John Harris from the Blade thinks the MAC should. Im no fan of Harris at all, but I have to admit the guy does make some fair points. He also could have made his points without taking potshots at the MAC... again.

Time for the MAC to pump cash into basketball

Sorting through the March Madness following another crazy Selection Sunday. ...

Memo to the Mid-American Conference:

No use crying over spilled NCAA Tournament bids.

The MAC is what it is - a wannabe big-time football conference that doesn't realize its own strength.

Kent State's lone entry marks the seventh consecutive year with only one MAC team invited to the NCAA Tournament. Kent State defeated Toledo in the tournament championship game and faces Pittsburgh in the Oakland Regional Friday in Auburn Hills, Mich.

My take?
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../-1/SPORTS

John Harris is a tool.

The MAC conference was first known as a basketball conference. The days of Bonzi Wells, Earl Boykins and Wally Szczerbiak were well before Big Ben, Charlie Frye and Leftwich.

Marshall and ESPN really boosted MAC FB in the late 90s.

there is nothing comparable in hoops. One ESPN game in hoops means little.

We don't have any hoops star power. No G. Wolfe, no Omar Jacobs, etc.

Basketball talent is a lot harder to come by, and not to mention there are well over 300 division 1 teams. Keep in mind that we are in Ohio. People love their football.

I know the Akron athletic department is devoting a lot more to football, as are several other MAC schools. The stadium project is going to lock us up financially for a while as far as upgrading other sports.

Yes! Yes! Yes! John Harris may be a tool, but he's right!

Read the Wall Street Jounral today ( March 13). http://online.wsj.com/public/us

If you can get through all the login stuff, read the special section on the NCAA Basketball Tournament, or pick it up at home or around your office.
The special section features Running With The Big Boys, a three page front page article on how George Washinton, a private school with a budget one fourth of the six elite conferences and plays in a 5,000 seat gym with fold out bleachers became a Top Ten team ( just before it lost to Temple in the A 10 first round). It can be done in basketball much much easier than football...and the national exposure, the buzz and the donations cna flow to the MAC schools, too.

The stars are aligned. The Selection Committee has signalled it will hold those in Power Conferences to a higher standard due to their scheduling power, the MAC is going to a sixteen game schedule, the big guys will be more pressured to look for mid level OOC games, and we have a guy on the Selection Committee. Invest in aother bowl if you want, but NOT at the expense of two or more dance bids.

akronzip Wrote:Basketball talent is a lot harder to come by, and not to mention there are well over 300 division 1 teams. Keep in mind that we are in Ohio. People love their football.

I know the Akron athletic department is devoting a lot more to football, as are several other MAC schools. The stadium project is going to lock us up financially for a while as far as upgrading other sports.

I have to respectfully disagree with you regarding the basketball vs football talent issue. What you say may in fact be true in Ohio but in the other MAC states there are as many quality hoops HS stars as football if not more.

The past 3 years the state of Illinois has had more HS hoops players receive D1 scholarships than D1A football. Yep hoops has 200 more programs however we're comparing 13 rides for hoops vs 85 for football. Two to three talented players can make a basketball team a winner, you'll need at least 10 to 12 for football IMO.

It takes quite a bit less $ to fund a winning hoops program than football so that alone makes hoops an easier way for a "mid major" to compete with the "BCS Programs". Look what the MVC has done this year with 4 tourney bids the same as the ACC, PAC 10 and Big 12. The $ that conference will get and exposure playing on free nationwide network TV vs the cable exposure more MAC programs get for football is a significant difference.

While the states that MAC programs are in have large numbers of D1 hoops programs to compete with for talent:

Ohio 13 (I believe)
Indiana 10
Illinois 12
Michigan 7 (which isn't that many for a state the size of Michigan)
Total 42

Not sure how many PA & NY have but likely quite a few.

There are some surrounding states that are underrepresented in D1 hoops programs for the amount of talent they have:

Minnesota 1 (one program for a state with 5 M people)
Wisconsin 4 (3 of which have been quite successful, Marquette has been in a final 4 within the past 5 years, WI made it to the Elite 8 last year and UW Milwaukee to the Sweet 16)

Missouri 5 (Missouri St has had multiple Tourney Bids in the past 10 years and deserved another one this year, U Missouri has significant hoops tradition, St.Louis finished tied for 3rd place in the 14 team Atlantic 10)

Colorado 2 (2 programs for a state that's in the top 25 in population) Neither program has done much but U would think a city the size of Denver would produce some hoops talent. I didn't count AFA.

That's 12 programs for 4 quite populous states.

Bradley which is in this year's tourney has 2 from MN and a 3rd MN player will be on their roster next year. The opportunity is there for the MAC to improve significantly in hoops w/o spending exorbitant dollars.

UT is 1000% committed to fielding a competitive 1A football team and as far as any Toledo fan is concerned that is the end of the discusion.

Now with Cheney gone add Temple and WKU as full members
and lets go from a one bid conference to multiple.

akronzip Wrote:Basketball talent is a lot harder to come by, and not to mention there are well over 300 division 1 teams. Keep in mind that we are in Ohio.

Isn't there a basketball player from Akron that's one of the best players in the NBA?

rocketman49 Wrote:The MAC conference was first known as a basketball conference. The days of Bonzi Wells, Earl Boykins and Wally Szczerbiak were well before Big Ben, Charlie Frye and Leftwich.

To say nothing of the days of Hal "Andy" Anderson, Hal Greer, and Nate Thurmond.

OZoner Wrote:

akronzip Wrote:Basketball talent is a lot harder to come by, and not to mention there are well over 300 division 1 teams. Keep in mind that we are in Ohio.

Isn't there a basketball player from Akron that's one of the best players in the NBA?

When you figure in the amount of D1 teams there are to compete with for talent it's probably going to be harder to "steal" those blue chip players.

Then you got the superstar talent that usually jumps to the NBA, forcing the larger schools to take the next player in the talent pool.

I would love to see the MAC thrive in hoops. I think it's more exciting than college football. The big dance is one of the greatest sporting events in the country, but a lot of schools want to get there equally as bad.

"The special section features Running With The Big Boys, a three page front page article on how George Washinton, a private school with a budget one fourth of the six elite conferences and plays in a 5,000 seat gym with fold out bleachers became a Top Ten team ( just before it lost to Temple in the A 10 first round). It can be done in basketball much much easier than football...and the national exposure, the buzz and the donations cna flow to the MAC schools, too. "

Agree 100% FlashFan.

GW and the MoValleyCo put all of their eggs into hoops while the MAC teams' $ are spread very. very thin. (MVC does I-AA FB - Gateway Conf).

GW doesn't have ANY FB so no gender equity problems, no 3M deficits in FB, etc. etc.