Can MAC teams draw large crowds for a BCS game at a NFL stadium?

BG vs. WI at Cleveland Stadium?
Maybe NIU vs. IL or WI at Soldier Field?
Miami vs. ? at Paul Brown Stadium?

? are there enough serious fans in big locales to support those kind of games?

After all, Soldier Field is in Chicago and 1-hour from DeKalb, the best of both worlds.

Supposedly 500K MAC alums in Cleveland area.

We have tried for years to get a home game with Ill, Wisc, Northworsten etc. even on a neutral field in Chicago. No on will take the bait. THe new Soldier field would be perfect. A little over 60k seats. I do not see it ever happening though, becasue the other schools are too scared with not much to gain. :mad:

For all who were not aware yet...the BG game against Wisconsin is a go for Cleveland stadium in either 2005 or 2006.

HuskieJ Wrote:We have tried for years to get a home game with Ill, Wisc, Northworsten etc. even on a neutral field in Chicago. No on will take the bait. THe new Soldier field would be perfect. A little over 60k seats. I do not see it ever happening though, becasue the other schools are too scared with not much to gain. :mad:

We discussed this before...NIU must invite teams that don't normally have access to the Chi market. IL, WI, N'western, ND are all the worst choices.

Better to choose teams like: Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Syracuse, ASU, UCLA...

These are teams w/ alumni in Chicago, but don't normally play there.

Agreed, but you can not shame those other programs into a game at Solider Field like the other local B11 teams. Why would those other programs come, when thye can make more money with another home game? I do not know what Alverez was thinking in the scheduling of the game in Cleveland. Great for the MAC, but no so sure about Wisc.

HuskieJ Wrote:Agreed, but you can not shame those other programs into a game at Solider Field like the other local B11 teams. Why would those other programs come, when thye can make more money with another home game? I do not know what Alverez was thinking in the scheduling of the game in Cleveland. Great for the MAC, but no so sure about Wisc.

Diminishing returns and a sense of fairness.

Even the teams w/ big crowds recognize that you have to play away games, or the system will crumble.

But, an away game isn't so bad when it's at a large pro-stadium, as opposed to a 30K "mid-major".

Also, ASU has alot of alumni in Chicago. The other schools probably do too, and they probably wouldn't mind trying to recruit some of that area as well.

So, it offers them a good ROI. Better than N'western who already plays in Chi, and WI who plays just a short drive away from Chicago.

Torch is right; the only way we ever see a game like this in SF is if we can get an opponent not normally seen in Chicago which could be lured here with the incentive expanding their recruting base in this region.

Exactly. BCS road games usually have a recruiting angle to them.

WI / BG is set for a year WI supposedly does not play OSU.

Would be nice to find a year in which say MSU doesn't play Northwestern and plays IL in E. Lansing.

That might make a good matchup.

Similar with Iowa.

HuskieJ Wrote:I do not know what Alverez was thinking in the scheduling of the game in Cleveland. Great for the MAC, but no so sure about Wisc.

Like many football coaches, Alvarez likes to raid Ohio for talent.

Either Wisconsin won't be playing in Ohio that year or Wisconsin won't be playing Ohio State that year. In any case, Wisconsin wanted to maintain its visibility in Ohio in a year when it could have slipped.