ESPN College Football

The 2004 Mid-American Conference football season unquestionably lacked the glint and glamour of the previous one. MAC teams stumbled through nonconference play, barely making a scratch against the BCS. After a 2003 season that had introduced the MAC to the rest of Division I-A, the element of surprise had vanished.

In the end, however, none of it mattered. Handicapped by poor locations and unpredictable fan bases, the bowl-starved MAC finally got its due. A league that had never sent more than two squads to the postseason reaped five bowl bids this year.

"Three times in the past six years we had a 10-win team sit home," MAC commissioner Rick Chryst said Nov. 16. "Sometimes your opportunities come a year late. Those 10-win teams that didn't go anywhere are a big reason why we're enjoying the opportunities we have now."

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