(12-02-2010 05:13 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  

(12-02-2010 05:05 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  Expanding west means entrenching even further in Big Ten territory. And really, most of the MAC isn't in the Mid-West. The Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois... that's the Mid-West. Ohio, New York and Michigan (8 of our teams) are in the Great Lakes states.

The Midwest, as defined by the US Census Bureau, includes the States of Ohio and Michigan. That's 7 teams.



Big Ten territory is a gawd damn football hotbed. The Big 10 is moving westward.

The northeast and New England is not. Yet the MAC continues to move East.

Hmmm, did I miss Penn State?

PSU is not a midwestern university.

The BT went East and then went West.

I do favor that the MAC add school(s) are contigious to the existing states.

I'd have no problem with a Wisconsin school IF there was one but there isn't.

I like your thinking UA... Lets invite the University of Toronto all sports !! That would make us the first FBS conference to go international !! Talk about adding a "major market"... BRING ON THE VARSITY BLUES !!!

http://www.varsityblues.ca/index.aspx
http://www.utoronto.ca/about-uoft/quickfacts.htm

EDIT: Nevermind Toledo fans wouldnt accept this... Doubt they could handle another UT in the conference.

bring on UMASS! I love the idea

(12-02-2010 05:12 PM)Okie Chippewa Wrote:  Actually, Ohio & Michigan are a part of the traditional concept of the United States Midwest. States like Minnesota are a part of the old Northwest.

Lewis & Clark changed everything. GEOGRAPHY, it's awesome; but often you need historical context to understand why things get named the way they are. After all, someday someone will have to explain why St. Louis and Wyoming are in the Atlantic 10 and TCU and Hawaii are in the Big East (with NO teams left along the East Coast for either league).

If that's your point of context, during the War of 1812, Buffalo and Pittsburgh were the "wild" west.

(12-02-2010 05:12 PM)Steve1981 Wrote:  Honestly feel we would help and not hurt the conference, we are almost middle of the pack now with attendance and being in the MAC should help attendance. We already compete with FBS games and gave Michigan a scare. We have an excellent marching band and check out the new 52 million dollar student recreation center.

And you and Temple add a lot more television sets than any westward expansion. And a lot more alumni than N. Iowa. People are forgetting that TV = visibility. The more the merrier. Go UMASS. Do it.

Some folks on our board http://umasshoops.com/board/index.htm are wondering whether during provisional/transitional years a school such as UMass would be able to play a 12 game schedule because they wouldn't be eligible for FCS playoffs. Also trying to think of some other FBS schools we could add to our schedule any MAC teams have open dates next year? Could be cool to get a jump on some rivalries? Starting to peruse this website http://www.fbschedules.com but thought you guys might know more.

You all seem somewhat knowledgeable hence the question to you.

Also don't quite get some of the hillbilly referrals I never thought of MAC fans to be hillbilly's thought of em more as midwesterner's, reserved those stereotypes for the Southern Conference where it gets Hot Hot Hot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVENWl8uBeg

(12-02-2010 10:29 PM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  Some folks on our board http://umasshoops.com/board/index.htm are wondering whether during provisional/transitional years a school such as UMass would be able to play a 12 game schedule because they wouldn't be eligible for FCS playoffs. Also trying to think of some other FBS schools we could add to our schedule any MAC teams have open dates next year? Could be cool to get a jump on some rivalries? Starting to peruse this website http://www.fbschedules.com but thought you guys might know more.

You all seem somewhat knowledgeable hence the question to you.

Also don't quite get some of the hillbilly referrals I never thought of MAC fans to be hillbilly's thought of em more as midwesterner's, reserved those stereotypes for the Southern Conference where it gets Hot Hot Hot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVENWl8uBeg

not sure about playing a 12 game schedule or not but in regards to adding MAC or other FBS schools to your schedule I would guess you might follow a similar path to Temple when they began their transition to the MAC in 2005. They were able to play 4 MAC teams in 05 and 6 MAC teams in 06 as they transitioned to a regular MAC schedule in 07.

I don't think it will be too difficult to find 4 or more MAC schools to play next year. Several usually schedule one FCS team anyways so swapping that game out for UMass wouldn't change the make up of their OOC too much.

(12-02-2010 10:29 PM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  Some folks on our board http://umasshoops.com/board/index.htm are wondering whether during provisional/transitional years a school such as UMass would be able to play a 12 game schedule because they wouldn't be eligible for FCS playoffs. Also trying to think of some other FBS schools we could add to our schedule any MAC teams have open dates next year? Could be cool to get a jump on some rivalries? Starting to peruse this website http://www.fbschedules.com but thought you guys might know more.

You all seem somewhat knowledgeable hence the question to you.

