I am sure everyone, including AD STF, is trying to figure out this fall's schedule. Here is my 2 cents...

Since the BIG 10 moved to conference only opponents, ISU lost its game to UofI, scheduled for September 4th. We are scheduled to play Rhode Island on Saturday September 5th at home. If the Colonial Athletic Conference calls for conference only opponents, perhaps ISU v NIU?

I'd be intrigued by a match up with UW-Whitewater.

Other thoughts...more plausable like ISU to the not so plausable (Whitewater, Bears, Alumni)

COVID is back in the rise. September is 6 weeks away. Schedules are falling apart everywhere. Do people really think there will be football this year?

(07-13-2020 05:48 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  COVID is back in the rise. September is 6 weeks away. Schedules are falling apart everywhere. Do people really think there will be football this year?

Not a chance. Maybe in the spring if we are lucky. But it’s feeling like they’re gonna have to scrub this year. Thanks China.

(07-12-2020 09:38 PM)Huskie D Wrote:  I am sure everyone, including AD STF, is trying to figure out this fall's schedule. Here is my 2 cents...

Since the BIG 10 moved to conference only opponents, ISU lost its game to UofI, scheduled for September 4th. We are scheduled to play Rhode Island on Saturday September 5th at home. If the Colonial Athletic Conference calls for conference only opponents, perhaps ISU v NIU?

I'd be intrigued by a match up with UW-Whitewater.

Other thoughts...more plausable like ISU to the not so plausable (Whitewater, Bears, Alumni)

More likely the MAC copies the B1G and others, and goes to a 10-game conference-only schedule, IMO. Purdue and Michigan St pulled their schedules from the website, which indicates the Big Ten might be redrawing the whole schedule.

Will conferences just independently decide or will it eventually be a collective process all conferences follow? Any chance you just have a couple G5 conferences play and that’s it? Those that decide to play really
Put themselves at great risk of criticism with little reward outside of financial gain.

What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

There definitely will not be football or basketball this year, I agree

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

(07-13-2020 10:17 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

Do you really believe the networks would pay the G5 tens of millions to carry those games? Wanna buy a bridge. Sponsors and their money would bail out. Ratings drive the money train and G5 football won’t do it at that level. Greatly reduced-maybe. Won’t happen anyway. Really think G5 ADs would go along with the idea of playing?

(07-13-2020 10:41 AM)sportsfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:17 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

Do you really believe the networks would pay the G5 tens of millions to carry those games? Wanna buy a bridge. Sponsors and their money would bail out. Ratings drive the money train and G5 football won’t do it at that level. Greatly reduced-maybe. Won’t happen anyway. Really think G5 ADs would go along with the idea of playing?

Ten of millions. Probably not. But way more than maction. No doubt. Christ, they put XFL on in prime time. They would 100% pay the top G5 teams good money to fill the Saturday game slots. What else they gonna show, darts? This country is football bananas. You wanna be a sponsor on the only college football game broadcasting right now or you wanna move those dollars over to Bowling or whatever?

(07-13-2020 10:41 AM)sportsfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:17 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

Do you really believe the networks would pay the G5 tens of millions to carry those games? Wanna buy a bridge. Sponsors and their money would bail out. Ratings drive the money train and G5 football won’t do it at that level. Greatly reduced-maybe. Won’t happen anyway. Really think G5 ADs would go along with the idea of playing?

G5 football would get huge ratings if it was the only games on...sports fans/bettors are watxhing soccer, racing, golf...anything available.

(07-13-2020 12:39 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:41 AM)sportsfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:17 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

Do you really believe the networks would pay the G5 tens of millions to carry those games? Wanna buy a bridge. Sponsors and their money would bail out. Ratings drive the money train and G5 football won’t do it at that level. Greatly reduced-maybe. Won’t happen anyway. Really think G5 ADs would go along with the idea of playing?

G5 football would get huge ratings if it was the only games on...sports fans/bettors are watxhing soccer, racing, golf...anything available.

I like the way you're thinking.

(07-13-2020 12:39 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:41 AM)sportsfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:17 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

Do you really believe the networks would pay the G5 tens of millions to carry those games? Wanna buy a bridge. Sponsors and their money would bail out. Ratings drive the money train and G5 football won’t do it at that level. Greatly reduced-maybe. Won’t happen anyway. Really think G5 ADs would go along with the idea of playing?

