A new week of the college football season is about to begin, but the MAC is taking care of one more piece of business. The conference is officially appealing the controversial finish to Western Michigan vs. Michigan.
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This game, which took place on Sept. 5, featured Michigan trailing 12-7 with eight seconds in remaining. Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood dropped back and rolled to his left, preparing to throw the Hail Mary.
Underwood launched a pass deep from the 50-yard line, but it fell incomplete with 0:00 left on the clock. Western Michigan began to celebrate, but the officials conducted a review. They ultimately determined that the clock should read 0:01, thus giving Michigan one more Hail Mary attempt.
The mind-blowing, controversial Western Michigan-Michigan finish.
Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, and rules analyst Terry McAulay have the commentary on the stunning scene for NBC. 🏈🦓🎙️ pic.twitter.com/n9YE3OpXde
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 6, 2026
Underwood's second pass resulted in a touchdown, which gave Michigan a controversial 13-12 win over Western Michigan. It also sparked outrage across the nation and led to the Big Ten Conference releasing a statement about the clock discrepancy.
The MAC initially took the controversial finish in stride, but the statement released afterward showed that the conference does not agree with the outcome or the way the officials handed the final seconds.
"After further study and investigation, it is now evident that replay protocol was not properly followed in determining whether time remained on the game clock at the conclusion of the Western Michigan vs. Michigan football game," MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said in a statement.
"The established replay protocol requires that the game clock displayed on the program feed be used in determining whether time remained. Instead, the Big Ten Conference replay crew relied upon the clock feed embedded within its replay system. As a result, one second was placed back on the game clock and an additional play was awarded.
"This was not a judgment regarding the proper amount of time to place on the clock," Steinbrecher added. "It was an error in the application of the established replay protocol governing this specific end-of-game timing situation. Had the protocol been properly followed and the program-feed clock been used, no additional play would have been awarded, and Western Michigan would have won the game, 12-7.
"As a result, the Mid-American Conference has submitted formal appeals to the NCAA FBS Oversight Committee and the College Football Playoff. The MAC is requesting that those bodies recognize Western Michigan as the actual winner of the game for purposes of their respective rankings, evaluations and selection deliberations, and take such other corrective action as may be within their authority."
While the appeal process plays out, both teams will continue with their seasons. Michigan will host No. 12 Oklahoma on Saturday, Sept. 12. Western Michigan will host Monmouth later that day.
