The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Let me say upfront, I'm not a GVSU fanboy, but I'm starting to admire how they use their athletics to create a winning culture. I see where they won the NCAA d2 national championship in women's soccer. I know they finished in the final 4 in the most recent softball season. And of course football is always good. I don't follow them closely enough in other sports but I do know they're successful in nearly every sport.

FWIW, GVSU has had larger enrollment than WMU for a few years now, and I'm sure that the winning athletic culture plays a role in that. The thing is, if an athlete goes to GVSU they know there's a good shot to be GLIAC champs and a reasonable shot at a national championship. I've got to imagine that athletic success creates quite a buzz on campus most of the time and helps in recruiting both athletes and non athletes.

WMU has only one sport that has a chance to be national champs: hockey. Plus, I'm sure that their athletic budget is less of a drain on the overall budget as compared to a MAC school. Given the trend in college football towards "super conferences" is it worth thinking about the MAC dropping down a level? It might be fun to host FCS semi final game with a shot at a national title in front of 25k in late November rather than playing out the string against emu in front of 9k.





http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/in...er_default

I will add this.

Not breaking news regarding Temple dropping a bunch of sports at the conclusion of the '13-'14 season.

It lays out some of the obvious factors including the costs of sports like football and the travel expense many are now seeing with the gerry-mandered non-geographical conferences.

A conference like the MAC, holding to it's regional base is smart. But schools within the conference need to make themselves more competitive on a national stage in order to bring in $.

I detested Elton Alexander's (Cleveland Plain Dealer) article re the NIU loss costing the conference big $. But it did. Can't "fix" the game but boy it did hurt.

Interesting times.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/Cut...end-122113

(12-22-2013 08:46 AM)gobaseline Wrote:  I will add this.

Not breaking news regarding Temple dropping a bunch of sports at the conclusion of the '13-'14 season.

It lays out some of the obvious factors including the costs of sports like football and the travel expense many are now seeing with the gerry-mandered non-geographical conferences.

A conference like the MAC, holding to it's regional base is smart. But schools within the conference need to make themselves more competitive on a national stage in order to bring in $.

I detested Elton Alexander's (Cleveland Plain Dealer) article re the NIU loss costing the conference big $. But it did. Can't "fix" the game but boy it did hurt.

Interesting times.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/Cut...end-122113

You're right, those geographically unwieldy conferences don't make a lick of sense. Also, if you look at a school like Temple, or almost any low D1, they're in athletic budgetary quicksand.

Eh...do you want the challenge of playing class A ball or be a big fish at a class C school? To each his own.

Exactly.

Big fish in a small pond.


They play schools with 1/6th their enrollment and even less of an athletic budget.

Name six teams they play?

Quote:Eh...do you want the challenge of playing class A ball or be a big fish at a class C school? To each his own.

Whether we like it or not, the MAC is going end up in a lower division soon anyhow, so WMU will be the equivalent of class C. The so called big five conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, PAC 12), are going to create their own "Richie Rich" super division and relegate the rest of the college football world to the equivalent of D1aa.

Quote:They play schools with 1/6th their enrollment and even less of an athletic budget.

What's your point? Any D2 school, small or big, that GVSU plays chooses to be in d2, no one forces them to compete with the GVSU's or Central Oklahoma's of the world. Furthermore, nearly any BCS school that WMU plays has five times WMU's athletic budget. Should they not play WMU for that reason as you are implying GVSU shouldn't play schools with smaller budgets?

Things are changing for better or for worse, there is not much we can do about it, and we'd better get used to it.

(12-22-2013 03:22 PM)Kimbosucks Wrote:  Name six teams they play?

Hillsdale, SVSU, Ferris State, Wayne State, Tiffin, Uindy, and so on. Of those schools, WSU is bigger than WMU, both Ferris and SVSU are 15k or so, Uindy is about 6k, Tiffin about 4k and Hillsdale 1,400. Oh, NMU is near the same size as FSU and SVSU.

No point. I'm just saying that is the only reason for their dominance of the GLIAC. Half of the teams in that conference have under 4k enrollment.

And I think you're missing the point. All MAC schools are relatively similar in enrollment and athletic spending. GLIAC enrollment ranges from 1k to 30k.

(12-22-2013 04:20 PM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  No point. I'm just saying that is the only reason for their dominance of the GLIAC. Half of the teams in that conference have under 4k enrollment.

And I think you're missing the point. All MAC schools are relatively similar in enrollment and athletic spending. GLIAC enrollment ranges from 1k to 30k.

I got it, but.....as I noted earlier, no one forces any of those schools to play in the GLIAC. If Lake Erie College or Tiffin want to drop down a level or leave the GLIAC, they can. GVSU must play their conference members be it WSU with 30,000 plus or Lake Erie (1000).

Our athletic budget (20 million or so, is closer to GVSU than we are to Michigan )

The MAC is a fine league which has produced amazing athletes and students, but our lack of TV revenue will relegate the conference to "class C " status anyhow at some point.

I've said for a long time three tiers for D1 is coming and well be in that mid pack.

I have been thinking about this topic for some time. We will never be in the money race for coaches and facilities to the degree that of the top teams need to b.....and I am OK with that fact. Hell, assistance make more that our HC. If the MAC dropped a level and GVSU went up one we would have a very nice conference with some good regional rivals....and a chance at a national titile. Someone correct me but I think we could stay D1 in our other sports (basketball) as long as we stayed in D1AA or whatever it is called now.

(12-22-2013 04:13 PM)BCBronco Wrote:  

(12-22-2013 03:22 PM)Kimbosucks Wrote:  Name six teams they play?

Hillsdale, SVSU, Ferris State, Wayne State, Tiffin, Uindy, and so on. Of those schools, WSU is bigger than WMU, both Ferris and SVSU are 15k or so, Uindy is about 6k, Tiffin about 4k and Hillsdale 1,400. Oh, NMU is near the same size as FSU and SVSU.

Obviously since you were talking about it you would know. My point being that their league has changed in a big way the last few years with new teams every year it seems. Ohio dominion? Tiffin? The culture of that area is much different than kzoo. I don't see 8, 000 coming to see wmu vs. Tiffin. Just look at hope basketball they get more people to bball games than their enrollment. It is a culty area.

(12-22-2013 06:18 PM)Kimbosucks Wrote:  

(12-22-2013 04:13 PM)BCBronco Wrote:  

(12-22-2013 03:22 PM)Kimbosucks Wrote:  Name six teams they play?

Hillsdale, SVSU, Ferris State, Wayne State, Tiffin, Uindy, and so on. Of those schools, WSU is bigger than WMU, both Ferris and SVSU are 15k or so, Uindy is about 6k, Tiffin about 4k and Hillsdale 1,400. Oh, NMU is near the same size as FSU and SVSU.

Obviously since you were talking about it you would know. My point being that their league has changed in a big way the last few years with new teams every year it seems. Ohio dominion? Tiffin? The culture of that area is much different than kzoo. I don't see 8, 000 coming to see wmu vs. Tiffin. Just look at hope basketball they get more people to bball games than their enrollment. It is a culty area.

It is a very diverse and weird conference that makes no sense at all. You've got GVSU with outstanding facilities to Lake Erie College who shares their field with the local high school. Why the NCAA approved LEC going D2 and turned down Davenport's request to transition to D2 and who has remarkable facilities is a mystery to me.

NCAA didn't want Davenport to turn sport into a business.

........that's a joke. A joke, folks.

LOL!

Thanks DE.