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Article published Saturday, May 14, 2005
Temple to join MAC in football
To play some members in basketball
By JOHN HARRIS
BLADE SPORTS COLUMNIST
Temple University will join the Mid-American Conference as a
full-time member in football, and the Owls are expected to play MAC teams in men's and women's basketball, conference officials confirmed yesterday.
A formal announcement of the five-year agreement between Temple and the MAC beginning with the 2005-06 season will come at a press conference next week.
The addition of Temple will increase the number of MAC teams to 13. Marshall and Central Florida left the MAC for Conference USA.
With the conference landscape becoming increasingly unpredictable and uncertain as schools switch conferences on a regular basis, MAC officials aggressively pursued Temple, one of only four remaining independents in Division I-A.
Temple, no longer affiliated with the Big East Conference, has faced MAC opponents regularly in football in recent years.
The Owls will play a total of four football games against MAC opponents next season, including Toledo and Bowling Green, but those contests won't count as conference games.
In 2006, Temple will play six games against MAC opponents.
Temple, which shares its home stadium with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, annually has produced one of the weaker Division I football programs in the country.
The prevailing opinion among MAC members is that Temple, despite its lack of football success, will enhance the MAC's reputation nationally because it is located in a major media market - the largest market among MAC schools.
Although Temple will retain its basketball affiliation with the Atlantic 10, the Owls' men's and women's teams have agreed to play MAC opponents, conference officials said.
The opportunity to face Temple several times a year could help the MAC send more basketball teams to the NCAA tournament, the result of the conference building a higher overall RPI rating by playing the Owls.
Temple's men's basketball program is led by Hall of Fame coach John Chaney. The women are coached by U.S. Olympian Dawn Staley, who coaches her alma mater while also playing in the WNBA.
So Temple will play just 6 conference games in 2006, but they will count. So if they go 6-0 (yeah, I know), and someone else goes 7-1 then the 7-1 team would win the division title despite losing a game?
I like that they have to play men's and women's basketball games against MAC schools. Their women's team was ranked this past season, I think somewhere around 15th in the country. Hopefully it will lead to an all-sports arrangement in a few years.
As a Temple fan, I am dissapointed in the announcement. A three year transition to all sports would have worked well for all concerned. This leaves Temple in the position of "associate member" of a conference again. Temple needs to commit to something. Playing poker at two different tables at the same time is a sure loser. From what little I know of the MAC, it seems to be a conference respectful to all its members (something new for Temple football). Full membership would be beneficial to Temple, IMHO.
i can't wait for the official announcement on Tuesday. There is a press conference scheduled at Temple.
The agreement with Temple is good only if two conditions are contained in the contract
1) If they become good in the future, they are prevented from leaving the conference (most likely through an un-godly buy out).
2) If they continue their losing ways, the MAC must have the abiliity to expel them.
Without those two conditions, this whole thing stinks. Looking into the future, there is a high probability that there will be more conference reshuffling. If Temple is good, they will be a top candidate for a conference and the MAC will have been used for the last few years. On the other hand, if Temple stil sucks, they add no value and need to either bring basketball or get out.
Damn, I hope that Harris is true to form and has the details wrong. Otherwise, that deal blows.
rocketfootball Wrote:So Temple will play just 6 conference games in 2006, but they will count. So if they go 6-0 (yeah, I know), and someone else goes 7-1 then the 7-1 team would win the division title despite losing a game?
Bet the decision is made to seed for the MACC based on winning percentage, therefore Temple goes.
Oddball Wrote:Damn, I hope that Harris is true to form and has the details wrong. Otherwise, that deal blows.
:withstupid: not putting too much stock in anything Harris said. I'm surprised that he doesn't refer to us as the Midwest Conference.
I'll repeat what I have been posting all along:
I'm guessing FB is a "scheduling alliance" (ala what C-USA is trying to do with Navy where the games wouldn't be conference games but if Navy did very well they could get one of C-USA's bowl bids).
This could be a short-term, say until '08 and WKU (my guess) comes aboard.
The advantages:
1). Temple and the MAC get OOC games vs. each other. Temple could be an independent but schedule heavily with their new conference. MAC always needs I-A OOC games.