Also don't quite get some of the hillbilly referrals I never thought of MAC fans to be hillbilly's thought of em more as midwesterner's, reserved those stereotypes for the Southern Conference where it gets Hot Hot Hot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVENWl8uBeg

WKU was provisional in 2007 and played 12 games:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team...illtoppers

Take it for what its worth..

South Alabama has 12 games in their transitional seasons as well:

USA Scheduling Time-line

So there you have it. UMass will play 12 games next year. Your administration will likely use the two non-MAC (4 MAC, 2 other FBS in year 1) games as payday games to help finance the transition.

(12-03-2010 01:08 AM)uakronkid Wrote:  So there you have it. UMass will play 12 games next year. Your administration will likely use the two non-MAC (4 MAC, 2 other FBS in year 1) games as payday games to help finance the transition.

This is a big win-win for UMass and the MAC.

The biggest problem the MAC has is scheduling teams who are a reasonable opponent.

I'd think that UMass' AD would check the '11 schedules of UB, Temple, Akron, Kent, Ohio, etc. and try to schedule a few games against future opponents.

I've been reading around, and a lot of the negative reaction seems to stem from the thought process of "nobody cares about UMass football, so why should they move up?" Well, my answer is that maybe nobody cares because they haven't moved up yet. Their complaints are like saying that their car will never be able to make a right turn because the wheels aren't currently turned to the right.

Of course you won't change the current situation if you don't change the current situation.

If the presidents are driving this expansion, I hope they create an academic consortium in the conference as well, if there isn't one already. The lastest additions are good schools and UMass is too.

(12-02-2010 05:54 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  

(12-02-2010 05:13 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  [quote='uakronkid' pid='5978814' dateline='1291327511']

The population centers of the US grouped into regions. There is NOTHING to the west.

This is a really neat graphic.

What it shows to me is the great lakes region which we cover well + the northeast region which we are moving toward.

In the last 15 - 20 years, the MAC has picked up the northern part of IL (NIU), western N.Y. (UB), southeast Pa (Temple) and now a possible second northeastern state (western Mass).

When I look at the map, it seems to be where people are the MAC is trying to be.

Even though Boston is a long drive, Springfield and even Worcester are reasonably drives. There are 100K+ in those cities.

Based on this chart, UMass makes more sense then say W. Kentucky.

It also lends to more Northeast/Mid-Atlantic expansion, say Delaware, maybe James Madison, etc.

In the 90s, when Comish Iopolitti (sp) added UB it is almost like he had this kind of demographic map and said the MAC needs to be where there are good population densities.

(12-03-2010 01:48 PM)emu steve Wrote:  ]
This is a really neat graphic.

What it shows to me is the great lakes region which we cover well + the northeast region which we are moving toward.

In the last 15 - 20 years, the MAC has picked up the northern part of IL (NIU), western N.Y. (UB), southeast Pa (Temple) and now a possible second northeastern state (western Mass).

When I look at the map, it seems to be where people are the MAC is trying to be.

Based on this chart, UMass makes more sense then say W. Kentucky.

It also lends to more Northeast/Mid-Atlantic expansion, say Delaware, maybe James Madison, etc.

In the 90s, when Comish Iopolitti (sp) added UB it is almost like he had this kind of demographic map and said the MAC needs to be where there are good population densities.

Makes you see the long term appeal of someone like Stony Brook along with someone like JMU.

That map also makes MTSU interesting. Not sure about he cultural fit. Really we are more like the urbanized east than TN.

We occupy a niche in football. That niche is filled everywhere worth going except the east. Interesting stuff.

How good does adding NDSU look now?

I'd add Delaware which is what one hour from Temple?

As far as culture, having lived in the Midwest and D.C. area all of my life, I feel that the midwest and northeast/mid-atlantic are a pretty good cultural fit.

On the other hand, I just can't see Georgetown and TCU playing hoops or doing much OF ANYTHING together.

(12-03-2010 02:37 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  

How good does adding NDSU look now?

yeah, the talk of adding a school no where's close to IL, which has no people, cold temperatures, is in a different time zone then even NIU, etc. makes zero sense when there are schools like UMass, etc. available.

(12-03-2010 02:48 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(12-03-2010 02:37 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  

How good does adding NDSU look now?

yeah, the talk of adding a school no where's close to IL, which has no people, cold temperatures, is in a different time zone then even NIU, etc. makes zero sense when there are schools like UMass, etc. available.

NDSU might give Northern that "RIVAL" they are so desperately looking for.

(12-03-2010 02:37 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  

How good does adding NDSU look now?

yeah, the talk of adding a school no where's close to IL, which has no people, very cold temperatures, is in a different time zone then even NIU, etc. makes zero sense when there are schools like UMass, etc. available.

BTW, Pittsburgh is the 'missing city' in the MAC footprint now.