Brett Gabbert helped put Miami (Ohio) in position to win the 2023 Mid-American Conference crown.

He spent the last five conference games watching his teammates achieve that goal.

Now, the 24-year-old quarterback, nearly fully recovered, enters his fourth and likely final season as Miami’s starter, hoping to do it all over again.

“It’s never easy to get hurt, have surgery and be out of the game because you always want to be on the field,” Gabbert said. “It was just a tough time. I thought I had a good year, but I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason, so I was really happy that my team was able to finish the job.”

Since 2001, only two MAC teams, Central Michigan in 2006-07 and Northern Illinois in 2011-12, have won back-to-back titles.

Miami is the overwhelming favorite to match that feat. The team has the longest-tenured head coach in school history in Chuck Martin, the conference’s 2023 Defensive Player of the Year in Matt Salopek, and Gabbert, who was selected to the all-conference third team despite his season-ending right leg injury.

Toledo, the 2022 MAC champion, was the only other school to get a first-place vote in the coaches’ preseason poll.

Even with so many familiar names and faces returning on both teams, a lot has changed. The MAC, like the Big Ten, has abandoned its divisional format and will now pit the top two teams from college football’s most stable league against each other in the Dec. 7 title game in Detroit.

And this time, the winner could actually qualify for the expanded 12-team playoffs.

“It’s a motivating factor for all of us,” Toledo coach Jason Candle said. “You have to work hard to prepare for this year’s team, and we’re working hard to do that right now.”

Central questions

Central Michigan is entering its sixth season under coach Jim McElwain and is facing questions about its coaching staff. FootballScoop.com reported two weeks ago that the shakeup included the departure of quarterbacks coach Jake Kostner, who spent four years as an assistant at Michigan while working with Connor Stalions, the Wolverines’ alleged sign-stealer.

McElwain didn’t announce any changes, but said he saw a photo of the Stalions on Central Michigan’s sideline during the 2023 season opener at Michigan State and wanted the school to determine how the Stalions got their pass on the sideline. The Chippewas went 9-15 overall and 6-10 in league play the past two seasons.

State of Michigan

Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton and Martin are both in their 11th seasons and are the league’s oldest coaches. Creighton has won virtually everything — except a MAC title — and will try to change that with former Rutgers and Buffalo quarterback Cole Snyder.

“We had three new quarterbacks in January and Cole was a known player,” Creighton said. “Knowing who he is as a player and as a leader, we thought he would be a great fit.”

Western Michigan is hoping to rebound from a 4-8 record in coach Lance Taylor’s first season. Taylor has 16 returning starters. Quarterback Hayden Wolff made four starts last season after leaving Old Dominion and will be working with his seventh offensive coordinator.

Around OHIO

The RedHawks and Rockets have plenty of in-state competition to advance to the Dec. 7 title game.

Bowling Green will rely on the backfield tandem of NFL prospect Terion Stewart and Connor Bazelak as well as a defense that shared the FBS lead with 38 takeaways in 2023.

Ohio will try to end its 56-year title drought with new quarterback Parker Navarr, and Kent State hopes third-year receiver Crishon McCray can lead the Golden Flashes to their second MAC crown — and first since 1972. And Akron will lean heavily on new quarterback Ben Finley, who played at North Carolina State and California and whose brother, Ryan, played in the NFL. The Zips went 2-10 last season.

Repeated

The league’s only new coach, Pete Lembo, is a familiar face to MAC fans.

Buffalo hired the former South Carolina assistant in January, giving Lembo his first head coaching job since going 35-22 in five seasons at Ball State. Since moving to Maryland from Muncie, Ind., Lembo has ditched his signature glasses.

Buffalo hosts Ball State on Nov. 12.

Games to watch

The championship finalists could be summed up in these games: Oct. 5, Miami at Toledo; Oct. 19, Ohio at Miami; Oct. 26, Bowling Green at Toledo; Nov. 20, Ohio at Toledo; and Nov. 29, Miami at Bowling Green.