(03-07-2012 09:56 PM)HuskieTap22 Wrote: (03-07-2012 05:10 PM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote: As I reported two weeks ago, Temple is gone. Actually, they were gone then and only the $$$ needed to be finalized.
I wish Temple well and were glad they were a part of the league even for this short time.
One school I wish the MAC would target for all sports is Western Kentucky. WKU would be an excellent addition for the MAC in all sports. I know Rick Chryst tried hard to get that done nearly a decade ago and Miami and EMU blocked it. Hopefully time has made both schools smarter to get this done ASAP.
No offense to the league but if EMU is driving the decision making the MAC is in trouble. In my opinion they are borderline worthy and strong consideration could be made as to whether or not they should even be in the conference. Is having a fifth FBS team in Michigan really adding any value? Losing Temple is a big blow and if EMU is driving decisions then the MAC should just change their name to the WAC (otherwise known as the worst conference in FBS). My number one expansion candidate would be EMU taking a hike from the league.
Ah yes, some more EMU hate. That's so refreshing. EMU is not driving any decisions. Here is what happened ... and keep in mind this was several years ago.
My understanding was that EMU was the lone dissenting voice on admitting Western Kentucky. The move required unanimous approval of the university presidents. EMU had an interim president, Craig Willis, at the time who had taken over in the wake of an alleged investigative cover-up following a brutal campus murder of a co-ed that led to then-president John Fallon's resignation (personally I thought he was railroaded).
Willis was a HUGE athletics supporter, which was pretty rare at EMU. In the preceding football season, there was a bit of dust-up over some alleged chicanery involving Toledo intentionally omitting a fake punt from their game films that they are obligated to provide. When EMU played Toledo the Rockets ran the play and scored (they probably would have won anyway).
Technically, this was against the rules and certainly in the eyes of Willis, it was intentional and deserving of punishment. He pushed hard for Toledo to forfeit the game and pay a significant monetary penalty.
The MAC obviously wasn't going to force Toledo to forfeit. I believe they did receive a bit of a rebuke.
When it came time later for the vote on the Western Kentucky matter, Willis had one question: Was the MAC going to force Toledo to forfeit? The answer was 'no' and therefore, he voted 'no.'
Was it right? Probably not. But that's how it went down. Willis was actually a good guy, but a bull-headed on this issue obviously.
Water under the bridge. This was 7-8 years ago. Different administration at EMU than now.