CSNbbs

That's what I gather from this article in the WKU student paper:

http://media.www.wkuherald.com/media/pap...lisher.com

interesting article.

it mentioned that because the MAC (in a total bone-head move) added Temple that WKU is left out. why can't we have both schools join? or better yet, why can't we backtrack on our Temple offer and boot them out just like the Big East did!

let's weigh this...

adding Temple as a football only school...Temple...the team that just lost back-to-back 62-0 games...

or adding WKU as an all-sports school...WKU that has been a I-AA power and that has been highly competitive in NCAA D-I basketball.

yeah, i can see why we added Temple!

How about we forget about WKU since they don't want to join. How about we take another look at SIU? Oh, wait, all you Ohio guys want Youngstown State to join.

RobertN Wrote:How about we forget about WKU since they don't want to join. How about we take another look at SIU?

They don't want to join either.

Right?

I'd rather add a school out east. More TV sets out there than in Carbondale, Ill.

RobertN Wrote:How about we forget about WKU since they don't want to join. How about we take another look at SIU? Oh, wait, all you Ohio guys want Youngstown State to join.

Or Illinois State since they play hoops in brand new Redbird Arena and lost their road opener at Kansas St by 1 pt.

Schadenfreude Wrote:

RobertN Wrote:How about we forget about WKU since they don't want to join. How about we take another look at SIU?

They don't want to join either.

Right?

I'd rather add a school out east. More TV sets out there than in Carbondale, Ill.

SIU is the closest D1 football program to St.Louis and there are in excess of 500K in the 2 Illinois counties east of St. Louis. With their win yesterday over Indiana (who beat 2 MAC programs), joining a D1A football conference would likely boost interest in their football program.

Schadenfreude Wrote:

RobertN Wrote:How about we forget about WKU since they don't want to join. How about we take another look at SIU?

They don't want to join either.

Right?

I'd rather add a school out east. More TV sets out there than in Carbondale, Ill.

I don't know. Did we even ask? They have good football(recently) and really good b-ball. You are worried about tv when the MAC can't even fill it's own small stadiums on a regular basis? We have played this tv thing out. We have taken crappy teams just for tv(granted, NIU was one of those but we worked out). How about UCF? Buffalo? Not to mention our latest tv adventure with Temple(to early to tell if Temple will work out but early indications are questionable).

"Sun Belt teams have won only one of five New Orleans Bowl games. No Sun Belt team has played in any other bowl game in its five years of football sponsorship"

incorrect statement - Troy played in the now defunct San Jose Bowl (or whatever it was called) against NIU and lost

Vandelay Wrote:"Sun Belt teams have won only one of five New Orleans Bowl games. No Sun Belt team has played in any other bowl game in its five years of football sponsorship"

incorrect statement - Troy played in the now defunct San Jose Bowl (or whatever it was called) against NIU and lost

Troy was an independent in 2004. They started playing in the Sun Belt in 2005.

RobertN Wrote:How about we forget about WKU since they don't want to join. How about we take another look at SIU? Oh, wait, all you Ohio guys want Youngstown State to join.

No one from OH is saying that, but leave it to an IL cretin to keep suggesting it. F'n dumbasses.

Anyway, what happens when SIU loses their coach and they return to the abysmal state they were in prior to that? Sorry to make you think more than 3 days in advance.

DrTorch Wrote:

RobertN Wrote:How about we forget about WKU since they don't want to join. How about we take another look at SIU? Oh, wait, all you Ohio guys want Youngstown State to join.

No one from OH is saying that, but leave it to an IL cretin to keep suggesting it. F'n dumbasses.

Anyway, what happens when SIU loses their coach and they return to the abysmal state they were in prior to that? Sorry to make you think more than 3 days in advance.

Or you could take the other path and realize that the BCS conferences are trying as hard as they can to eradicate the MAC from 1A, and the appropriate tack to take is every-man-for-himself improvements and looking to move up before they kick you out. That's a more likely scenario to some of us than finding lightning in the bottle again with a well-supported Marshall type program.

Doggone Wrote:

Vandelay Wrote:"Sun Belt teams have won only one of five New Orleans Bowl games. No Sun Belt team has played in any other bowl game in its five years of football sponsorship"

incorrect statement - Troy played in the now defunct San Jose Bowl (or whatever it was called) against NIU and lost

Troy was an independent in 2004. They started playing in the Sun Belt in 2005.

