Hilltoppers were invited to their first FBS-level bowl game, the Little Caesar's Bowl . On December 7, 2012, prior to their December 26 bowl game, Taggart left WKU to accept the head football coach position at South Florida . Lance Guidry , WKU's defensive coordinator

8888-454: The team's head football coach is Tyson Helton . Western Kentucky first fielded a football team in 1908 but did not start playing sanctioned games until the 1913 season. M.A. Leiper and Roy Manchester are the first noted coaches for WKU. The two men teamed up to coach the Hilltoppers for their inaugural season which solely consisted of a 20–0 win over Elizabethtown. J.L. Arthur then took over the program for three years from 1914 to 1916, coaching

8989-483: The tenuous future of CUSA at that time, West Virginia opted instead to join the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in 2022 as that league reinstated men's soccer. Georgia Southern and Georgia State, both full SBC members, also returned men's soccer to their home conference in 2022. In response, the MAC announced that Chicago State would join as a men's soccer affiliate as of the 2022–23 season, as the Cougars prepared to depart

9090-400: The time the transition was complete. In 2007 , the Hilltoppers began the transition to NCAA Division I FBS as Independents, considered a reclassifying school for both the 2007 and 2008 seasons due to NCAA rules. The Hilltoppers were not eligible to participate in a Sun Belt Conference Championship or a berth in a bowl game until the 2009 season. Knowing it wasn't going to be easy, and without

9191-650: The trophy 4 times. Western Michigan has won the trophy three straight years (2018–2020) as well as six of seven years from 2014 to 2020 (2014–2016, 2018–2020). In August 2010, Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher and the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that the Mid-American Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments would remain in Cleveland at the venue then known as Quicken Loans Arena and now as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse through 2017. Both tournaments have flourished since moving to Cleveland in 2000, with

9292-503: Was accepted as a new conference member effective in 2025 despite not sponsoring women's volleyball. Future members in gray. Future member in gray. Notes: On November 30, 2023, the MAC approved a new scheduling format for football effective for the 2024 season, eliminating its East and West Divisions for the first time since 1996 in favor of a pod-based protected rivalry system. Under the new system, teams will be divided into 4 pods of 3 teams each, and each team will be guaranteed to face

9393-545: Was announced that Petrino would leave WKU to return to Louisville to accept the head football coach position. After one season as offensive coordinator for the Hilltoppers, Jeff Brohm was promoted to the program's head football coach, replacing Petrino. In their first season under Brohm and as members of Conference USA , WKU went 8–5. Highlights of the season include upsetting undefeated and No. 24 ranked Marshall , in Huntington, 67–66 in overtime (effectively starting

9494-420: Was based on a new requirement that at least 5 conference football games would have to be scheduled each season, university president Raymond Walters saying they "...regretfully resign...as the university could not continue under the present setup..." The membership was steady for the next two decades except for the addition of Marshall University in 1954 and the departure of Western Reserve in 1955. Marshall

9595-414: Was expelled from the conference in 1969 due to NCAA violations. The first major expansion since the 1950s took place in the mid-1970s with the addition of Central Michigan University and Eastern Michigan University in 1972 and Ball State University and Northern Illinois University in 1973. NIU left after the 1985–86 season. The University of Akron joined the conference in 1992. The conference became

9696-636: Was formed for football in 1978, and WKU moved up from Division II to Division I-AA at that time, and all playoff appearances since then were at the Division I-AA level. WKU won the Division 1AA NCAA championship in 2002. In 2006 the name of Division I-AA was changed to NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). In 2007, WKU initiated the transition to NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and became ineligible for any further playoff appearances. The Hilltoppers' overall playoff record

9797-472: Was named Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011 while Quanterus Smith won Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year in 2012. Former Louisville , Atlanta Falcons and Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino was hired as the new head football coach following Taggart's departure. In the news conference announcing Petrino's hiring in December 2012, athletic director Todd Stewart called it

9898-415: Was named interim head coach and led the Hilltoppers to their first bowl appearance as an FBS member. In a valiant but unsuccessful effort, WKU was defeated 21–24 by Central Michigan . Taggart, who started all four years as the Hilltoppers quarterback from 1995 to 1998 under Jack Harbaugh, ran a run-heavy West Coast style offense that helped develop leading rushers, Bobby Rainey and Antonio Andrews . Rainey

9999-487: Was not going to quit, he talked with his players left them a choice: accept defeat and leave, or fight to stay. Now known as the 1992 "Save the Program" team, every player decided to stay, fight, and work to save WKU football. While Harbaugh and the team did their part, former WKU quarterback, coach and athletics director at the time, Jimmy Feix, started an emergency fundraising campaign writing letters and making calls to former WKU players, urging them to buy season tickets. All

10100-474: Was promoted to head coach. In his 16 seasons at the helm, Feix compiled an impressive 105–56–6 record (.6488). His 14 teams that competed in the Ohio Valley Conference went 67–28–2 (.701) in conference play. The Hilltoppers won six Ohio Valley Conference championships between 1970 and 1980 . Feix became the most successful and longest-tenured coach in Western Kentucky football history while leading

10201-630: Was ranked 22nd, and Big Ten champion Wisconsin , who was unranked. NIU lost to Florida State in the Orange Bowl . Football rivalries involving MAC teams include: In addition, Central Michigan , Eastern Michigan , and Western Michigan compete for the Michigan MAC Trophy , which is awarded to the team with the best head-to-head record each year. Since the inception of the trophy in 2005, Western Michigan has won 7 times, Central Michigan has won 5 times, and Eastern Michigan has won

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