The MAC will have game-day injury reports for the 2024 college football season

This past weekend was Week 0 of the 2024 college football season. There were only a few games, the most exciting being #10 Florida State vs—Georgia Tech in Dublin. The Yellowjackets fought hard and took home the 24-21 victory against a top-10 team in the country. With Week 0 in the books, Week 1 is right around the corner. Ahead of the 2024 season, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced they’re implementing player availability reports. Similar to what the Big 10 had in 2023. The league announced this policy last Thursday after it was passed by the Council of Directors of Athletics. These availability reports are to protect the student-athletes and protect the integrity of the game with sports betting becoming increasingly popular. All 12 teams in the MAC will be required to post availability reports three hours ahead of kickoff. Teams who fail to post the reports could face disciplinary actions. Throughout the season, the MAC will monitor how accurate the information is that they are receiving from the 12 teams in the conference. They include Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, and Western Michigan.

The MAC and BIG 10 are the only conferences with a game-day injury report

In 2023, the Big 10 was the first college football conference to have a game-day injury report. After seeing how the Big 10 handled it last season, the MAC felt a game-day injury report would benefit their conference. There’s been a growing concern for the integrity of college sports in the last two years and these conferences are not going to sit around and watch. The MAC is being productive by implementing the game-day availability reports. While the MAC will have the game-day reports, it might not be enough to stop information from spreading. With social media so easily accessible, one injury report might not be enough. Injury reports are common in the NFL and news is often leaked before the team can say anything. The same could happen for the MAC on a smaller scale. Weekly game-day injury reports could make a difference, but that would be asking a lot of a college football program. Especially a non-power-five conference like the MAC.

Could the SEC be the next conference to adopt the game-day injury report?

Several years ago, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) implemented a loosely-run midweek injury report. Now, the SEC is considering making that midweek injury report mandatory. An SEC spokesperson said the policy has been updated and they’re waiting to make a final decision. Additionally, the spokesperson mentioned that this game-day report would only apply to SEC games.