INCORRECT. Troy's first year in the Sun Belt was 2004.

HuskieDan Wrote:Or you could take the other path and realize that the BCS conferences are trying as hard as they can to eradicate the MAC from 1A, and the appropriate tack to take is every-man-for-himself improvements and looking to move up before they kick you out. That's a more likely scenario to some of us than finding lightning in the bottle again with a well-supported Marshall type program.

???

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

That the MAC should take SIU, and expect them to be a short-timer as they move onward and upward? (I still say the verdict is out on whether Marshall's move made any sense. At this point, they're in the hole.)

That we should expect NIU to improve and move on? I think this might be realistic to be honest. NIU has the most growth potential of anyone. Is Akron positioning themselves in the same way?

The MAC isn't dead yet. A couple of years ago I was in full agreement that the BCS was trying to eliminate it. That seems to be on hold now. Why? I dunno, maybe the Tulane guy caused enough trouble. At the end of the day, I think the BCS wants to have a playoff for big bucks. And they don't want to share. When will that happen? I thought we'd be close now, so my crystal ball ain't worth squat.

DrTorch Wrote:

HuskieDan Wrote:Or you could take the other path and realize that the BCS conferences are trying as hard as they can to eradicate the MAC from 1A, and the appropriate tack to take is every-man-for-himself improvements and looking to move up before they kick you out. That's a more likely scenario to some of us than finding lightning in the bottle again with a well-supported Marshall type program.

???

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

That the MAC should take SIU, and expect them to be a short-timer as they move onward and upward? (I still say the verdict is out on whether Marshall's move made any sense. At this point, they're in the hole.)

That maybe those of us with realistic chances to move out and up should do so and bail on the little fish rather than talking about more expansion. Screw SIU, and pretty much any other 1AA team.

Quote:That we should expect NIU to improve and move on? I think this might be realistic to be honest. NIU has the most growth potential of anyone. Is Akron positioning themselves in the same way?

I'm not outwardly advocating for it, but it'd be silly for any MAC team to not be considering self-preservation. Attendance regulations don't keep coming around because the idea of shrinking 1A is going away.

Quote:The MAC isn't dead yet. A couple of years ago I was in full agreement that the BCS was trying to eliminate it. That seems to be on hold now. Why? I dunno, maybe the Tulane guy caused enough trouble. At the end of the day, I think the BCS wants to have a playoff for big bucks. And they don't want to share. When will that happen? I thought we'd be close now, so my crystal ball ain't worth squat.

It ain't dead yet, and I hope it stays that way. I see a lot of parity in the MAC this year - more than there has been in years. But will it result in what actually matters in terms of staying in 1A - support and finances? Someone has to look into why the MAC's most tradition rich program - at it is rich - struggles to draw good crowds for what has been exciting teams that generally win.

I think the MAC should stay a 12 team conference. Lets work on the teams in the MAC that are bad now and not bring in any projects like Temple or maybe WKU (we won't know how sucessful they'll be at D1A until they actually get there).

NIUGAHuskie Wrote:I think the MAC should stay a 12 team conference. Lets work on the teams in the MAC that are bad now and not bring in any projects like Temple or maybe WKU (we won't know how sucessful they'll be at D1A until they actually get there).

Stay at 12??? We're at 13 now (or will formally be come next July).

the ? still is (IMHO):

Which school will be #14?

With WKU apparently out of the picture according to this article, I'm still sticking with IL. State as our best bet and Army as a dark horse. (yes, I know that Army recently dropped out of C-USA FB and apparently has little need for a conference).

I still ask the ?:

Why is IL State going to expand their stadium to 24K? Which I-A conference do they have their eyes set on?

In other words, why expand a stadium to 24K and remain I-AA (that would be foolhardy).

just my opinions... ;-)

HuskieDan Wrote:

DrTorch Wrote:

HuskieDan Wrote:Or you could take the other path and realize that the BCS conferences are trying as hard as they can to eradicate the MAC from 1A, and the appropriate tack to take is every-man-for-himself improvements and looking to move up before they kick you out. That's a more likely scenario to some of us than finding lightning in the bottle again with a well-supported Marshall type program.

