(10-27-2026 09:46 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote: By late winter is hyperbole.
Let me explain my thinking a bit more.
My guess is that MAC presidents already have a sense of what a new deal with ESPN will look like -- the likely financial value, the amount and types of inventory required for weeknight football, and how the terms might vary a bit depending on the conference lineup.
If we assume that Miami is actively negotiating to move to the American, now is probably not an ideal time to ink a television deal. If Miami thinks it is on the brink of a deal with the American, they aren't going to agree to a grant of rights.
Another wildcard is who is available to replace Miami. As interested as Western Kentucky might be in moving to the MAC -- and the
Blade reported last winter that mutual interest is there -- they might prefer the Sun Belt, where they appear to have been a runner-up last time. If that's the direction Western Kentucky is leaning, it
might make sense for the MAC to wait until that is resolved before working on another option, such as Delaware (or whoever).
I do think if a contract needs to be signed, it could be signed even if some questions are still up in the air, such as a 12th full member to be named later. But I do think it might make sense to wait for Miami to finish up whatever they might be working on, so long as we'll know reasonably soon how that's going go.
So, maybe this doesn't take until
late winter. (I was building in time to add a 12th-full member, and that might not be necessary.) But I'm still thinking winter.
As far as Toledo and Ohio: I understand why people are speculating, but I'm skeptical anything happens there until we see credible reports.