2). Temple would be technically eligible for any MAC bowl bid other than one reserved for the MACC game winner.
3). MAC gets bball games with Temple in a, guess what, "scheduling alliance."
My only reservation is '08.
I assume '08 is when WKU will be ready to hit the ground running for I-A FB.
Wish it could happen for '07 but WKU has to virtually redo their FB stadium.
Just my opinion...
emu steve Wrote:I'll repeat what I have been posting all along:
I'm guessing FB is a "scheduling alliance" (ala what C-USA is trying to do with Navy where the games wouldn't be conference games but if Navy did very well they could get one of C-USA's bowl bids).
This could be a short-term, say until '08 and WKU (my guess) comes aboard.
The advantages:
1). Temple and the MAC get OOC games vs. each other. Temple could be an independent but schedule heavily with their new conference. MAC always needs I-A OOC games.
2). Temple would be technically eligible for any MAC bowl bid other than one reserved for the MACC game winner.
3). MAC gets bball games with Temple in a, guess what, "scheduling alliance."
My only reservation is '08.
I assume '08 is when WKU will be ready to hit the ground running for I-A FB.
Wish it could happen for '07 but WKU has to virtually redo their FB stadium.
Just my opinion...
so basically they don't have to pay in but they can get a payout from us?
I see this with words like "bridge", "transitional", etc.
My guess is that this has been VERY carefully thought out by Chryst and the schools.
I think WKU needs time to get ramped up to 85 scholarships (they are at 65 or less now - I-AA limit). And of course their stadium.
WKU may well enter into guess what, "a scheduling alliance" with the MAC to transition to I-A FB say with say 2 games in '06 and '07.
I wouldn't be suprised to see WKU become an I-A independent in say '07 and MAC member in '08.
The MAC doesn't want to bring WKU in BEFORE they are fully ready. NO one wants another bad FB program in the conference.
emu steve Wrote:NO one wants another bad FB program in the conference.
evidentally they do....if the market's big enough(see Temple)
emu steve Wrote:I'll repeat what I have been posting all along:
I'm guessing FB is a "scheduling alliance" (ala what C-USA is trying to do with Navy where the games wouldn't be conference games but if Navy did very well they could get one of C-USA's bowl bids).
This could be a short-term, say until '08 and WKU (my guess) comes aboard.
The advantages:
1). Temple and the MAC get OOC games vs. each other. Temple could be an independent but schedule heavily with their new conference. MAC always needs I-A OOC games.
2). Temple would be technically eligible for any MAC bowl bid other than one reserved for the MACC game winner.
3). MAC gets bball games with Temple in a, guess what, "scheduling alliance."
My only reservation is '08.
I assume '08 is when WKU will be ready to hit the ground running for I-A FB.
Wish it could happen for '07 but WKU has to virtually redo their FB stadium.
Just my opinion...
I'm not going to get too hung up on the details of that Blade article.
I'm sure they were pulling teeth trying to put it together.
I'm a little disapopinted they would play just six games in '06 -- but I assume there is a reason, maybe contracts they are having a tough time getting out of, perhaps for financial reasons.
I tend to think they will be a full affiliate member in football playing a full league schedule, perhaps by '07.
That's my guess -- assuming The Blade got it right.
SF:
I think they'll play 6 games in '06 because 8 games would be a full conference schedule and I don't see them being a "full conference member" in '06.
Agree about not treating the Blade article as Gospel.
I assume they got a few facts and wrote a story.
Heck, there might be a thick, detailed MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the MAC and Temple and WKU that the Blade isn't privy.
We just need for the details to come out, presumably next week.
This would be tricky because I assume it is 2 schools not just Temple.
Oddball Wrote:Damn, I hope that Harris is true to form and has the details wrong. Otherwise, that deal blows.
Oddsniglet
The deal blows if no progress toward complete affiliation is made. The deal as it stands needs tweaked but I think will be good for all concerned.
I know that as a fan it ALWAYS caught my eye whenever a MAC team played TU and espeacially if they did it at home. Nationally Joe blow average football fan will most likely have heard of Temple ( for whatever reason) and that is a good thing.
