The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Would Kent ever consider joining the Big East Conference? Probably not until the University had assurances that it could be able to double its attendance consistently at home football and basketball games. The reason attendance is so critical is because of the extra cost that the University would incur from travel expenses as a member of the Big East Conference. The revenue from home games would have to be large enough to help pay for the additional costs.

I am not sure what it would cost Kent to get its football team to most locations in the Big East Conference but I do know what it cost Vanderbilt to play Michigan in Ann Arbor this season. The cost to charter a 179-passenger plane was $113,000. The cost to rent buses in Nashville and in Detroit was $2,508 and $7,700 respectively. The cost of hotel rooms and meals for its players, coaches, and support staff was $11,300, and $12,000 respectively. If you factor in various other costs such as an equipment bus, its gas, and tickets, then you come up with a cost of $173,108. Vanderbilt, however, did receive a payment of $650,000 for the game. Money games such as these help pay for the cost of major college athletics.

Compare this cost to the projected cost of Vanderbilt

as soon as one moves to a big time conference the program gains credability and the stadiums would be full ..if kent, lets say would move to the big 10 i bet all of the home games would be sold out and you would get top recruits not becouse is kent but becouse they play in the big 10 : ...

oldfan1 Wrote:as soon as one moves to a big time conference the program gains credability and the stadiums would be full ..if kent, lets say would move to the big 10 i bet all of the home games would be sold out and you would get top recruits not becouse is kent but becouse they play in the big 10 : ...

Tell that to Indiana. lmfao

The major complaint that I have about being in the MAC is that very few people seem to care about the conference. For example, on the day that Kent played Toledo in its Homecoming game, the Plain Dealer only had an article about a local player who plays for Toledo. However, on Sunday the Plain Dealer did have a large picture and a nice article about the game. Perhaps now that Kent is winning, you will start seeing more coverage.

In the Sunday edition of the News Herald, the local paper in Lake County, there was only one sentence about the Kent-Toledo game. Of course the argument against covering the MAC is that not enough people care about it to warrant any significant press. The average sports fan seems to be more interested in local high school teams than the MAC.

Since this board has already discussed this topic in great length, I don

ohiovarsity Wrote:

oldfan1 Wrote:as soon as one moves to a big time conference the program gains credability and the stadiums would be full ..if kent, lets say would move to the big 10 i bet all of the home games would be sold out and you would get top recruits not becouse is kent but becouse they play in the big 10 : ...

Tell that to Indiana. lmfao

there is always the exeption.... lmfao

oldfan1 Wrote:

ohiovarsity Wrote:

oldfan1 Wrote:as soon as one moves to a big time conference the program gains credability and the stadiums would be full ..if kent, lets say would move to the big 10 i bet all of the home games would be sold out and you would get top recruits not becouse is kent but becouse they play in the big 10 : ...

Tell that to Indiana. lmfao

there is always the exeption.... lmfao

You :shhh: really :banned: love ;-) using the Emoticons don't you?

bopol Wrote:

oldfan1 Wrote:

ohiovarsity Wrote:

oldfan1 Wrote:as soon as one moves to a big time conference the program gains credability and the stadiums would be full ..if kent, lets say would move to the big 10 i bet all of the home games would be sold out and you would get top recruits not becouse is kent but becouse they play in the big 10 : ...

Tell that to Indiana. lmfao

there is always the exeption.... lmfao

You :shhh: really :banned: love ;-) using the Emoticons don't you?

ONE EMOTION IS WORTH MANY USELESS WORDS lmfao

As I said on the main board, the basketball schools in the Big East will have to break away before the conference looks to add again. You can't expect Suburban papers to pick up Kent coverage. The News Herald serves Northeast of the city. Kent State is away from their readership base. If a paper like the News Herald is going to put college coverage, it is going to be OSU because more people read it. It will always be that way. The PD on the other hand could do more, but Elton has been their MAC writer for a long time and it will stay that way.

