The Big 10 and ACC have one and the SEC has one with the Big 12 so I was wondering who people think would be a good match for the MAC if they ever decided to create something like this. I guess the natural match would be the MVC as the schools are close geographically and the conference rankings are very close. If they wanted to think outside the box, a match up with the West Coast or Mountain West would be intriguing. I am interested in everyone's thoughts.

I think it would be great with the MVC and should be very workable.

Good idea and I guess the MVC is the most logical matchup geographically.

I agree and have been a strong advocate of a MAC/MVC Challenge for a few years now.

You could even have a couple featured games at a neutral site, such as Indianapolis, televised on CBSSN or perhaps ESPN.

FIRE UP CHIPS! :)

I remember the ESPN bracket buster challenge, which would sometimes pair NIU with an MVC team, but I would be all in on a MAC/MVC challenge great idea. I normally would have said Horizon too, but over past 5 years I think the MAC has established itself as a solid 1 or 2 notches above the Horizon

(01-26-2020 07:32 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I remember the ESPN bracket buster challenge, which would sometimes pair NIU with an MVC team, but I would be all in on a MAC/MVC challenge great idea. I normally would have said Horizon too, but over past 5 years I think the MAC has established itself as a solid 1 or 2 notches above the Horizon

The Horizon came to mind with me also but based on the current RPI for the conferences, the MVC is is 11th, the MAC is 12th and the Horizon is 23rd.

(01-27-2020 06:27 AM)StevenNIU Wrote:  [quote='MaddDawgz02' pid='16636202' dateline='1580085125']
I remember the ESPN bracket buster challenge, which would sometimes pair NIU with an MVC team, but I would be all in on a MAC/MVC challenge great idea. I normally would have said Horizon too, but over past 5 years I think the MAC has established itself as a solid 1 or 2 notches above the Horizon

The Horizon came to mind with me also but based on the current RPI for the conferences, the MVC is is 11th, the MAC is 12th and the Horizon

The Bracket buster concept was really good. Would get some good return games the following year as well. I don’t remember which MVC team we played but we got teams like EIU and then random teams like Seattle. For a bracket challenge, I could also see Conference USA being a good match but they have 14 teams. I don’t believe the teams like the late season out of conference game though. I remember them complaining that it threw off the focus on the conference teams.

Love the conference challenge idea! Just for the record, the MAC is 17-7 against the Horizon League this year and 5-7 against the MVC which is consistent with the conferences' overall rankings. MAC/MVC would definitely be the more interesting and valuable match-up. Another idea I would like to see happen is a showcase in Chicago with NIU, UIC, Loyola, and DePaul--local test, four conferences represented (MAC, Horizon, MVC, Big East). If we could get it out to DeKalb every four years that might actually draw more than 750 fans.

MVC won't work because they already play a conference challenge with the Mountain West.

And this is something I've thought long and hard about for a while. On one hand, do you want a connection with another D-1 football conference and possibly tie the two together. I think the only logical candidate for that would be the Sun Belt. Possibly C-USA.

If you're cool without the football tie in, the Ohio Valley would be a pretty good fit/challenge. Between teams like Murray State, Belmont, and Austin Peay (also a few more) there are some good match-ups and geographically it fits too.

What happened to BracketBusters? The Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters ran from 2006 to 2013, that last one pitting NCAA tournament hopefuls on two days, nationally televised acoss all the ESPN channels. If anyone wants details, visit https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-relea...etbusters/

Would this be set up through ESPN, the conferences or who has to get something like this started? Would be great to see NIU play some games against some teams of equal stature across the country.

Geographically, the MVC or Horizon would be terrific.

Or could borrow an idea from wbb: the Compass Challenge. Two days, 4 teams, 4 conferences, NIU/EIU/WIU/SIU (Carbondale), rotates every year among campus sites. Each guaranteed 2 games.

Could expand to be both wbb and mbb, play at two campus sites, mbb at one and wbb at another, then rotate every year. Or for mbb, could be played at various sites.

Maybe easier to set up since all in-state. Good potential draw with some bragging rights.

(01-27-2020 11:39 AM)Big Red Wrote:  MVC won't work because they already play a conference challenge with the Mountain West.

And this is something I've thought long and hard about for a while. On one hand, do you want a connection with another D-1 football conference and possibly tie the two together. I think the only logical candidate for that would be the Sun Belt. Possibly C-USA.

If you're cool without the football tie in, the Ohio Valley would be a pretty good fit/challenge. Between teams like Murray State, Belmont, and Austin Peay (also a few more) there are some good match-ups and geographically it fits too.

I think the OVC idea is intriguing. Some good name teams at the top of the league.

(01-27-2020 05:43 PM)StevenNIU Wrote:  

(01-27-2020 11:39 AM)Big Red Wrote:  MVC won't work because they already play a conference challenge with the Mountain West.

And this is something I've thought long and hard about for a while. On one hand, do you want a connection with another D-1 football conference and possibly tie the two together. I think the only logical candidate for that would be the Sun Belt. Possibly C-USA.

If you're cool without the football tie in, the Ohio Valley would be a pretty good fit/challenge. Between teams like Murray State, Belmont, and Austin Peay (also a few more) there are some good match-ups and geographically it fits too.

I think the OVC idea is intriguing. Some good name teams at the top of the league.

The OVC also fits better numbers-wise as both the MAC and OVC have 12 teams whereas the MVC has 10 teams. Any challenge with the MVC would require 2 MAC teams not playing in it in a given year. The SEC/BIG 12 works like this.