1998 MAC Championship Game

The 1998 MAC Championship Game was the second conference championship game of the Mid-American Conference, and was played on December 4, 1998, at Marshall Stadium, now known as Joan C. Edwards Stadium, in Huntington, West Virginia. The game featured a rematch of the 1997 game, between the East Division's Marshall Thundering Herd, and the West Division's Toledo Rockets. Marshall was heavily favored to win the game.^[1] Marshall defeated Toledo to claim their second consecutive conference title by a score of 23–17.^[2][3] During the game, Marshall starting quarterback Chad Pennington was hurt, and was replaced by Byron Leftwich.^[4]

1998 MAC Championship Game
Conference Championship
Toledo Rockets Marshall Thundering Herd (7–4) (10–1) 17 23 Head coach:  Gary Pinkel Head coach:  Bob Pruett
1 2 3 4 Total Toledo 7 0 0 10 17 Marshall 6 0 0 17 23
Date	December 4, 1998
Season	1998
Stadium	Marshall Stadium
Location	Huntington, West Virginia
MVP	QB Chad Pennington (Marshall)
Favorite	Marshall by 12
Attendance	28,085
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN2
MAC Championship Game  < 1997  1999 >

1998 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Marshall xy$		7	–	1					12	–	1
Miami (OH) x		7	–	1					10	–	1
Bowling Green		5	–	3					5	–	6
Ohio		5	–	3					5	–	6
Akron		3	–	6					4	–	7
Kent State		0	–	8					0	–	11
West Division
Toledo x		6	–	2					7	–	5
Western Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	4
Central Michigan		5	–	3					6	–	5
Eastern Michigan		3	–	6					3	–	8
Northern Illinois		2	–	6					2	–	9
Ball State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Championship: Marshall 23, Toledo 17
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant