(08-05-2023 04:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 03:50 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 02:44 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 12:59 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  Eventually the NCAA will disband and the top schools will separate. The NCAA exists because that's the way it always has been. Schools have basically figured out that the NCAA is unnecessary. It's the logical next step

Absolutely agree with this. My guess is it ends up with three top level conferences of twenty teams each, which separate from the rest of the existing NCAA conferences. They can then establish their own rules and retain all the money.

If that’s the case NIU needs to really position themselves these next two seasons with Wins in football. That’s all the drives these realignment anyways.

I could see one of the G5 conf disbanding due to money as well.

We still have a dump of a stadium that we have not renovated or invested any money in. This is what happens when you sit around blaming other people for lack of fundraising. You get left behind because you're less attractive. SDSU (brand new stadium), Boise State, and some others G5s have positioned themselves better to move up.

I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

NIU is 100% getting left behind. I just do not see how the school can make up the ground at this point. The last 10-15 years schools have been aggressively positioning to move up and NIU has been going backwards and basically done nothing. It has arguably been the most critical decade to stay relevant and NIU completely disappeared at the absolute wrong time.

Nobody is moving from the MAC to a power conference. It is just not realistic. The path to moving up has run through the AAC and MWC for quite some time now and NIU is not even a realistic candidate to join either of those conferences.

The MAC screwed itself by doing absolutely nothing for so long and playing spectator just watching the landscape pass it by. The conference really needed to take a swing to advance and secure its place with all the shifting going on and completely whiffed. The MAC wasted what little leverage it had the last few years and will get completely left in the dust now with NIU going down with the ship.

(08-05-2023 07:27 PM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  NIU is 100% getting left behind. I just do not see how the school can make up the ground at this point. The last 10-15 years schools have been aggressively positioning to move up and NIU has been going backwards and basically done nothing. It has arguably been the most critical decade to stay relevant and NIU completely disappeared at the absolute wrong time.

Nobody is moving from the MAC to a power conference. It is just not realistic. The path to moving up has run through the AAC and MWC for quite some time now and NIU is not even a realistic candidate to join either of those conferences.

The MAC screwed itself by doing absolutely nothing for so long and playing spectator just watching the landscape pass it by. The conference really needed to take a swing to advance and secure its place with all the shifting going on and completely whiffed. The MAC wasted what little leverage it had the last few years and will get completely left in the dust now with NIU going down with the ship.

NIU had a super golden opportunity to feed off the Orange Bowl 10 years ago and did absolutely nothing. So it does not surprise me that they have done nothing since. And I don’t want to hear the crap excuse of no money. Money has come in including from the big OOC games every year.

Both Dog Fan and HuskieTap22 hit it straight on.

I opined on this somewhere else, but repeat here: any NIU success is going to come from the coaches and student-athletes on the field, court, etc. There are no big resources coming; if it ever happens, that alleged big fundraiser of $500 million or so will net athletics very little. BofT reports detailed tens of millions in deferred maintenance, that almost 60% of all facilities are over 50 years old, and that NIU's share of any new facilities (HIT, Community Sustainability, etc.) will need new $ resources.

Frazier's big deal was the 2014-15 master plan, which has fizzled to irrelevance. NIU got re-purposed (Fieldhouse) and small improvements (nutrition center, new Nelson Club, rebuilt baseball field, and even that in pieces). All that building along I-88 is mostly warehouses and data centers. Etc, etc, etc.

Well, NIU internalized, cut off the bread-and-butter fanbase (the fan advisory board is a feel-good shadow of what it once was), joined the MAC's institutionalized but stable lethargy, and faces a new world of CFB basically in make-do mode.

I don't know where to look to see a light ... except hope our teams win enough to regain some ground. For me, it's watch the games/meets/matches and just enjoy what our teams can do. When I say "Go Huskies" I mean them, not the rest of the pile of () around them just protecting their jobs.

Justanote: In an odd way, the MAC and NIU are like the crumbling PAC ... poor management, bad or no decisions, and p--s--g away what they had. Now it's too late.

(08-05-2023 08:24 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  Both Dog Fan and HuskieTap22 hit it straight on.

I opined on this somewhere else, but repeat here: any NIU success is going to come from the coaches and student-athletes on the field, court, etc. There are no big resources coming; if it ever happens, that alleged big fundraiser of $500 million or so will net athletics very little. BofT reports detailed tens of millions in deferred maintenance, that almost 60% of all facilities are over 50 years old, and that NIU's share of any new facilities (HIT, Community Sustainability, etc.) will need new $ resources.

Frazier's big deal was the 2014-15 master plan, which has fizzled to irrelevance. NIU got re-purposed (Fieldhouse) and small improvements (nutrition center, new Nelson Club, rebuilt baseball field, and even that in pieces). All that building along I-88 is mostly warehouses and data centers. Etc, etc, etc.

Well, NIU internalized, cut off the bread-and-butter fanbase (the fan advisory board is a feel-good shadow of what it once was), joined the MAC's institutionalized but stable lethargy, and faces a new world of CFB basically in make-do mode.

I don't know where to look to see a light ... except hope our teams win enough to regain some ground. For me, it's watch the games/meets/matches and just enjoy what our teams can do. When I say "Go Huskies" I mean them, not the rest of the pile of () around them just protecting their jobs.

Justanote: In an odd way, the MAC and NIU are like the crumbling PAC ... poor management, bad or no decisions, and p--s--g away what they had. Now it's too late.

It all comes back to having strong leadership at the top. The Sun Belt and BIG 12 are good examples as both were in really bad spots after schools left and both went on the offensive under new leadership and are thriving now. CUSA and the PAC are at the other end of the spectrum. The MAC has literally done nothing to advance its position and secure its place. The MAC commissioner has been in the role for 14 years now and the conference is arguably in a worse position than when he started. That is a lot of wasted years for the conference in what have has shaped up to be a very opportunistic market.

(08-05-2023 09:09 PM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 08:24 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  Both Dog Fan and HuskieTap22 hit it straight on.

I opined on this somewhere else, but repeat here: any NIU success is going to come from the coaches and student-athletes on the field, court, etc. There are no big resources coming; if it ever happens, that alleged big fundraiser of $500 million or so will net athletics very little. BofT reports detailed tens of millions in deferred maintenance, that almost 60% of all facilities are over 50 years old, and that NIU's share of any new facilities (HIT, Community Sustainability, etc.) will need new $ resources.

Frazier's big deal was the 2014-15 master plan, which has fizzled to irrelevance. NIU got re-purposed (Fieldhouse) and small improvements (nutrition center, new Nelson Club, rebuilt baseball field, and even that in pieces). All that building along I-88 is mostly warehouses and data centers. Etc, etc, etc.

Well, NIU internalized, cut off the bread-and-butter fanbase (the fan advisory board is a feel-good shadow of what it once was), joined the MAC's institutionalized but stable lethargy, and faces a new world of CFB basically in make-do mode.

I don't know where to look to see a light ... except hope our teams win enough to regain some ground. For me, it's watch the games/meets/matches and just enjoy what our teams can do. When I say "Go Huskies" I mean them, not the rest of the pile of () around them just protecting their jobs.

Justanote: In an odd way, the MAC and NIU are like the crumbling PAC ... poor management, bad or no decisions, and p--s--g away what they had. Now it's too late.

It all comes back to having strong leadership at the top. The Sun Belt and BIG 12 are good examples as both were in really bad spots after schools left and both went on the offensive under new leadership and are thriving now. CUSA and the PAC are at the other end of the spectrum. The MAC has literally done nothing to advance its position and secure its place. The MAC commissioner has been in the role for 14 years now and the conference is arguably in a worse position than when he started. That is a lot of wasted years for the conference in what have has shaped up to be a very opportunistic market.

As I’ve often heard, if you are standing still you’re actually moving backwards. MAC needs forward thinking but has remained status quo. This conference realignment has been in the works for many years and it always came down to the tv deals in ‘24-‘25. The only shocker is that the PAC 12 is the conference that crumbled and not the Big12. Many cursed STF for suggesting a G5 tourney but look at things now. Perhaps a team will get into the playoff but what of everyone else.

One positive of the new realignment is that many of the teams swapping conferences and members of the Big12 and Big 10 will now have open nonconference dates. Teams that are now in the same conference weee slated to play in nonconference scheduled. Perhaps an opportunity for us to pick up some $$$ games.

(08-05-2023 05:24 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 04:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  We still have a dump of a stadium that we have not renovated or invested any money in. This is what happens when you sit around blaming other people for lack of fundraising. You get left behind because you're less attractive. SDSU (brand new stadium), Boise State, and some others G5s have positioned themselves better to move up.

I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

(08-05-2023 11:22 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 05:24 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 04:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  We still have a dump of a stadium that we have not renovated or invested any money in. This is what happens when you sit around blaming other people for lack of fundraising. You get left behind because you're less attractive. SDSU (brand new stadium), Boise State, and some others G5s have positioned themselves better to move up.

I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

Only a little off. Been a consistently good program since 2010 and it was a solid $310 million stadium.

With that being said, how in the heck are we gonna get $310 million?

(08-05-2023 11:32 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 11:22 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 05:24 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 04:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  We still have a dump of a stadium that we have not renovated or invested any money in. This is what happens when you sit around blaming other people for lack of fundraising. You get left behind because you're less attractive. SDSU (brand new stadium), Boise State, and some others G5s have positioned themselves better to move up.

I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

Only a little off. Been a consistently good program since 2010 and it was a solid $310 million stadium.

With that being said, how in the heck are we gonna get $310 million?

We don't need $300 million. We need $20 million to at least get started in building a new press box, club suites, etc.

(08-05-2023 11:22 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 05:24 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 04:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  We still have a dump of a stadium that we have not renovated or invested any money in. This is what happens when you sit around blaming other people for lack of fundraising. You get left behind because you're less attractive. SDSU (brand new stadium), Boise State, and some others G5s have positioned themselves better to move up.

I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

Are we really comparing Boise St and San Diego St to NIU? A city of 250 k with no pro sports for 100s of miles and a metropolitan area of over 1 million where they are “the school?”

I just like how in less than a decade there has went from hate of P5 , to a pipe dream that NIU was going to get, at least deserved a shot at B12 expansion ( of course NIU was above CUSA/AAC spin-offs pat the time) to once again loathing any P 5 (3,5) as they destroyed college sports.

(08-06-2023 04:28 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 11:22 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 05:24 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 04:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  We still have a dump of a stadium that we have not renovated or invested any money in. This is what happens when you sit around blaming other people for lack of fundraising. You get left behind because you're less attractive. SDSU (brand new stadium), Boise State, and some others G5s have positioned themselves better to move up.

I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

Are we really comparing Boise St and San Diego St to NIU? A city of 250 k with no pro sports for 100s of miles and a metropolitan area of over 1 million where they are “the school?”

What does fundraising have to do with size of cities? All I'm saying is NIU has had a ton of success and we did nothing with it to make ourselves more attractive for conference realignment. Someone earlier said we just need to win the next two years. But we did that for nearly two decades straight and no one wanted us for conference realignment. We need to show we invest in our program and care about it.

(08-06-2023 07:19 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 04:28 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 11:22 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 05:24 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 04:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  We still have a dump of a stadium that we have not renovated or invested any money in. This is what happens when you sit around blaming other people for lack of fundraising. You get left behind because you're less attractive. SDSU (brand new stadium), Boise State, and some others G5s have positioned themselves better to move up.

I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

Are we really comparing Boise St and San Diego St to NIU? A city of 250 k with no pro sports for 100s of miles and a metropolitan area of over 1 million where they are “the school?”

What does fundraising have to do with size of cities? All I'm saying is NIU has had a ton of success and we did nothing with it to make ourselves more attractive for conference realignment. Someone earlier said we just need to win the next two years. But we did that for nearly two decades straight and no one wanted us for conference realignment. We need to show we invest in our program and care about it.

I don’t know. Disposable income and what you spend it on? Corporate donations , where this is an attractive option? Alumni remaining in the vicinity where their school is a part of the community and talked about regularly in local media?

The only hope NIU had was to go to BCS for about three straight, 3/4 years and an AAC invite. Good grief, the 35, 000 sear stadium, the 100 million were never there. There was no interest when they fell short the year after the Orange Bowl. I sill think more could have been done but the reality is there was no stadium, was no new conference, was never coming. If the pitch was give us a million we are joining the B12, well, people aren’t that stupid. This board lived in a dream world just as they do in regards to NIU education, the campus itself and alumni interest in NIU sports.

(08-06-2023 08:26 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 07:19 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 04:28 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 11:22 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 05:24 PM)Big Red Wrote:  I'm not sure how comparing NIU with San Diego State and Boise State makes any sense.

Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

Are we really comparing Boise St and San Diego St to NIU? A city of 250 k with no pro sports for 100s of miles and a metropolitan area of over 1 million where they are “the school?”

What does fundraising have to do with size of cities? All I'm saying is NIU has had a ton of success and we did nothing with it to make ourselves more attractive for conference realignment. Someone earlier said we just need to win the next two years. But we did that for nearly two decades straight and no one wanted us for conference realignment. We need to show we invest in our program and care about it.

I don’t know. Disposable income and what you spend it on? Corporate donations , where this is an attractive option? Alumni remaining in the vicinity where their school is a part of the community and talked about regularly in local media?

CMU is in Mount Pleasant, which has half the population of DeKalb. They just opened a $30 million football complex. Our athletic department just refuses to publicly fundraise. They rather just rely on the week of Huskies Invest.

(08-06-2023 08:52 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 08:26 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 07:19 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 04:28 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 11:22 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  Those two capitalized off their success, especially San Diego St which wasn't even good until about 7 years ago. They had a little success and built a $200 million stadium. We were far more successful and did nothing to our facilities to make ourselves more attractive to other conferences.

Are we really comparing Boise St and San Diego St to NIU? A city of 250 k with no pro sports for 100s of miles and a metropolitan area of over 1 million where they are “the school?”

What does fundraising have to do with size of cities? All I'm saying is NIU has had a ton of success and we did nothing with it to make ourselves more attractive for conference realignment. Someone earlier said we just need to win the next two years. But we did that for nearly two decades straight and no one wanted us for conference realignment. We need to show we invest in our program and care about it.

I don’t know. Disposable income and what you spend it on? Corporate donations , where this is an attractive option? Alumni remaining in the vicinity where their school is a part of the community and talked about regularly in local media?

CMU is in Mount Pleasant, which has half the population of DeKalb. They just opened a $30 million football complex. Our athletic department just refuses to publicly fundraise. They rather just rely on the week of Huskies Invest.

Isn't that complex really similar to what we already have? And then when STF wanted to raise funds to put suites and party viewing areas on it for gameday, everyone b!tched that he was once again only doing something that benefited the mega-donors.

(08-06-2023 01:34 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 08:52 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 08:26 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 07:19 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 04:28 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  Are we really comparing Boise St and San Diego St to NIU? A city of 250 k with no pro sports for 100s of miles and a metropolitan area of over 1 million where they are “the school?”

What does fundraising have to do with size of cities? All I'm saying is NIU has had a ton of success and we did nothing with it to make ourselves more attractive for conference realignment. Someone earlier said we just need to win the next two years. But we did that for nearly two decades straight and no one wanted us for conference realignment. We need to show we invest in our program and care about it.

I don’t know. Disposable income and what you spend it on? Corporate donations , where this is an attractive option? Alumni remaining in the vicinity where their school is a part of the community and talked about regularly in local media?

CMU is in Mount Pleasant, which has half the population of DeKalb. They just opened a $30 million football complex. Our athletic department just refuses to publicly fundraise. They rather just rely on the week of Huskies Invest.

Isn't that complex really similar to what we already have? And then when STF wanted to raise funds to put suites and party viewing areas on it for gameday, everyone b!tched that he was once again only doing something that benefited the mega-donors.

I'm guessing it's better than what we have. The IPF and Yordon Center weren't even $30 million combined.

One of the reasons STF hasn't been able to get selected for another job is he has been here a decade and has zero major capital improvement projects to his name.

Edit: Some of the differences between the Yordon Center and CMU Champions Center include 4,000 sq ft VIP area, 16 loge boxes, and a 32' x 100' HD video board.

https://twitter.com/CMUAthletics/status/...11872?s=20

(08-05-2023 10:33 PM)Dtownboys Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 09:09 PM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 08:24 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  Both Dog Fan and HuskieTap22 hit it straight on.

I opined on this somewhere else, but repeat here: any NIU success is going to come from the coaches and student-athletes on the field, court, etc. There are no big resources coming; if it ever happens, that alleged big fundraiser of $500 million or so will net athletics very little. BofT reports detailed tens of millions in deferred maintenance, that almost 60% of all facilities are over 50 years old, and that NIU's share of any new facilities (HIT, Community Sustainability, etc.) will need new $ resources.

Frazier's big deal was the 2014-15 master plan, which has fizzled to irrelevance. NIU got re-purposed (Fieldhouse) and small improvements (nutrition center, new Nelson Club, rebuilt baseball field, and even that in pieces). All that building along I-88 is mostly warehouses and data centers. Etc, etc, etc.

Well, NIU internalized, cut off the bread-and-butter fanbase (the fan advisory board is a feel-good shadow of what it once was), joined the MAC's institutionalized but stable lethargy, and faces a new world of CFB basically in make-do mode.

I don't know where to look to see a light ... except hope our teams win enough to regain some ground. For me, it's watch the games/meets/matches and just enjoy what our teams can do. When I say "Go Huskies" I mean them, not the rest of the pile of () around them just protecting their jobs.

Justanote: In an odd way, the MAC and NIU are like the crumbling PAC ... poor management, bad or no decisions, and p--s--g away what they had. Now it's too late.

It all comes back to having strong leadership at the top. The Sun Belt and BIG 12 are good examples as both were in really bad spots after schools left and both went on the offensive under new leadership and are thriving now. CUSA and the PAC are at the other end of the spectrum. The MAC has literally done nothing to advance its position and secure its place. The MAC commissioner has been in the role for 14 years now and the conference is arguably in a worse position than when he started. That is a lot of wasted years for the conference in what have has shaped up to be a very opportunistic market.

As I’ve often heard, if you are standing still you’re actually moving backwards. MAC needs forward thinking but has remained status quo. This conference realignment has been in the works for many years and it always came down to the tv deals in ‘24-‘25. The only shocker is that the PAC 12 is the conference that crumbled and not the Big12. Many cursed STF for suggesting a G5 tourney but look at things now. Perhaps a team will get into the playoff but what of everyone else.

One positive of the new realignment is that many of the teams swapping conferences and members of the Big12 and Big 10 will now have open nonconference dates. Teams that are now in the same conference weee slated to play in nonconference scheduled. Perhaps an opportunity for us to pick up some $$$ games.

I think you need to be a bit careful there. OOC opportunities are going to
dry up as the new P5,4,3 whatever will have to provide more conference games to appease their media partners. You also have need for old conference games that will be in a fight with the left behinds that will eat up OOC games as well. Not going to be a bright picture for the NIU types going forward. Enjoy the next few years. This will evolve to where we are even more irrelevant that before. And that is pretty low.

(08-06-2023 03:20 PM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 10:33 PM)Dtownboys Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 09:09 PM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 08:24 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  Both Dog Fan and HuskieTap22 hit it straight on.

I opined on this somewhere else, but repeat here: any NIU success is going to come from the coaches and student-athletes on the field, court, etc. There are no big resources coming; if it ever happens, that alleged big fundraiser of $500 million or so will net athletics very little. BofT reports detailed tens of millions in deferred maintenance, that almost 60% of all facilities are over 50 years old, and that NIU's share of any new facilities (HIT, Community Sustainability, etc.) will need new $ resources.

Frazier's big deal was the 2014-15 master plan, which has fizzled to irrelevance. NIU got re-purposed (Fieldhouse) and small improvements (nutrition center, new Nelson Club, rebuilt baseball field, and even that in pieces). All that building along I-88 is mostly warehouses and data centers. Etc, etc, etc.

Well, NIU internalized, cut off the bread-and-butter fanbase (the fan advisory board is a feel-good shadow of what it once was), joined the MAC's institutionalized but stable lethargy, and faces a new world of CFB basically in make-do mode.

I don't know where to look to see a light ... except hope our teams win enough to regain some ground. For me, it's watch the games/meets/matches and just enjoy what our teams can do. When I say "Go Huskies" I mean them, not the rest of the pile of () around them just protecting their jobs.

Justanote: In an odd way, the MAC and NIU are like the crumbling PAC ... poor management, bad or no decisions, and p--s--g away what they had. Now it's too late.

It all comes back to having strong leadership at the top. The Sun Belt and BIG 12 are good examples as both were in really bad spots after schools left and both went on the offensive under new leadership and are thriving now. CUSA and the PAC are at the other end of the spectrum. The MAC has literally done nothing to advance its position and secure its place. The MAC commissioner has been in the role for 14 years now and the conference is arguably in a worse position than when he started. That is a lot of wasted years for the conference in what have has shaped up to be a very opportunistic market.

As I’ve often heard, if you are standing still you’re actually moving backwards. MAC needs forward thinking but has remained status quo. This conference realignment has been in the works for many years and it always came down to the tv deals in ‘24-‘25. The only shocker is that the PAC 12 is the conference that crumbled and not the Big12. Many cursed STF for suggesting a G5 tourney but look at things now. Perhaps a team will get into the playoff but what of everyone else.

One positive of the new realignment is that many of the teams swapping conferences and members of the Big12 and Big 10 will now have open nonconference dates. Teams that are now in the same conference weee slated to play in nonconference scheduled. Perhaps an opportunity for us to pick up some $$$ games.

I think you need to be a bit careful there. OOC opportunities are going to
dry up as the new P5,4,3 whatever will have to provide more conference games to appease their media partners. You also have need for old conference games that will be in a fight with the left behinds that will eat up OOC games as well. Not going to be a bright picture for the NIU types going forward. Enjoy the next few years. This will evolve to where we are even more irrelevant that before. And that is pretty low.

I fully expect the B1G to go to a ten game conference schedule, thus reducing their OOC opportunities significantly.

(08-06-2023 02:37 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 01:34 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 08:52 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 08:26 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 07:19 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  What does fundraising have to do with size of cities? All I'm saying is NIU has had a ton of success and we did nothing with it to make ourselves more attractive for conference realignment. Someone earlier said we just need to win the next two years. But we did that for nearly two decades straight and no one wanted us for conference realignment. We need to show we invest in our program and care about it.

I don’t know. Disposable income and what you spend it on? Corporate donations , where this is an attractive option? Alumni remaining in the vicinity where their school is a part of the community and talked about regularly in local media?

CMU is in Mount Pleasant, which has half the population of DeKalb. They just opened a $30 million football complex. Our athletic department just refuses to publicly fundraise. They rather just rely on the week of Huskies Invest.

Isn't that complex really similar to what we already have? And then when STF wanted to raise funds to put suites and party viewing areas on it for gameday, everyone b!tched that he was once again only doing something that benefited the mega-donors.

I'm guessing it's better than what we have. The IPF and Yordon Center weren't even $30 million combined.

One of the reasons STF hasn't been able to get selected for another job is he has been here a decade and has zero major capital improvement projects to his name.

Edit: Some of the differences between the Yordon Center and CMU Champions Center include 4,000 sq ft VIP area, 16 loge boxes, and a 32' x 100' HD video board.

https://twitter.com/CMUAthletics/status/...11872?s=20

1) of course its nicer and 2) of course it cost more as the Yordon Center was built 15 years ago.

But the have made upgrades to the Yordon/IPF and, like I said earlier, they announced a fundraising effort to do upgrades like the CMU CC to add gameday amenities (viewing areas/boxes/etc) and they were criticized for it.

(08-06-2023 05:46 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 02:37 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  I'm guessing it's better than what we have. The IPF and Yordon Center weren't even $30 million combined.

One of the reasons STF hasn't been able to get selected for another job is he has been here a decade and has zero major capital improvement projects to his name.

Edit: Some of the differences between the Yordon Center and CMU Champions Center include 4,000 sq ft VIP area, 16 loge boxes, and a 32' x 100' HD video board.

https://twitter.com/CMUAthletics/status/...11872?s=20

1) of course its nicer and 2) of course it cost more as the Yordon Center was built 15 years ago.

But the have made upgrades to the Yordon/IPF and, like I said earlier, they announced a fundraising effort to do upgrades like the CMU CC to add gameday amenities (viewing areas/boxes/etc) and they were criticized for it.

I'm not entirely sure what your point is here. Do you think STF hasn't fundraised and successfully completed a major facility project because he was criticized on this board?

I have no issue with premium seating areas but that’s not the only enhancements needed for our stadium. The entire west grandstands are 60 years old and need major renovations.