???

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

That the MAC should take SIU, and expect them to be a short-timer as they move onward and upward? (I still say the verdict is out on whether Marshall's move made any sense. At this point, they're in the hole.)

That maybe those of us with realistic chances to move out and up should do so and bail on the little fish rather than talking about more expansion. Screw SIU, and pretty much any other 1AA team.

Quote:That we should expect NIU to improve and move on? I think this might be realistic to be honest. NIU has the most growth potential of anyone. Is Akron positioning themselves in the same way?

I'm not outwardly advocating for it, but it'd be silly for any MAC team to not be considering self-preservation. Attendance regulations don't keep coming around because the idea of shrinking 1A is going away.

Ok, so you're saying that NIU, and maybe WMU, Toledo, and a couple of others (Miami (IN), Akron, Kent???) may have outgrown the MAC, and should be preparing to move on if necessary. (Moreover, dancing w/ IAA teams shows the MAC isn't really moving forward.)

Right?

I think that's fair. I didn't criticize Marshall when they wanted to move to CUSA, when CUSA was a competitive conference, but I did think they jumped at a time that demonstrated they were spiteful not pragmatic.

The individual schools make up the MAC. Each should do its best. Together the conference should improve, but if some schools choose to lag behind, the ones making progress shouldn't be hindered by that.

DrTorch Wrote:

HuskieDan Wrote:

DrTorch Wrote:

HuskieDan Wrote:Or you could take the other path and realize that the BCS conferences are trying as hard as they can to eradicate the MAC from 1A, and the appropriate tack to take is every-man-for-himself improvements and looking to move up before they kick you out. That's a more likely scenario to some of us than finding lightning in the bottle again with a well-supported Marshall type program.

???

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

That the MAC should take SIU, and expect them to be a short-timer as they move onward and upward? (I still say the verdict is out on whether Marshall's move made any sense. At this point, they're in the hole.)

That maybe those of us with realistic chances to move out and up should do so and bail on the little fish rather than talking about more expansion. Screw SIU, and pretty much any other 1AA team.

Quote:That we should expect NIU to improve and move on? I think this might be realistic to be honest. NIU has the most growth potential of anyone. Is Akron positioning themselves in the same way?

I'm not outwardly advocating for it, but it'd be silly for any MAC team to not be considering self-preservation. Attendance regulations don't keep coming around because the idea of shrinking 1A is going away.

Ok, so you're saying that NIU, and maybe WMU, Toledo, and a couple of others (Miami (IN), Akron, Kent???) may have outgrown the MAC, and should be preparing to move on if necessary. (Moreover, dancing w/ IAA teams shows the MAC isn't really moving forward.)

Right?

I think that's fair. I didn't criticize Marshall when they wanted to move to CUSA, when CUSA was a competitive conference, but I did think they jumped at a time that demonstrated they were spiteful not pragmatic.

The individual schools make up the MAC. Each should do its best. Together the conference should improve, but if some schools choose to lag behind, the ones making progress shouldn't be hindered by that.

Those that have positive momentum should be prepared to act if and when the NCAA finally gets more militant, because it'd be foolish to think that day will never come.

In addition, I don't think combing local 1AA teams for expansion is really in the MAC's best interest. I like the idea of Temple because I think they can be competitive in the MAC, though I loath one-sport members.

HuskieDan Wrote:Those that have positive momentum should be prepared to act if and when the NCAA finally gets more militant, because it'd be foolish to think that day will never come.

Maybe this would have gotten more attention in the off-season. But, being as I agree w/ you, I'd like to see some others' thoughts on this. Especially the long-time MAC supporters.

DrTorch Wrote:

HuskieDan Wrote:Those that have positive momentum should be prepared to act if and when the NCAA finally gets more militant, because it'd be foolish to think that day will never come.

Maybe this would have gotten more attention in the off-season. But, being as I agree w/ you, I'd like to see some others' thoughts on this. Especially the long-time MAC supporters.

I'm with those posters (forget their names, maybe Huron Dave was one??) who basically think the NCAA is saber rattling and there will be no bark to their bite.

I believe some posters believe that they think the NCAA wishes the whole attendance issue would just go away, if that is possible.