(05-26-2020 01:01 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 12:33 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  The MAC isn't going to lose any schools to P5 or other G5 leagues. If they do lose anybody, it'll be to schools losing FBS or D1 status because of financial shortfalls.

The MAC is very interesting to me. They're arguably the most stable G5 league. Despit the rotation in and out of football only members the past 20 years, their roster is the same as it was in 1999, minus Marshall. They schools have a common identity, while ther G5 leagues can't necessarily say the same. They are solid undertraduate (and many boast strong graduate programs) Midwestern schools, or at least Rust Belt schools (Buffalo). They're by far the most travel friendly conference in FBS.

I still think the MAC of today will still pretty much be the same MAC in ten years. Their solidarity outweighs their problems.

If the MAC were to expand, they might bring aboard a couple of current midwestern or mideastern FCS schools that want to move up to FBS level. Check out this article:

10 FCS college football teams that could become FBS schools

Illinois State

"The Redbirds aren’t necessarily a powerhouse in the FCS, but have recently made a national title game in 2014. Illinois State would be part of the MAC conference and would join Northern Illinois as another team from the state of Illinois. In my opinion, they would be able to compete in the MAC, as they did beat Northwestern a couple years back."




North Dakota State:

The Bison are the top candidate to move up to the FBS ranks and the MAC would likely be the landing spot. NDSU has dominated the FCS playoffs for the last 10 years. The Bison have won 7/8 FCS national titles and would immediately be a contender in the MAC. If NDSU competed right away in the MAC, perhaps they could even make the jump to the Big Ten. They have beaten a couple of FBS schools including Iowa, Kansas St and Iowa St. The Bison are easily the best candidate to move up."

Youngstown State

"The Penguins made an FCS national title appearance in 2016, but that is their only playoff appearance this decade. YSU would fit into the MAC with all of the other Ohio teams in the conference and could resurrect their rivalry series with Akron. The Penguins have a former P5 coach in Bo Pelini who would recruit well with a little extra help in the FBS ranks."

https://pypeline.co/10-fcs-college-footb...s-schools/

Youngstown State isn't happening. This isn't the YSU of the mid 80s though the 90s. They have made the playoffs exactly twice since Tressel took off to Ohio State, once in 2006 (Loss to Appy State 49-24 Quarter Finals), and in 2016 (Loss to JMU 28-14 in the title game). They have also had 9 losing seasons in 15 since Tressel has been gone. They aren't the power they used to be. And plus Youngstown applied for the MAC along side Marshall and NIU after the 1996 season. The MAC accepted Marshall and NIU and rejected YSU. YSU is broke also, they are more likely to go DII than IA.

If the MAC were to lose schools (EMU, Akron are most in danger) my best guess is that their 1st calls would be to Marshall and WKU. I think it would take more than 2 for Marshall to even consider it. The 2nd biggest reason they left in 04 was that over half of the MAC just wasn't competitive.