(10-12-2011 01:19 PM)exCincy Kid Wrote: Yeah, KC, I saw that.....you'd think there'd be protests when you consider that the state of Illinois is practically bankrupt (mostly due to state worker's pensions which are out of control) and just doubled our state income tax and every year they jack up in state tuition. Much cheaper to go in state school in Indiana or Ohio than Illinois. I think Ball State for tuition and R &B is something like $16K in state (not including books and general expenses) whereas ISU is about $21K. Out of state is about the same..the big difference is the in state tuition ($7500K at BSU and over $12K at ISU.
Illinois is a whole different animal than the other states in the Midwest with Chicago in the state. The amount of competitive students and the ability for families is far greater I'm sure then you find in some of the other states.
I feel good though reading about Illinois State's upgrades for the long term longevity of the conference. At 14,000 seats that facility takes them far enough down the path that the MAC could call them up in an emergency situation.
One emergency situation would be if Northern Illinois somehow left the conference than Illinois State would be a perfect fill in school. The problem is adding a school right now in the West pushes one of the West Division schools to the East like Toledo. Having all 6 Ohio schools in one division is not really what the MAC wants to do. If NIU and Toledo are pulled into CUSA along with Temple leaving for the Big East, Illinois State could be called up.
West: Illinois State, Ball State, WMU, CMU, EMU, BGSU, Miami
East: Ohio, Kent, Akron, Buffalo, JMU, UMass, Delaware
Even trying to keep the league at 14 the MAC could afford to take 2-3 hits in membership and actually come out with a better overall academic profile. The MAC should be pretty stable well into the future.