What about this setup? From a basketball/football perspective I think its better for all parties involved.

East Division
Marshall
Old Dominion
Charlotte
App State
Coastal Carolina

West Division
Southern Miss
UAB
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennessee
Georgia State

-The minimum 10 you need in FB. SoMiss adds some pop for FB in the West division. Louisiana schools are good but too far. Best to include Georgia St for the media market.

-Doesn't include the Florida schools since they are like UTEPs of the south, too far for most everyone else.

-East division more tight nit for travel including App and Coastal for members.

I don’t get why people can’t understand that you do not have to have ten for football. You can have eight or nine as long as a full round-robin is played. Then, the top two teams play ion the CCG. It has been this way for a while now.

(Yesterday 11:32 AM)FMRocket Wrote:  

(Yesterday 09:38 AM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  

(01-17-2021 10:20 PM)andy98 Wrote:  

(01-16-2021 05:12 PM)FMRocket Wrote:  Upgrading the MAC by lopping off three of the bottom feeders ( BGSU, Eastern Michigan, Akron)...
Bring in Liberty, James Madison, UMASS - (12 members for all sports)
Bring in Army, NDSU - FB only

For the most part, I've always thought the same thing. I would get rid of BGSU, Kent, Akron, and EMU. Then replace them with Liberty, UMass, Western Kentucky, and Marshall.

Northern Illinois
Ball State
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Toledo
Ohio
Miami OH
Western Kentucky
Marshall
Buffalo
U Mass
Liberty

There is no way that Marshall wants any part of that mess.

Out of that mess, three teams (Ball State, Buffalo, Liberty) were ranked this past season...
Yeah, that SW Texas to the east coast conf. that you are in makes so much sense geographically...
I know Herd fans like to travel... All of these are within within 6-7 hours except for maybe NIU or UMASS...

It has less to do with the teams. Our rivalry was awesome. It’s more about a cultural fit. Marshall always stuck out like a sore thumb in the MAC because we are culturally much more southern. Even in the short distance between Athens and Huntington, the culture completely changes.

(01-16-2021 05:24 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  MAC’s current membership is perfect. Only negative to the league is weeknight games.

Back when the MAC has 13 members while the B1G had 11 and the Horizon had 9 it was irritating to be splitting the NCAA bid 13 ways. The MAC was a very large conference for the time 20 years ago.

The average D1 conference size today is 11.41 schools. The average FBS all-sport conference size is 12.6 schools. The MAC then sitting at 12 is now only average sized for a D1/FBS conference.

One could argue it might be even better at 10 but programs like EMU and Akron help with the regional saturation and the champ games in Detroit and Cleveland. Plus they've dropped serious cash into facilities so they are no longer a standard deviation behind other MAC programs.

Midweek games remain a challenge. I bet those will be adjusted when the MAC reups with ESPN. One of the nice things about being out until 2026-27 is they'll be able to make changes AFTER the new CFP contract is ratified and any conference changes. Perhaps there is a chance to get MWC money next time around (3.75 million per school).

(Yesterday 12:37 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  I don’t get why people can’t understand that you do not have to have ten for football. You can have eight or nine as long as a full round-robin is played. Then, the top two teams play ion the CCG. It has been this way for a while now.

CFP money is split 10 ways. 10 is about the minimum for a 2 division FB setup to be sensible.

(Yesterday 12:52 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(Yesterday 12:37 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  I don’t get why people can’t understand that you do not have to have ten for football. You can have eight or nine as long as a full round-robin is played. Then, the top two teams play ion the CCG. It has been this way for a while now.

CFP money is split 10 ways. 10 is about the minimum for a 2 division FB setup to be sensible.

I think there was confusion that the rule was done away with if there is a round-robin and many think the NCAA just dropped the rule from 12 to 10. However 10 or 12 are the perfect number. 14 maybe if you had an extremely compact conference and the 2 extra teams were worth the investment at the G5. Power 5 doesn't matter, they make so much money.

(01-10-2021 08:34 PM)Troy_Fan_15 Wrote:  

(01-05-2021 08:52 AM)andy98 Wrote:  NORTHERN DIVISION
Northern Illinois
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Ohio
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennessee

SOUTHERN DIVISION
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
Georgia State
UAB
Southern Miss
Louisiana
Arkansas State

Not a fan. Not sure how it’s the “best” of the rest. Troy has a much richer history than some of the schools on this list.

Troy's biggest problem is there are 3 FBS schools in the state of Alabama.

UAB has the new 47,000 seat stadium. They've made a Final Four in basketball and have a tradition there. Basketball is an important differentiator in CUSA reshuffle.

South Alabama is also in there with a bigger market than Troy and more of a basketball school rep.

Main campus enrollment of 8,000 students isn't quite attractive either as its a smaller alumni base.