2012 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
East Division
Kent State x		8	–	0		11	–	3
Bowling Green		6	–	2		8	–	5
Ohio		4	–	4		9	–	4
Buffalo		3	–	5		4	–	8
Miami		3	–	5		4	–	8
UMass		1	–	7		1	–	11
Akron		0	–	8		1	–	11
West Division
#22 Northern Illinois x$		8	–	0		12	–	2
Toledo		6	–	2		9	–	4
Ball State		6	–	2		9	–	4
Central Michigan		4	–	4		7	–	6
Western Michigan		2	–	6		4	–	8
Eastern Michigan		1	–	7		2	–	10
Championship: Northern Illinois 44, Kent State 37
$ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria x – Division champion/co-champions UMass not eligible for conference title or bowl game as part of FBS transition Rankings from AP Poll

The 2012 Marathon MAC Championship Game was an American football game held on November 30, 2012 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan between the West Division champion Northern Illinois Huskies and the East Division champion Kent State Golden Flashes to determine the Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion. This is the first time since 2003 that both teams entered the game ranked in the BCS standings, AP Poll, and Coaches' Poll.

The pre-game buildup focused primarily on the two high-powered offenses, both of which were led by strong rushing attacks. The rushing attacks differed; Northern Illinois' was led by junior quarterback Jordan Lynch, who finished fourth in the nation in rushing, while Kent State's was led by a running back tandem consisting of Dri Archer and Trayion Durham. The opening line favored Northern Illinois by seven points. After being tied at the end of regulation, the game went in to two overtime periods and eventually concluded with Northern Illinois winning 44–37. The Huskies were subsequently invited to the 2013 Orange Bowl.

Multiple media outlets speculated that if Kent State won, it could earn a BCS bowl bid. Under then-current BCS rules, the highest-ranked team from outside the six "AQ" conferences received an automatic at-large BCS bid if it was (1) in the top 16 of the final BCS rankings and (2) ranked higher than at least one champion of an AQ conference.

Kent State had entered the weekend of November 24 ranked 23rd in the BCS standings, but after every team ranked between 15 and 21 lost that day, the Golden Flashes rose to 17th in the November 25 rankings, with Northern Illinois rising to 21st. At the same time, no team from the Big East, which had an automatic place in a BCS bowl, was in the top 25. The teams ranked immediately ahead and behind Kent State, UCLA and Texas, had to play higher-ranked teams on the road during the championship weekend. UCLA visited 8th ranked Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game, and Texas visited sixth-ranked Kansas State to end both teams' regular seasons. Because of Northern Illinois' ranking entering the game, it had not been initially thought that the Huskies would be able to jump into the top 16 with a win, even with losses by UCLA and Texas.

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