Not sure where MACtion came from. FunBelt came around because the Sun Belt had a series of really crazy games on weeknights and some media type started using it on twitter during the weeknight games and fans picked it up. Once the fans were using it, the league picked it up.

(04-04-2018 02:35 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Not sure where MACtion came from. FunBelt came around because the Sun Belt had a series of really crazy games on weeknights and some media type started using it on twitter during the weeknight games and fans picked it up. Once the fans were using it, the league picked it up.

That is really similar to how MACtion started. It was a bit ago when a number of really high scoring games on ESPN broadcasts were shown back to back over a couple weeks or days (I forget how close all the games were). People started using the name to describe it and later the MAC officially took up the term.

(04-04-2018 02:49 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(04-04-2018 02:35 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  Not sure where MACtion came from. FunBelt came around because the Sun Belt had a series of really crazy games on weeknights and some media type started using it on twitter during the weeknight games and fans picked it up. Once the fans were using it, the league picked it up.

That is really similar to how MACtion started. It was a bit ago when a number of really high scoring games on ESPN broadcasts were shown back to back over a couple weeks or days (I forget how close all the games were). People started using the name to describe it and later the MAC officially took up the term.

Here is a take on how it got started. The term apparently dates back to 2011.

https://www.foxsports.com/other/story/ho...ing-110513

(04-04-2018 01:43 PM)Eldonabe Wrote:  MACtion makes me think of the old Batman TV show.

Very campy --- BAM! POW! KAPOW!

Which makes it perfect for the ESPN dorks.

(04-04-2018 01:43 PM)Eldonabe Wrote:  MACtion makes me think of the old Batman TV show.

Very campy --- BAM! POW! KAPOW! In some strange way that was endearing, "MACtion" is just lame......

I like “Mac Attack” and “The Belch” myself.

(04-03-2018 08:43 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 09:38 PM)debragga Wrote:  

(03-23-2018 07:45 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(03-23-2018 07:36 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(03-23-2018 07:29 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I feel bad for the members of C-USA and the SBC who are caught in a bunch of internal politics and dumb NCAA rules that won't permit them to reorganize in a rational way.

It's not as bad as we make it out to be.

I'm sure it's not but I'm also pretty sure as an ODU fan you would rather have regular conference games with JMU, App St, GA St, and GA Southern than the 4 Texas schools from C-USA.

It's too bad that the warts of the SBC--Coastal Carolina, ULM, UALR, UTA prevent a membership swap.

Warts?

Coastal has had one FBS season. They deserve a bigger sample size before being completely written off.

I'm just looking at stadium size and attendence. Right now they are lacking in both. This can be overlooked or forgiven if you are in a market like Miami, Charlotte or Atlanta but we are talking about Conway, SC. Maybe the Chanticleer's will have some success on the field and build a following but right now they are too much of an unproven intity for programs like MTSU, WKU, Marshall, and ODU to take a chance on as a new conference mate in a climate that favors 10 team leagues.

Frankly the MAC is the one conference that hasn't completely lost its head. Still a conference full of peers. Still a conference where the entire footprint is a day's drive. Still a conference where truly anybody can win a conference title. The playing field is even enough that the coaches usually are the deciding factor (thus the cradle of coaches).

(04-04-2018 10:46 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Frankly the MAC is the one conference that hasn't completely lost its head. Still a conference full of peers. Still a conference where the entire footprint is a day's drive. Still a conference where truly anybody can win a conference title. The playing field is even enough that the coaches usually are the deciding factor (thus the cradle of coaches).

The big problem with this is that none of our members can move up and none of our members have ever moved up with the exception of Cincinnati. It's pretty much been the same Conference it's been since it's early years.

I always hear 'the stability of the MAC is a good thing'. But is it really? It means no teams are moving on to bigger and better things. The only good thing about it being stable is no school moves down.

The playing field is complete equal. Every member school has pretty much the same budget and resources. This means any team can win any year. Which is good when you're trying to win Conference Championships because it means next year might mean it's your year. But it's bad too because next year you might completely suck and can't keep it going. Two of the MAC's more recent football champions - Western Michigan and Bowling Green St - completely sucked the next year. You don't even have to win the Conference. (2012's Kent St is one of the more recent examples)

Being in a conference of peer institutions is really only good if those are state flagship institutions that are athletic powers (hint: the Big 10/SEC/P12).

Every MAC school has their ceiling which is predetermined by the P5 schools near them. The Ohio MAC schools orbit a giant Buckeye in the center of the state. Sparty and that school with a little fuzzy vermin for a mascot block the Michigan trio. NIU and Ball St both contend with an instate pair of Big Ten schools as well as Notre Dame's influence. Buffalo could have been something bigger had SUNY let them but the NFL and Syracuse were able to stake claim to that part of the state first.

Compare with the situations of other leagues: The top of the AAC and MWC are both chasing P5 status and are not committed for the long haul. Thanks to the the decisions of schools who aren't even there anymore C-USA is oversized and perhaps more aptly described as two small conferences operating under one umbrella. Funbelt fans claim to be happy where they are but their are plenty of schools who would jump to align themselves with regional C-USA schools if the NCAA would only allow it.

