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Rumor has it that Miami will play Marshall and Bowling Green in Oxford on consecutive Wednesday nights on ESPN. The MAC is committed to making a "push for Ben."

Stay tuned... official announcement as soon as some other scheduling stuff works itself out.



<!--EDIT|Dodo|Feb 10 2003, 02:04 PM-->

FINALLY! I'd LOVE to see the Falcons on ESPN.

That would be GREAT!

Dodo Wrote:Rumor has it that Miami will play Marshall and Bowling Green in Oxford on consecutive Wednesday nights on ESPN. The MAC is committed to making a "push for Ben."

Stay tuned... official announcement as soon as some other scheduling stuff works itself out.

A "push for Ben"? Is this what we've come to?? The MAC picks it's Heisman candidate and commits to getting that kid on TV? How about Michael Turner, the MAC's all-time single season rushing leader? Where does it say that the MAC can't be sold on its virtue as a league and rather has to pick and choose a couple teams/players worthy of getting ESPN airtime?? :mad:

Quarterbacks are sexier than running backs.

I don't have a problem with the MAC pushing Big Ben, but I'd had to see it derail the chances of Turner or Josh Harris getting serious consideration as MAC player of the year.

Your frustration is legit.

Of course, you guys were on national TV last year, too (or at least I got to watch you guys beat Wake here in Atlanta). I'd expect to see you guys again next year. And I'd expect Turner to get the kind of attention that Chester Taylor got.

Like it or not Ben is the most marketable name in the MAC this year. The conference didn't decide to choose Ben, they are simply trying to capitalize on its' most recognizable player for the coming season. I don't have a problem with that at all. I say the MAC has to both market its' best teams and its' best players in an effort to garner as much media attention as possible.

Oh, I agree about needing to market the MAC in the best ways possible. I'd like to think that is as much about the quality of football we play as it is one or two recognizable players. Lefty was so much in the national focus last year that we couldn't get past the need to hitch to his publicity wagon. But 2003 will include several potential stars - Turner, Ben, Harris, Cribbs, Schneider - none of which appear to be a step above the others. It'd be nice to see our TV games mirror our quality teams and not JUST a player or two.

FWIW - NIU paid to get the Wake game on TV. You say we should be happy that we were on national TV. I say we paid for that privilege....ourselves.....not the MAC. It was probably more luck that several Fox Sports networks carried it.

Side note - outside of the very exciting MAC title game and the Miami/MU game, the Miami/NIU game would have been a GREAT game for the nation to see as an exciting MAC FB game. Reminded me of a WAC game that day, and people love that stuff......

HuskieDan Wrote:Oh, I agree about needing to market the MAC in the best ways possible. I'd like to think that is as much about the quality of football we play as it is one or two recognizable players. Lefty was so much in the national focus last year that we couldn't get past the need to hitch to his publicity wagon. But 2003 will include several potential stars - Turner, Ben, Harris, Cribbs, Schneider - none of which appear to be a step above the others. It'd be nice to see our TV games mirror our quality teams and not JUST a player or two.

FWIW - NIU paid to get the Wake game on TV. You say we should be happy that we were on national TV. I say we paid for that privilege....ourselves.....not the MAC. It was probably more luck that several Fox Sports networks carried it.

Side note - outside of the very exciting MAC title game and the Miami/MU game, the Miami/NIU game would have been a GREAT game for the nation to see as an exciting MAC FB game. Reminded me of a WAC game that day, and people love that stuff......

The dividing up the MAC TV package is designed partially as a showcase for the talent in the league and partially as a way to maximize the exposure as the league overall. NIU doesn't appear much on ESPN but shows up on Fox Sports quite a bit. OU has its own TV network that produces four games a year, so they aren't as needy as Miami. The product on the field obvioulsy is a factor too with UCF, Miami, Marshall, Toledo, WMU being the showcase teams over the last few years.

If the MAC didn't have so many dead weight schools in it, promotion could be more focused on schools like CMU who don't have enough coverage.

KC

Quote:I'd like to think that is as much about the quality of football we play as it is one or two recognizable players.

Dissenting voice.
What quality of football? Poor defenses and not a single win over a ranked team (and you can't count Akron's win over the Herd!) plus a split in bowl games with suspect opps?
Was there even another conference in the country that had NO wins against ranked teams?
I think we imagine we are better than we are in the pecking order of div. I.
Same is true in hoops.
Not a single win against a team in this week's top 25.
Nothing has happened in either sport this season that would indicate we warrent better national coverage.
Focus still needs to be improving the quality of play first.

One year does not a conference make. We have had plenty of wins against Top 25 teams. I could give you a list of some if you want. I just don't have it at my disposal right now.

In spirit, however, I agree. However, I think you see the MWC, C-USA and the WAC on TV more, and they are certainly no better than the top 10 or so in the MAC. We are, what, 8-1 against C-USA the last two years (again, I can't remember exactly, but we have dominated them). If it were about quality of play, we'd have 5 bowl tie-ins like C-USA and be on TV every week.

Or more justly, C-USA would have 1 bowl tie-in and there would be 4-5 fewer bowls altogehter and the quality of football on TV would improve markedly!
:angel:

I see no need to apologize for being an offensive league (this past year) with only two "hang your hat on it" wins last year. CUSA and the WAC have not seen the need to apologize for the ugly they've played from time to time, and they continue to get games on TV.

Don't expect any conference to apologize for their rotten play, but they should...

I saw no "quality" wins last year for the MAC OOC. I could be mistaken, but which ranked team did anyone beat?
Beating lesser BCS teams is not that big a deal--our having a few does not distinguish us from the pack.
Sure, the MAC is better than C-USA in FB and has proven it. That's damning with faint praise, as the saying goes.
:D
I do heartily agree that there should a lot less of C-USA football on TV!
And I'd love to see more MAC football on TV, but I don't see a good argument for it actually happening. The market just won't bear it and the MAC can't afford to provide it.

Dodo Wrote:One year does not a conference make. We have had plenty of wins against Top 25 teams. I could give you a list of some if you want. I just don't have it at my disposal right now.

You gotta be careful here Axeme or else Dodo and the Cherry Kool-Aid brigade will bring out their Roman Army victories of the 70s to prove how important they are. **ducking**

[quote="OVERHERD"][quote="Dodo"]One year does not a conference make.

Quote:Anyways, when was the last time your team beat a highly ranked opponent?

We have to settle for whipping the Redskinnyhawks every year.

Better yet...when was the last time YOU beat US??????

We own you!

Miami beat ranked teams in 1998, 1997, and 1995. This year, we lost to Iowa, but had two TDs called back.

UCF almost beat Penn State this year.

I'm not sure who else was "ranked" when MAC schools beat them, but in the last 10 years I can count current MAC schools beating: Clemson, Louisville 2X, Northwestern 2X(year they won the Big 10), Virginia Tech, UNC 2X, Missouri, Penn State, Minnesota 2X, Vanderbilt 2X, Iowa, Temple 3X, Purdue, Maryland, and South Carolina -- just off the top of my head. I know there are some other good wins against non-BCS opponents (Boise State and BYU come to mind).

Herd Fan 4-Life Wrote:We own you!

I would hardly consider you "owning" us.

Series record:

MIAMI leads 29 wins, 9 losses, and 1 tie.

In the last 7 years BG has beaten Mizzou 3 times. The Orange and Brown have thrashed Temple so many times we've lost count.