G5 football would get huge ratings if it was the only games on...sports fans/bettors are watxhing soccer, racing, golf...anything available.

100% correct, dawg----I watched a full Australian Rules Football match the other night.

Full disclosure---I bet the wrong team------ Great West Sydney stinks!!!!

(07-13-2020 02:25 PM)Milwaukee Pilot Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 12:39 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:41 AM)sportsfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:17 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

Do you really believe the networks would pay the G5 tens of millions to carry those games? Wanna buy a bridge. Sponsors and their money would bail out. Ratings drive the money train and G5 football won’t do it at that level. Greatly reduced-maybe. Won’t happen anyway. Really think G5 ADs would go along with the idea of playing?

G5 football would get huge ratings if it was the only games on...sports fans/bettors are watxhing soccer, racing, golf...anything available.

100% correct, dawg----I watched a full Australian Rules Football match the other night.

Full disclosure---I bet the wrong team------ Great West Sydney stinks!!!!

Maybe you can place your bets on whether or not there will be football starting in September. And, if you believe there will be, put your money on NIU in the big game against Rhode Island.

(07-13-2020 01:43 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 12:39 PM)prairiedawg Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:41 AM)sportsfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 10:17 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(07-13-2020 09:41 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  What would the MAC gain by a conference-only schedule? The money comes in from the big OOC games. How much would the MAC and its component teams make from a NIU vs. EMU game or between any 2 MAC teams? Most likely, the ESPN deal would not be in effect this year. Or, if it were for the few November games, is the little they get from ESPN (divided among the league teams) worth the risk of exposing the players and staff to the virus? Will they play the games in front of no fans? There are very few fans at these games, anyway, so how much would they take in from an even lower attendance? Is it worth it? IMO, no.

Great so you support mid-week games.

Well, picture this. The P5 shuts down. The G5 says, he’ll yeah, we will play Saturday games on national TV for 10s of millions are f dollars. Hello CBS, NBC, ABC and espn.

The OOCmoney games are gone. But maybe a entirely new landscape emerges?

Do you really believe the networks would pay the G5 tens of millions to carry those games? Wanna buy a bridge. Sponsors and their money would bail out. Ratings drive the money train and G5 football won’t do it at that level. Greatly reduced-maybe. Won’t happen anyway. Really think G5 ADs would go along with the idea of playing?

G5 football would get huge ratings if it was the only games on...sports fans/bettors are watxhing soccer, racing, golf...anything available.

I like the way you're thinking.

Good dreams sometimes keep us going, but back in the real world, all ESPN would have to do is enforce its contract. If it could sell those games for bigger ad bucks, but none of the MAC schools would get rich. The MAC agreed to get what it gets for broadcasted games. The attention would be nice tho.

And as soon a times returned to "normal" -- and you can bet the P5 would push that as fast as possible -- everything goes back the way it was. Long-term, the P5 still have all the cards.

I've been watching cornhole!

(07-13-2020 08:18 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  Good dreams sometimes keep us going, but back in the real world, all ESPN would have to do is enforce its contract. If it could sell those games for bigger ad bucks, but none of the MAC schools would get rich. The MAC agreed to get what it gets for broadcasted games. The attention would be nice tho.

And as soon a times returned to "normal" -- and you can bet the P5 would push that as fast as possible -- everything goes back the way it was. Long-term, the P5 still have all the cards.

It is a dream. All or none will play. But who knows how those contracts work. They’d have to write a new contract. Plus the schools would have the leverage to break those contracts....and the networks would agree IMO.

(07-13-2020 08:36 PM)DiehardHuskie Wrote:  I've been watching cornhole!

Not that there's anything wrong with that

(07-13-2020 08:36 PM)DiehardHuskie Wrote:  I've been watching cornhole!

Ooh! Aagh! Ouch! Whatever.

Sorry to spoil your dream, but there's no sports worth mentioning on TV, so I decided to apply "misery loves company." And here we are!

The existing contract is between two private entities (MAC HQ is a private corp., which the 12 public schools agreed represents them) so good luck getting details. But what is the impetus for ESPN to renegotiate when it has such a good deal, with the weekday night games that many living, breathing fans cannot stand?

IMO, that "oh, wow, oh wow, we get all the TV coverage" concept is what caused the MAC schools to go for the ESPN deal, to get on TV no matter what, including local fans. And look what happened to the fan bases.

The best Northern can hope for is to weather the storm and hope the mast is sticking up, not down, when it's over.