Ultimately the MAC is stable and its membership has demonstrated that anyone can make a splash on the big stage if they run the table--not national title worthy but certainly NY6.

(04-05-2018 07:57 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Every MAC school has their ceiling which is predetermined by the P5 schools near them. The Ohio MAC schools orbit a giant Buckeye in the center of the state. Sparty and that school with a little fuzzy vermin for a mascot block the Michigan trio. NIU and Ball St both contend with an instate pair of Big Ten schools as well as Notre Dame's influence. Buffalo could have been something bigger had SUNY let them but the NFL and Syracuse were able to stake claim to that part of the state first.

Compare with the situations of other leagues: The top of the AAC and MWC are both chasing P5 status and are not committed for the long haul. Thanks to the the decisions of schools who aren't even there anymore C-USA is oversized and perhaps more aptly described as two small conferences operating under one umbrella. Funbelt fans claim to be happy where they are but their are plenty of schools who would jump to align themselves with regional C-USA schools if the NCAA would only allow it.

Ultimately the MAC is stable and its membership has demonstrated that anyone can make a splash on the big stage if they run the table--not national title worthy but certainly NY6.

Why is the bolded a bad thing, though?

(04-05-2018 08:18 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Why is the bolded a bad thing, though?

I wouldn't describe it as necessarily a bad thing, but the inherent membership instability does prevent intra-conference rivalry development. Stability and intra-conference rivalries are something that the MAC and MWC enjoy exclusively within the non-autonomous conferences.

(04-05-2018 08:28 PM)McKinney Wrote:  

(04-05-2018 08:18 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Why is the bolded a bad thing, though?

I wouldn't describe it as necessarily a bad thing, but the inherent membership instability does prevent intra-conference rivalry development. Stability and intra-conference rivalries are something that the MAC and MWC enjoy exclusively within the non-autonomous conferences.

Yes, rivalries are a good thing and they can't be forced. However schools can develop new rivalries.

(04-05-2018 08:18 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(04-05-2018 07:57 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Every MAC school has their ceiling which is predetermined by the P5 schools near them. The Ohio MAC schools orbit a giant Buckeye in the center of the state. Sparty and that school with a little fuzzy vermin for a mascot block the Michigan trio. NIU and Ball St both contend with an instate pair of Big Ten schools as well as Notre Dame's influence. Buffalo could have been something bigger had SUNY let them but the NFL and Syracuse were able to stake claim to that part of the state first.

Compare with the situations of other leagues: The top of the AAC and MWC are both chasing P5 status and are not committed for the long haul. Thanks to the the decisions of schools who aren't even there anymore C-USA is oversized and perhaps more aptly described as two small conferences operating under one umbrella. Funbelt fans claim to be happy where they are but their are plenty of schools who would jump to align themselves with regional C-USA schools if the NCAA would only allow it.

Ultimately the MAC is stable and its membership has demonstrated that anyone can make a splash on the big stage if they run the table--not national title worthy but certainly NY6.

Why is the bolded a bad thing, though?

See the part following "and". They don't want to stick around.

(04-05-2018 06:28 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(04-04-2018 10:46 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Frankly the MAC is the one conference that hasn't completely lost its head. Still a conference full of peers. Still a conference where the entire footprint is a day's drive. Still a conference where truly anybody can win a conference title. The playing field is even enough that the coaches usually are the deciding factor (thus the cradle of coaches).

The big problem with this is that none of our members can move up and none of our members have ever moved up with the exception of Cincinnati. It's pretty much been the same Conference it's been since it's early years.

I always hear 'the stability of the MAC is a good thing'. But is it really? It means no teams are moving on to bigger and better things. The only good thing about it being stable is no school moves down.

The playing field is complete equal. Every member school has pretty much the same budget and resources. This means any team can win any year. Which is good when you're trying to win Conference Championships because it means next year might mean it's your year. But it's bad too because next year you might completely suck and can't keep it going. Two of the MAC's more recent football champions - Western Michigan and Bowling Green St - completely sucked the next year. You don't even have to win the Conference. (2012's Kent St is one of the more recent examples)

Being in a conference of peer institutions is really only good if those are state flagship institutions that are athletic powers (hint: the Big 10/SEC/P12).

In a sense Butler moved up in the conference world (decades later) while Marshall left for a better C-USA at the time, but yeah your point still remains.

The MAC is inherently limited by the dominance of the Big Ten, at least the C-USA and Sun Belt stretch from Big 12 to SEC to ACC territory to dilute their competition, while also residing in the most fertile recruiting region in the nation that's also growing demographically. We'll never move up in the grand scheme of revenue athletics, but we won't fall off a cliff either. To paraphrase Dirty Harry, a conference has to know its limitations, and our 12 members at this point know that they have it a lot better now than they can realistically get elsewhere. Miami and Toledo were asked about C-USA membership around 2004 but said no thanks, thank goodness we didn't look into it further.

