(03-05-2019 01:22 PM)axeme Wrote: I wasn’t aware that the MAC was destroyed. I think we are a strong G5 conference. Did I miss something?
If someone thinks we should have become a P5 conference, they haven’t been paying attention the last, oh, fifty-plus years or so. The conference was designed to be a secondary conference in the Big 10 footprint and that’s exactly what it has been and continues to be. It’s also what the member schools signed up for. Schools that want to be “power conference” schools should massively increase their budgets and facilities and go do that. The only thing holding them back is themselves, not the MAC.
Meh. Football has been down since 2015. We lose nearly every bowl game. In 2016 we had the best G5 team, yes, but in a league that was pretty bad. Single player development has been nice throwing all stars into the NFL... But the AAC, MWC and now SBC are better in football as a whole. CUSA is watered down (14 team league) but their top couple have been beating us lately too. FIU, FAU, Marshall, UAB... The MAC NEEDS Miami and BG to get back to prominence. Someone has to challenge Ohio in the East. UB and Akron and KSU come around once a decade to compete then drift back off... They aren't football schools though so that's okay. Toledo and NIU have been at the top of the league but aren't getting pushed by Ball State and CMU enough. WMU goes in and out of relevance and has definitely been a plus. EMU being good is a nice change.
In the last 10 years rank the league in strength.
2015 (Toledo, BG, NIU very good)
2013 (BG, NIU very good with UB and others going to bowls in a very deep year)
2012 (Kent vs NIU In a ranked title game, with NIU going to the Orange bowl. Toledo and Ohio were also good)
2011 (Very deep league with tons of offense from Toledo and WMU. NIU beat Ohio in the title game, with the best offense NIU has had during their current bowl run)
2010 (Miami upsetting NIU in the championship game)
2016 (WMU going to cotton)
In whatever order you want those are they good or decent MAC years in football. Bad years were 2018, 2017, 2014, 2008 and 2009.
Prior to Ohio and NIU surging when you think of the MAC you would think of Miami, BG, Marshall and Toledo with good NIU and WMU teams being mixed in. Actually you may know half of the league on the national scale because we won out of conference so often.
Now it's NIU, Ohio, Toledo and people may think FLECK was still at WMU more recent than 2016....