Dust off the hashtag, clear out your weeknights: #MACtion is here once more

In the 27 days up to and including the final Saturday of the college football regular season from this Monday, the Mitten FBS teams will play 14 football games on nine unique dates. 

In other terms, from now until the Saturday after Thanksgiving, a Michigan FBS football program will play on one third of the possible days. 

And for that we have #MACtion, the Mid-American Conference’s weeknight football scheduling ploy to get more games on national cable broadcasts, to thank. And for the teams from the Mitten, the schedule is actually even more compact, as the final 14 games of the season for the five respective FBS teams in Michigan are packed into a 22-day span, starting this Saturday with Eastern Michigan hosting Bowling Green. 

And after Nov. 8, this Saturday, things pick up steam. 

Here’s what the schedule for the rest of November looks like, starting on Nov. 8.

• Sat., Nov. 8: Eastern Michigan hosts Bowling Green
• Tues., Nov. 11: Western Michigan hosts Ohio
• Weds., Nov. 12: Central Michigan hosts Buffalo
• Sat., Nov 15: Michigan State hosts Penn State, Michigan plays at Northwestern (Wrigley Field), and Eastern Michigan travels to Ball State
• Tues., Nov. 18: Western Michigan at Northern Illinois
• Weds., Nov. 19: Central Michigan at Kent State
• Sat., Nov. 22: Michigan State at Iowa, Michigan at Maryland
• Tues., Nov 25: Eastern Michigan hosts Western Michigan
• Sat., Nov. 29: Michigan hosts Ohio State, Michigan State hosts Maryland (Ford Field), Central Michigan hosts Toledo

#MACtion games actually begin this week, but none of the Michigan MAC teams are playing on weeknights just yet. The first week has a distinct Ohio flavor, with Akron, Ohio, Kent State and Toledo all playing games on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to kickoff the action.

And there is lots at stake down this stretch run of the season for the Mitten teams. 

Western Michigan is still alive in the MAC title race, tied for second place in the league with Buffalo, both teams holding 4-1 conference records. Ohio is close behind at 3-1 in the league, and all of them are chasing down undefeated-in-league play Miami (OH). 

Central Michigan is 5-4 on the year and needs one win in its final three games to get bowl eligible in Year 1 under head coach Matt Drinkall. 

Eastern Michigan, despite being out of bowl or league contention, is hellbent on finishing the season strong and playing its best ball in November. It can play spoiler to a few opponents, including the Broncos, and a winning run to end the year would be a big boost headed into the offseason.

And even though they are not taking part in #MACtion, the Wolverines and Spartans have lots to play for in November. 

Michigan has two losses and an outside shot at making the College Football Playoff so long as it stays that way. The Michigan season ultimately will hinge on The Game against Ohio State, as it often does, presuming the Wolverines take care of business at Northwestern and Maryland after being idle this weekend. And those wins aren’t givens after the performance the Wolverines put on tape against Purdue.

And Michigan State has three games left, needing three wins to make a bowl game after a brutal overtime loss at Minnesota this Saturday. All three games are winnable for Michigan State — Penn State and Maryland are working under interim coaches — but the Spartans will also likely be the underdogs in all three. And figuring out more about Alessio Milivojevic at quarterback, or getting Aidan Chiles back on track, has value for this Michigan State team. 

Regardless of how these 14 games go, though, it’s certain that the Mitten is in for a hustle to the finish of this season, with #MACtion getting it all going.