2012 MAC Conference Preview

The Mid-American Conference is a conference in the FBS level of college football, but outside of the Bowl Championship Series automatic qualifying conferences. For the 2012 season, the University of Massachusetts joined the league, which now has 13 teams split into two divisions.

It's the Ohio Bobcats who are pegged as the favorites to win the MAC coming into the 2012 NCAA football season. Northern Illinois captured the MAC championship game last season, and enter as the defending champions. But the Huskies are picked as a middle-of-the-road team when it comes to this upcoming season.

Ohio, who has been set at +275 on MAC championship betting odds available at BetOnline Sportsbook, plays out of the East division. They are also the heavy favorites to get through to the championship game out of the East. The Bobcats went 10-4 last season, including a 6-2 record in conference. They reached the MAC championship game but came up short to Northern Illinois.

Behind Ohio on the list of favorites is Western Michigan. The Broncos come in at +350 to win the conference, and are seen as the only real threat to taking down the Bobcats. When you look at the betting odds for all 13 of the teams, most of them come in with +600 odds or beyond.

It definitely could shape up to be a competitive 2012 college football season in the MAC though, leaving us wondering if any one of these programs will step up inside the top-25 or stake a claim as a potential BCS buster looking to crash the party. There were four teams that won at least nine games last season, led by Northern Illinois with 11 wins. Odds are favoring Ohio to make a run, but we will see how the schedule plays out.