Western Michigan, Central Michigan football back on Saturday in 2025
The second-biggest football rivalry in the state is heading back to the weekend.
Western Michigan and Central Michigan will play on a Saturday in 2025, as the Mid-American Conference begins a multi-year rotation of moving its top rivalry games out of ESPN’s midweek MACtion window ― a window that has been good for television ratings and national exposure, but bad for in-person attendance and atmosphere.
Fans of both WMU and CMU long have called for the game to be played on a Saturday, but met resistance from ESPN.
“Kudos to Jon (Steinbrecher, MAC commissioner). Jon’s the one that got that done,” Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae said. “Hopefully, everybody in Bristol (Connecticut, home of ESPN) will see the value of having a game like that on a Saturday. I don’t expect you’re going to see a decline in viewership in MACtion games.”
Central Michigan will play at Western Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 1. Bartholomae said he expects to sell the game out at 30,000-seat Waldo Stadium.
Western Michigan will play at Central Michigan on a Saturday in 2026.
The game, played for the Victory Cannon, was played on a Friday or Saturday for a decade until ESPN moved it to a Wednesday in 2017. It was on Saturday in 2018 and 2019, but it has been a midweek game since.
“It’s gonna be awesome,” Bartholomae said.
The WMU-CMU football rivalry dates to 1907, with WMU leading the series, 53-40-2. CMU won the game in 2024, in what turned out to be the last win of head coach Jim McElwain’s career. He retired, and the Chippewas hired Matt Drinkall, who had been co-offensive coordinator at Army.
In other state rivalry games in 2025, Central Michigan will host Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 27, while Western Michigan will play at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
The MAC championship game again will be played at Ford Field, on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Here are the state’s MAC football schedules for 2025:
Eastern Michigan
▶ Saturday, Aug. 30: at Texas State
▶ Saturday, Sept. 6: vs. Long Island
▶ Saturday, Sept. 13: at Kentucky
▶ Saturday, Sept. 20: vs. Louisiana
▶ Saturday, Sept. 27: at Central Michigan
▶ Saturday, Oct. 4: at Buffalo
▶ Saturday, Oct. 11: vs. Northern Illinois
▶Saturday, Oct. 18: at Miami (Ohio)
▶ Saturday, Oct. 25: vs. Ohio
▶ Saturday, Nov. 8: vs. Bowling Green
▶ Saturday, Nov. 15: at Ball State
▶ Tuesday, Nov. 25: vs. Western Michigan
Central Michigan
▶ Thursday, Aug. 28: at San Jose State
▶ Saturday, Sept. 6: at Pittsburgh
▶ Saturday, Sept. 13: at Michigan
▶ Saturday, Sept. 20: vs. Wagner
▶ Saturday, Sept. 27: vs. Eastern Michigan
▶ Saturday, Oct. 4: at Akron
▶ Saturday, Oct. 18: at Bowling Green
▶ Saturday, Oct. 25: vs. UMass
▶ Saturday, Nov. 1: at Western Michigan
▶ Wednesday, Nov. 12: vs. Buffalo
▶ Wednesday, Nov. 19: at Kent State
▶ Saturday, Nov. 29: vs. Toledo
Western Michigan
▶ Saturday, Aug. 30: at Michigan State
▶ Saturday, Sept. 6: vs. North Texas
▶ Saturday, Sept. 13: at Illinois
▶ Saturday, Sept. 20: vs. Toledo
▶ Saturday, Sept. 27: vs. Rhode Island
▶ Saturday, Oct. 4: at UMass
▶ Saturday, Oct. 11: vs. Ball State
▶ Saturday, Oct. 25: at Miami (Ohio)
▶ Saturday, Nov. 1: vs. Central Michigan
▶ Tuesday, Nov. 11: vs. Ohio
▶ Tuesday, Nov. 18: at Northern Illinois
▶ Tuesday, Nov. 25: at Eastern Michigan
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
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