(04-05-2018 09:03 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(04-05-2018 06:28 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(04-04-2018 10:46 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Frankly the MAC is the one conference that hasn't completely lost its head. Still a conference full of peers. Still a conference where the entire footprint is a day's drive. Still a conference where truly anybody can win a conference title. The playing field is even enough that the coaches usually are the deciding factor (thus the cradle of coaches).

The big problem with this is that none of our members can move up and none of our members have ever moved up with the exception of Cincinnati. It's pretty much been the same Conference it's been since it's early years.

I always hear 'the stability of the MAC is a good thing'. But is it really? It means no teams are moving on to bigger and better things. The only good thing about it being stable is no school moves down.

The playing field is complete equal. Every member school has pretty much the same budget and resources. This means any team can win any year. Which is good when you're trying to win Conference Championships because it means next year might mean it's your year. But it's bad too because next year you might completely suck and can't keep it going. Two of the MAC's more recent football champions - Western Michigan and Bowling Green St - completely sucked the next year. You don't even have to win the Conference. (2012's Kent St is one of the more recent examples)

Being in a conference of peer institutions is really only good if those are state flagship institutions that are athletic powers (hint: the Big 10/SEC/P12).

In a sense Butler moved up in the conference world (decades later) while Marshall left for a better C-USA at the time, but yeah your point still remains.

The MAC is inherently limited by the dominance of the Big Ten, at least the C-USA and Sun Belt stretch from Big 12 to SEC to ACC territory to dilute their competition, while also residing in the most fertile recruiting region in the nation that's also growing demographically. We'll never move up in the grand scheme of revenue athletics, but we won't fall off a cliff either. To paraphrase Dirty Harry, a conference has to know its limitations, and our 12 members at this point know that they have it a lot better now than they can realistically get elsewhere. Miami and Toledo were asked about C-USA membership around 2004 but said no thanks, thank goodness we didn't look into it further.

To go off of this the idea is being presented kind of backwards. MAC schools do not stay specifically because it is stable, the conference is stable because the MAC schools have not had an offer to go somewhere good enough to make it worth it. Case in point is that offer to Toledo and Miami where 2004 CUSA was not worth it to those schools at the time to move.

That move also shows the other part where many on these boards do not consider which is what happens when things go sour later. IF Toledo and Miami did leave they would likely be in a worse position than they are today and may even be trying to get back into the MAC at that point.

The MAC is, and should stay stable.

The other G5's? I doubt anyone makes a play until the Big12 does something. The AAC and MWC are content at 12. C-USA and the Sunbelt are swamped with newbies already. I'd personally like to see C-USA grab Ark State, ULaLa, Appl State, and Georgia Southern, split into 3 divisions and have a 4-team playoff. That would generate some excitement. Enjoy your MAC.

The MAC is stable, and kicking UMass out of the league was a good move to make. I hope they stay at 12 for a while.

The MAC's stability is primarily a function of the number of FBS schools nearby.

Don't like what is going on? Where are you going? Who is like-minded and not in the MAC already that you can join with.

Consider Colorado State and Wyoming. They were in the Skyline/Mountain States together. Ditched it join the WAC, ditched it to join the MWC.

Memphis and Cincinnati? Overlapped shortly in the Mo Valley, charter members of the Metro, formed the Great Midwest, formed CUSA, then eventually landed in Big East/AAC. The number of regionally appropriate schools made that sort of churn possible.

The MAC just doesn't have that.

(04-06-2018 08:45 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  The MAC's stability is primarily a function of the number of FBS schools nearby.

Don't like what is going on? Where are you going? Who is like-minded and not in the MAC already that you can join with.

Consider Colorado State and Wyoming. They were in the Skyline/Mountain States together. Ditched it join the WAC, ditched it to join the MWC.

Memphis and Cincinnati? Overlapped shortly in the Mo Valley, charter members of the Metro, formed the Great Midwest, formed CUSA, then eventually landed in Big East/AAC. The number of regionally appropriate schools made that sort of churn possible.

The MAC just doesn't have that.

Agreed plus most of the schools are less than a days drive from one another. Look at the MAC East, you could drive to all of the schools easily for football season, the MAC West isn't much different outside Central to Ball State.

(04-06-2018 01:42 AM)The Grassy Nole Wrote:  The MAC is stable, and kicking UMass out of the league was a good move to make. I hope they stay at 12 for a while.

That is not exactly correct.

The MAC offered an all sports invite to UMass and by all accounts James Madison was on deck if UMass accepted. The old regime chose not to accept the all sports invite and stay with the A10 and be a FBS Independent.

To say it an another way is the MAC had no problem if UMass was all in. Rightfully so, the MAC had an issue with us being football only once Temple left. We also had mis-steps moving to FBS and that went against us as well. We have since had a complete turnover from President, Chancellor, AD, Football staff and according to ESPN presession #93.

We started out last season 0-6 with a lot of close losses including Ohio. We did not pack it in and finished 4-2 with wins over BYU and App State.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/tea...&year=2018