(11-04-2013 06:07 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  I would say NIU is sakting on the edge of being our flagship football program..

7 Bowls since 2004 (will be 8 this year)
2 Conference Championships
3 Division Championships

And they did this with three coaching changes and two star quarterback changes.

4 Division Championships. We won the West in 2005 and 2010-12.

(11-05-2013 09:05 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't want to give everyone a trophy. A little reading comprehension, please. I said the exact opposite. The MAC has woefully regressed to very minimal relevance in even mid-major circles, let alone in D-I overall.

I don't get the need for declare oneself "a flagship" anything. It's a delusional fabrication. Get a ranked team. Be at-large worthy. Consistently beat good D-I teams on the road. Win an early season tourney or two or three. At least be the #1 seed in the conference tourney and then win it and get a top half seed. Look like a top mid-major team at the every least. No MAC team has done that in a good while. Then you don't have to make up titles to give yourself to puff up your team over others. You won't have to.

Yeah, no MAC team has been in the national spotlight in March in the past 5 years.

(11-05-2013 09:08 AM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(11-04-2013 06:07 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  I would say NIU is sakting on the edge of being our flagship football program..

7 Bowls since 2004 (will be 8 this year)
2 Conference Championships
3 Division Championships

And they did this with three coaching changes and two star quarterback changes.

4 Division Championships. We won the West in 2005 and 2010-12.

Thanks for the correction.

The point is that CMU rose and Fell, and a lot of teams have had blips here or there but NIU's consistency in the MAC over the past decade is unmatched by any team in the conference. They have went higher than any of us and never fell as far.

(11-05-2013 09:43 AM)The Optimist Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 09:05 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't want to give everyone a trophy. A little reading comprehension, please. I said the exact opposite. The MAC has woefully regressed to very minimal relevance in even mid-major circles, let alone in D-I overall.

I don't get the need for declare oneself "a flagship" anything. It's a delusional fabrication. Get a ranked team. Be at-large worthy. Consistently beat good D-I teams on the road. Win an early season tourney or two or three. At least be the #1 seed in the conference tourney and then win it and get a top half seed. Look like a top mid-major team at the every least. No MAC team has done that in a good while. Then you don't have to make up titles to give yourself to puff up your team over others. You won't have to.

Yeah, no MAC team has been in the national spotlight in March in the past 5 years.

Of course, they have, but so have other schools who do that and then vanish and are forgotten. The MAC needs teams to sustain success, not get hot for a couple of games, return the entire starting five the next season and do nothing outside of be "good for a MAC team."

Had Ohio validated the Sweet 16 of 2012 with a strong 2013, it would be an entirely different discussion. and I would be agreeing with the idea that Ohio had achieved some sustaining value. Instead, they made a better argument that it was a fluke: 3rd or 4th best team in a middling conference gets hot for a couple of games in March, then wins nothing of consequence with the entire lineup back the next season, clearly inferior to an Akron team that got blown out by another mid-major (an authentic power, with real sustained quality over more than a couple of games over more than just one season), with neither of the two "good for MAC teams" beating anyone of note OOC all season when they needed to.

I am all for the MAC getting better in hoops, but it looks like it will regress further. "Flagship" couldn't be more meaningless in the current MAC. There is none and no one looking like they will become a top mid-major, the most basic first step MAC teams need to take.

(11-05-2013 10:29 AM)axeme Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 09:43 AM)The Optimist Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 09:05 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't want to give everyone a trophy. A little reading comprehension, please. I said the exact opposite. The MAC has woefully regressed to very minimal relevance in even mid-major circles, let alone in D-I overall.

I don't get the need for declare oneself "a flagship" anything. It's a delusional fabrication. Get a ranked team. Be at-large worthy. Consistently beat good D-I teams on the road. Win an early season tourney or two or three. At least be the #1 seed in the conference tourney and then win it and get a top half seed. Look like a top mid-major team at the every least. No MAC team has done that in a good while. Then you don't have to make up titles to give yourself to puff up your team over others. You won't have to.

Yeah, no MAC team has been in the national spotlight in March in the past 5 years.

Had Ohio validated the Sweet 16 of 2012 with a strong 2013, it would be an entirely different discussion.

You mean like with a regular season conference championship that people around here seem to care so much about?

FWIW, I think BOTH Ohio and Akron are very close to becoming mid-major powers. They have both stepped up their commitment to moving the programs forward. Things are looking good.

(11-05-2013 10:53 AM)The Optimist Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 10:29 AM)axeme Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 09:43 AM)The Optimist Wrote:  

(11-05-2013 09:05 AM)axeme Wrote:  I don't want to give everyone a trophy. A little reading comprehension, please. I said the exact opposite. The MAC has woefully regressed to very minimal relevance in even mid-major circles, let alone in D-I overall.

I don't get the need for declare oneself "a flagship" anything. It's a delusional fabrication. Get a ranked team. Be at-large worthy. Consistently beat good D-I teams on the road. Win an early season tourney or two or three. At least be the #1 seed in the conference tourney and then win it and get a top half seed. Look like a top mid-major team at the every least. No MAC team has done that in a good while. Then you don't have to make up titles to give yourself to puff up your team over others. You won't have to.

Yeah, no MAC team has been in the national spotlight in March in the past 5 years.

Had Ohio validated the Sweet 16 of 2012 with a strong 2013, it would be an entirely different discussion.

You mean like with a regular season conference championship that people around here seem to care so much about?

Your standards then are rather modest. A co-championship in a down MAC season with a team, the #1 seed, that flogged your team while being without one of their best players. But if you think last season was a success for Ohio basketball, fine. It's subjective.

I also disagree that Akron and Ohio are improving. I see both as not as good as last year's teams. What will be the measure this season that both are on the rise? Better RPI's? Possible rankings? Winning against tough teams OOC? It will be great if a MAC team can rise up this year and be better than any were last year. The standard is not that high, but I'm afraid none are even that good.