http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/wr...index.html

I just saw this on facebook...you beat me to the post 7.

I like that Chandler is doing EVERYTHING within his power to be noticed.

Harnish shows a ton of want.

Well, that's pretty cool......

(I'm going down in flames with my Kellen Moore disagreement)

Howl...Chandler called us "a mid-major school"...

"When you're at a mid-major school, sometimes you just don't get the notoriety," Harnish said.

Terrific article. Go #12!

what would you call us, Howl?

(04-19-2012 03:49 PM)EA3 Wrote:  (I'm going down in flames with my Kellen Moore disagreement)

yes, you certainly are!

(04-19-2012 04:54 PM)cagy cager Wrote:  what would you call us, Howl?

Non-AQ. Especially since there are no schools called "high major" or "low major".

well who is kidding whom? The MAC is not in the power BCS conferences....both harnish and the author of the article referred to NIU as mid major....much the same as how many times now basketball programs are referred to as BCS programs...and everybody knows what those designations mean. The Big 10 is high major--the MAC is mid major--football, basketball or basket weaving the terms denote relative strength and the MAC is midling.. hell, don't take my word for it, ask the reigning MVP of the MAC in football who said "mid major"

(04-19-2012 10:27 PM)cagy cager Wrote:  well who is kidding whom? The MAC is not in the power BCS conferences....both harnish and the author of the article referred to NIU as mid major....much the same as how many times now basketball programs are referred to as BCS programs...and everybody knows what those designations mean. The Big 10 is high major--the MAC is mid major--football, basketball or basket weaving the terms denote relative strength and the MAC is midling.. hell, don't take my word for it, ask the reigning MVP of the MAC in football who said "mid major"

When was the last time you ever heard someone refer to any school as a high major? Be honest. I've NEVER heard anyone use the term. Chandler only used the term because other people call it that, even though the term doesn't make any sense.

read basketball scouting service reports on recruits--it is said always as a descriptor of the best players in the country....all of Kentucky's start five, pro to be, national champions were referred to constantly as HIGH MAJOR throughout the recruiting process.

(04-19-2012 11:15 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-19-2012 10:27 PM)cagy cager Wrote:  well who is kidding whom? The MAC is not in the power BCS conferences....both harnish and the author of the article referred to NIU as mid major....much the same as how many times now basketball programs are referred to as BCS programs...and everybody knows what those designations mean. The Big 10 is high major--the MAC is mid major--football, basketball or basket weaving the terms denote relative strength and the MAC is midling.. hell, don't take my word for it, ask the reigning MVP of the MAC in football who said "mid major"

When was the last time you ever heard someone refer to any school as a high major? Be honest. I've NEVER heard anyone use the term. Chandler only used the term because other people call it that, even though the term doesn't make any sense.

I wonder what Barksdale calls us!???

(04-20-2012 08:04 AM)chihuskie Wrote:  

(04-19-2012 11:15 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-19-2012 10:27 PM)cagy cager Wrote:  well who is kidding whom? The MAC is not in the power BCS conferences....both harnish and the author of the article referred to NIU as mid major....much the same as how many times now basketball programs are referred to as BCS programs...and everybody knows what those designations mean. The Big 10 is high major--the MAC is mid major--football, basketball or basket weaving the terms denote relative strength and the MAC is midling.. hell, don't take my word for it, ask the reigning MVP of the MAC in football who said "mid major"

When was the last time you ever heard someone refer to any school as a high major? Be honest. I've NEVER heard anyone use the term. Chandler only used the term because other people call it that, even though the term doesn't make any sense.

I wonder what Barksdale calls us!???

Bye Bye Mid-Major.

(04-19-2012 05:26 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-19-2012 04:54 PM)cagy cager Wrote:  what would you call us, Howl?

Non-AQ. Especially since there are no schools called "high major" or "low major".

I think it was Brad Stevens from Butler who had the best term: middle revenue. That's what distinctions are about is money. And we're somewhere between the biggest budgets and the small budget programs.

But for guys like Chandler speaking in the parlance of our times, meh.

Yeah, the only real difference is revenue. My problem with the "mid major" term is it implies that everything/all aspects about our program is beneath Indiana, Kansas, Wake Forest etc. Revenue means a lot but it isn't everything, obviously.

(04-19-2012 11:15 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-19-2012 10:27 PM)cagy cager Wrote:  well who is kidding whom? The MAC is not in the power BCS conferences....both harnish and the author of the article referred to NIU as mid major....much the same as how many times now basketball programs are referred to as BCS programs...and everybody knows what those designations mean. The Big 10 is high major--the MAC is mid major--football, basketball or basket weaving the terms denote relative strength and the MAC is midling.. hell, don't take my word for it, ask the reigning MVP of the MAC in football who said "mid major"

When was the last time you ever heard someone refer to any school as a high major? Be honest. I've NEVER heard anyone use the term. Chandler only used the term because other people call it that, even though the term doesn't make any sense.

I hear "high-major", "mid-major" and "low-major" very, very frequently referring to D-I programs. It is used all the time in discussing basketball programs and projecting players. NIU and the MAC falls into the mid-major category in basketball. And, since we aren't in the power 6 BCS AQ conferences for football (which are pretty much the "high-majors") the MAC could be considered a mid-major in cross-over terminology for football. I didn't even think anything of it when I read it in the Harnish article. Nothing wrong with being a mid-major. Lots of mid-majors are better than some programs in high-major conferences in every sport. I see it as just a distinction that refers a lot to your resources (money, facilities, etc.) and because schools are put into conferences with other similar schools.

(04-20-2012 10:34 AM)Max Power Wrote:  Yeah, the only real difference is revenue. My problem with the "mid major" term is it implies that everything/all aspects about our program is beneath Indiana, Kansas, Wake Forest etc. Revenue means a lot but it isn't everything, obviously.

Yea, that's a good way of putting it. Competitively, in football there's little difference between us and the bottom half of the AQ conferences.