Let me remind you that the Lake County Alumni Chapter is the oldest chartered organization in Kent State University

[quote="nashvillegoldenflash"]Let me remind you that the Lake County Alumni Chapter is the oldest chartered organization in Kent State University

I'm one county over from The Flash, and it's true: KSU gear is an impossibility to come by. I thought about checking the Kent Geauga campus to see if just maybe they might carry some winter gear, but Burton's a ways out.

As far as the Herald goes, unless it's a local boy, they don't cover much beyond OSU and the pros. And of course HS is their b&b...they know that soccer (and football, basketball, etc.) moms will clear out entire stands of papers if they find out their "little johnny" is in it.

Best way to get more KSU gear in more NE Ohio stores is more advertising/exposure (unless you know someone who owns a store and is willing to bring gear in...if so, clue me in ). Best exposure is winning football games and all other sports competitions.

SO...WINNING MORE GAMES MEANS I WILL HAVE MY WINTER GEAR AND NOT FREEZE TO BLEACHERS! GO KSU!!!!! BEAT OHIO!!!!

How did this idea get picked up? KSU, though I love it and am proud to be one of its graduates, is not a fit for the Big East by any stretch of the imagination. Football, just off it's feet, would be pounded in the BE. Basketball, though strong, would languish in the BE. What is the point of thinking about it...anyone actually think this could happen?

I agree that it would be a struggle for Kent to compete in the Big East Conference. However, with respect to football, I believe that Kent is not too far behind the University of Cincinnati in terms of talent at this juncture. Of course, I believe Cincinnati will find it difficult to consistently win in the Big East especially against programs such as Louisville and West Virginia, which are both currently ranked in the nation

I'm in the flash' county too and over in painesville riverside high school, kent state is more represented than riverside is, and the most represented mac school. there are plenty of people in our school that are kent fans, they just don't follow it too much until the mac and ncaa tourneys.

eliteeight...that's part of the problem.

Kent will get some pub...it's just not during the course of the regular season.

During the run to the Elite Eight, the Golden Flashes were all over the newspapers and news stations. Where were those outlets during the course of the season?

But, that's the nature of the beast...it's not news until after the fact!

P.S. I recently worked Riverside's amazing victory over Chardon. What an amazing ending to a game...a kid attempting his first career field goal into a swirling wind nails the 41-yarder to win the game!

ohiovarsity Wrote:P.S. I recently worked Riverside's amazing victory over Chardon. What an amazing ending to a game...a kid attempting his first career field goal into a swirling wind nails the 41-yarder to win the game!

Yet we have troubles with chipshots and extra points.

I'm a Riverside grad myself. That was our first major win in years. The News Herald is all Ohio State. The MAC schools seem to get equal billing, but its one line at best. The best way to get attention is win and keep winning. The MAC tournament gets good coverage,but football is fotgetten. The News Herald is all ready in Michigan week mode. To bad the only matchup of two winning in-state teams is this week and its not involving Ohio State. The game to be at is Ohio vs Kent. It would be a shame if the Plain Dealer didn't have this game on the front page, because its the biggest story of the weekend. Ohio State isn't a story......because we know who is gonna win. Kent vs Ohio pits two teams that haven't been to a bowl in over 30 years. That's gonna change this year.

Man, I am pissed. I just got off the phone with a fellow Kent alumn, friend, and former Flash fan who is NOT going to the game tomorrow because the Suckeyes are on at the same time. He didn't even know who they were playing. This is the same guy who used to sit through the 0-fer seasons with me wishing for a team and a game of substance. This is exactly what the MAC schools are up against... Really, I just don't get it... Very disappointing. Why invest all those years to abandon them as things are turning the corner...

Why did the question about joining the Big East come up? Seems like an awfully big jump. Wouldn't a conference like conference USA be a more reasonable first step.

As far as watching Ohio St. over going to a Kent game I have to admit I would do the same (luckily this Sat I can watch both games on TV). In football a great KSU team might be the 50th best team in the country. Somehow even though I am a big time Kent fan that just doesn't excite me. If football had a NCAA tournament and the MAC champion would get an automatic berth and then have a chance to pull a couple of upsets I would be much more interested. I'm glad they are much improved but somehow the Toronto Bowl just doesn't do it for me.