I do think the UCF move was a VERY beneficial move in terms of exposure ( not so much nationally but regionally). We now have a window of oppertunity to recruit the south with a tad more respect. The Philly area/ East Coast is loaded with talent so having inroads there is IMO excellent.
I think the TU faithful will look at this move as a step down ( Before you shoot me down-we all know that opinion would be completely unjustified ) and I would be VERY concerned about their attendance issues ( easy Devil ) ...if they can't draw over 20,000 for Miami,BC,WVU etc. I sure as hell doubt they can do that against Ball State, Ohio, Kent etc. There are many perception issues the East-Coasties will bring even if their program blows.
All in all it is a work in progress and I look forward to them joining and hopefully competing ( it really would be excellent if they could grow their program with our help)...lets just hope their football team can do better than UCF and that eventually they join in total.
Also the WKU thing seems a good deal as well if we can swing it. Great hoops and a strong commitment to upgrade FB/facilities
Some of the details of this deal being reported by Harris are troubling, if true. I honestly don't believe an "associate" membership is good for the MAC at this point. But the problem in reporting on this whole expansion issue has been that nobody is willing to allow their name to be attached to an official statement. Sure, you can get a couple of folks from the MAC office to give you a wink and a nod, but it rarely goes beyond that.
Meanwhile, the Temple athletic department seems to have developed a bunker mentality over this whole issue and have given new meaning to the term stonewalling.
I will admit that I would have loved to have gotten the scoop on this and gotten the story out but without people willing to go on the record, I haven't wanted to attach my name to any kind of report on this that I didn't have a solid factual foundation to base it upon.
So, I think at this point it is best to just let the schools and/or league make the announcement and then analyze it once we actually know the facts...which seem to change from report to report.
Nasty Wrote:Nationally Joe blow average football fan will most likely have heard of Temple ( for whatever reason) and that is a good thing.
You can say that about Slippery Rock as well, but I don't want the MAC to expand to include that school either.
Nasty Wrote:( it really would be excellent if they could grow their program with our help)...
[sarcasm]The MAC has certainly done a wonderful job of helping grow the football programs of our perennial bottom feeders.[/sarcasm]
Schadenfreude Wrote:I'm a little disapopinted they would play just six games in '06 -- but I assume there is a reason, maybe contracts they are having a tough time getting out of, perhaps for financial reasons.
.
I'm a little upset about that too. Especially since Temple just announced a 2 for 1 deal with Penn State that starts in 2006. If they had too many OOC games to begin with then why add another?
rocketfootball Wrote:Schadenfreude Wrote:I'm a little disapopinted they would play just six games in '06 -- but I assume there is a reason, maybe contracts they are having a tough time getting out of, perhaps for financial reasons.
.
I'm a little upset about that too. Especially since Temple just announced a 2 for 1 deal with Penn State that starts in 2006. If they had too many OOC games to begin with then why add another?
Actually, I'd just rather have Temple as an associate member to help scheduling in both football and basketball period and officially keep the MAC at 12 members.
I can't help but be disappointed. I have been opposed to Temple joining the MAC from the very beginning. It has nothing to do with the university or the quality of their football program. I just did not want to see us expand further to the East. And I won't bore all of you with my reasons for feeling that way. My second thought has been that if we did take Temple it had to be an all sports deal, otherwise it would be a bad deal for the MAC. If the Blade is correct, I lost on both counts. Having Temple schedule a few MAC teams in basketball each year doesn't count in my book. I still don't understand why we pushed so hard for this deal, media market aside, and can't believe the Temple fans like it either.
There have been tons of rumors flying around about a possible Temple deal over the past few months. Now there is just too much smoke around this one for there not to be some fire involved. I am assuming the Blade is correct and Temple is going to be a football member. We just have to deal with it.
Dealing with it I guess means putting any negative thoughts aside and welcoming our new football member in a positive way. With that in mind I will say - welcome Temple fans, hope to hear from many of you on this board and I look forward to seeing Temple University up in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan some time in the future. I am sure you will get a warm welcome from the Central Michigan community. That's just the way it is in the MAC.