2022 MAC Championship Game

The game featured the Ohio Bobcats, champions of the East Division, and the Toledo Rockets, champions of the West Division, of the Mid-American Conference.

Toledo clinched a berth in the championship game with two weeks remaining in the schedule following their win over Ball State and a loss by Western Michigan the following night.^[6][7] This is Toledo's seventh appearance in the championship game. They are 3–3 in prior attempts having won in their last appearance in 2017^[8]

The Rockets were 2–2 out of conference with wins over FCS LIU and UMass and losses at Ohio State and San Diego State.^{[9][10][11][12]} They opened conference play with 3 consecutive wins over Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Kent State.^[13][14][15] Quarterback Dequan Finn was injured in a loss at Buffalo.^[16] Tucker Gleason led the Rockets to a win over Eastern Michigan and Finn returned for a win Ball State which wrapped up the division but sat out a loss to Bowling Green.^[17][18][19] Toledo ended their regular season with a loss to Western Michigan in which Finn played sparingly^[20]

Ohio clinched a berth in the championship game during the final week of the season with a 38–14 win over Bowling Green. They entered the game 9–3 with a 7–1 record in the MAC and on a seven-game winning streak.^[21] This is Ohio's fifth appearance in the game and first since 2016. They are 0–4 in their previous attempts and have not won a conference championship since 1968.^[22]

The Bobcats were 2–2 out of conference with wins over Florida Atlantic and FCS Fordham and losses at power conference foes Penn State and Iowa State.^{[23][24][25][26]} They opened conference play with an overtime loss to Kent State and a win over last place Akron.^[27][28] Through six games Ohio was surrendering 40.6 points, 561 yards, and 387 passing yards per game but were 3–3 on the season with a prolific offense led by the passing of MAC Player of the Year Kurtis Rourke.^{[29][30][31][32][33][34][35]}

Ohio finished the regular season with consecutive wins over Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Buffalo, Miami (OH), Ball State, and Bowling Green during which Ohio surrendered an average of only 18 points per game.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41]} Rourke suffered a season ending torn ACL against Ball State and Ohio turned to third-string quarterback C.J. Harris.^[42]