2023 Toledo Football Schedule

DETROIT, Mich. - The votes were counted and the results were announced at Thursday's MAC Football Media Day at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. To no one's surprise the Toledo Rockets are the favorite to become the first team to repeat as champions in the Mid-American Conference in over a decade.

Toledo was chosen to win the 2023 MAC Championship Game by seven of the league's 12 coaches. A near majority 11 of the coaches picked the Rockets to win the MAC's West Division crown.

The Rockets' reaction? A collective shrug and a determination to embrace what lies ahead.

"I think the biggest challenge in all of sport is to repeat," said Head Coach Jason Candle, entering his eighth season as Toledo's head coach. "We're standing right in the face of a team that's fortunate and blessed to be in the locker room with a bunch of good young men that understand and embrace challenge. We're going to have that front and center this year. I'm really looking forward to attacking the season with these guys."

"This is a new team, a new season for us, so really we're just trying to keep the main thing the main thing," added junior quarterback Dequan Finn, a second-team All-MAC pick in 2022. "We're focused on the moment right now, the here and now. What's going to help us get towards that? What are the steps to get towards that? We're finding that out right now. We're working every day."

"It's a new season. 2022 is in the past," said junior All-America cornerback Quinyon Mitchell. "We've got the same goals and standards, but it's 2023 now. Each year you've got a different group, but the standard is the standard. I'm just ready to go out and ball out with my guys."

Toledo returns 16 starters, including seven All-MAC players, from a 2022 squad that went 9-5, defeated Ohio in the MAC Championship Game and then went on to defeat Liberty, 21-19, the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. The Rockets, though fully aware that the rest of the league will have them in their sights, say they are simply focused on the process of getting better every day.

"I'm not too worried about what others are doing or what people say about us," said Mitchell. "We just need to go out and prove what we can do. We're just focused on getting better and winning a MAC Championship."

"We're not really worried about what's outside us," said Finn. "We just need to stay on course and let the results take care of themselves."

The Rockets open the season with a big game at Illinois on Sept. 2 before returning to the Glass Bowl for four Saturday games in the month of September. The home season kicks off with "Toledo's Biggest Party" on Saturday, Sept. 9 in a 3:30 p.m. matchup with Texas Southern. The Homecoming game is on Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m. vs. Northern Illinois.

To order tickets or for more information, please visit this link or call/text 419.530.GOLD (4653) or stop by the Rocket Ticket Office located in the Sullivan Athletic Complex at Savage Arena during office hours. 

2023 MAC Football Head Coaches Preseason Poll (first place votes)
 
East Division
1. Ohio – 63 points (9)
2. Miami – 52 points (2)
3. Buffalo – 51 points (1)
4. Bowling Green – 35 points
5. Akron – 26 points
6. Kent State – 19 points
 
West Division
1. Toledo – 66 points (11)
2. Eastern Michigan – 55 points (1)
3. Northern Illinois – 38 points
4. Central Michigan – 37 points
5. Ball State – 27 points
6. Western Michigan – 23 points
 
MAC Champion: Toledo (7), Ohio (4), Buffalo (1)