Combined from various MAC and other board posts ...

MAC suspends soccer (apparently) not enough teams when others left to join new SBC msoc.
https://getsomemaction.com/news/2022/11/...eason.aspx

NIU, BGSU and WMU join MVC msoc as affiliates. No word about Akron yet. Also don't know what happens to Chicago State msoc since it affiliated with the MAC (can't find their csnbbs forum).
https://mvc-sports.com/news/2022/11/11/m...-2023.aspx

I feel this is good news. Finally a stable conference moving forward with a robust number of teams. The MAC was treading water for several years, trying desperate hookups like Chicago State to stay afloat. Unfortunately no other MAC schools jumped on board and started up a program.

Guessing Akron wants to go to a stronger soccer conference like SBC?

How is this good? Our FBS level conference dumps a men's soccer, NIU migrates that sport to an FCS level conference, and Akron doesn't come with? Not a positive development in my book.

(11-11-2022 05:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  How is this good? Our FBS level conference dumps a men's soccer, NIU migrates that sport to an FCS level conference, and Akron doesn't come with? Not a positive development in my book.

Eh, “FBS” and “FCS” mean very little, if anything, in this sport. Vermont, Denver and UNC-Greensboro are ranked in the Top 10 right now.

Same with hockey.

(11-11-2022 05:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  How is this good? Our FBS level conference dumps a men's soccer, NIU migrates that sport to an FCS level conference, and Akron doesn't come with? Not a positive development in my book.

Well, do you know a better option? Having only four full-member MAC schools with MSOC was clearly unsustainable. Having had to add Chicago State was NOT a good option for last year.

FBS/FCS is meaningless in MSOC. That designation is only applicable to football.

This may have been the only remaining option.

The MAC ended this season ranked 8th in conference RPI and the MVC was 10th, so not a significant difference. Akron would certainly help the RPI, so, hopefully, they decide to come as well. Unfortunately, they might be headed elsewhere. Seems like the best permanent solution available to me.

Remind again what exactly the MAC commissioner has done to advance the conference since being hired? The MAC has been a sinking ship since he took over. One of the few sports the MAC has with national recognition and you let it fold.

The Akron fan board (ZipsNation.org) seems to believe it might be the Big East.

Their MSOC program has the pedigree to be VERY attractive to any conference.

National Champions in 2010 and national runner-up in 2018.

(11-11-2022 05:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  How is this good? Our FBS level conference dumps a men's soccer, NIU migrates that sport to an FCS level conference, and Akron doesn't come with? Not a positive development in my book.

Your book is way out of date when it comes to soccer but not a surprise since you measure everything with a football mentality.

Check the latest Division I men's soccer rankings and you'll see the following programs ARE NOT in "FBS level conferences."
8--Cornell, 9--SMU, 10--Vermont, 11--Lipscomb, 12--UNC-Greensboro, 13--Akron, 14--Tulsa, 15--Penn, 17--FIU, 18--Saint Louis, 21--New Hampshire, 24--Elon, 26--Portland, 27--Georgetown, 28--Missouri State, 30--Marshall, 31--Denver, 32--Hofstra, 36--Seton Hall, 37--Butler, 38-_South Florida, 39--Central Arkansas, 40--Western Michigan, 41--Air Force, 42--Georgia State, 43--Creighton, 44 Xavier, 45-Harvard, 46--Dayton, 47--Loyola-Chicago, 48--Yale, 49--San Diego State, 50--Oral Roberts.

The NCAA Tournament will have 48 slots so once you get beyond the top seven-ranked programs that come from "FBS conferences", the field includes quite a variety of conferences completely unlike bowl games. And when it comes to those very top programs, there are several whose "soccer stature" is greater than their football rep: i.e., Duke, Stanford, Clemson, Virginia, Kentucky, Syracuse, and Washington.

As an NCAA champion in 2010 and national runner-up in 2018, Akron clearly will be sought after as an affiliate to a number of conferences while the MAC trio have an optimal geographical affiliation with the MVC.

(11-12-2022 11:38 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(11-11-2022 05:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  How is this good? Our FBS level conference dumps a men's soccer, NIU migrates that sport to an FCS level conference, and Akron doesn't come with? Not a positive development in my book.

Your book is way out of date when it comes to soccer but not a surprise since you measure everything with a football mentality.

Check the latest Division I men's soccer rankings and you'll see the following programs ARE NOT in "FBS level conferences."
8--Cornell, 9--SMU, 10--Vermont, 11--Lipscomb, 12--UNC-Greensboro, 13--Akron, 14--Tulsa, 15--Penn, 17--FIU, 18--Saint Louis, 21--New Hampshire, 24--Elon, 26--Portland, 27--Georgetown, 28--Missouri State, 30--Marshall, 31--Denver, 32--Hofstra, 36--Seton Hall, 37--Butler, 38-_South Florida, 39--Central Arkansas, 40--Western Michigan, 41--Air Force, 42--Georgia State, 43--Creighton, 44 Xavier, 45-Harvard, 46--Dayton, 47--Loyola-Chicago, 48--Yale, 49--San Diego State, 50--Oral Roberts.

The NCAA Tournament will have 48 slots so once you get beyond the top seven-ranked programs that come from "FBS conferences", the field includes quite a variety of conferences completely unlike bowl games. And when it comes to those very top programs, there are several whose "soccer stature" is greater than their football rep: i.e., Duke, Stanford, Clemson, Virginia, Kentucky, Syracuse, and Washington.

As an NCAA champion in 2010 and national runner-up in 2018, Akron clearly will be sought after as an affiliate to a number of conferences while the MAC trio have an optimal geographical affiliation with the MVC.

I mostly upset that the MAC seems to be stagnent or moving backward (cutting an imptant Men's sport), and that arguably the best MAC program is not coming along with the rest of us to our new slapped together affiliation. Not good things. Not as much of a bright spot for me as you that the 'Valley" may currently have decent soccer.

I am not upset about the MVC affiliation, just as nobody seemed upset that the now-SBC teams affiliated with MAC msoc (until the SBC formed its own). Or got Chicago State to affiliate as a 6th member.

It's obvious the MVC welcomed the "MAC Three," which boosted it to 10 teams. They had 7, which is the minimum for an NCAA autobid (same concern that plagued MAC msoc). That "problem" is now solved for all concerned.

NIU msoc has a "home" with reasonable geography and travel with teams that seem, over time, to be competitive (see the MVC link above for ranked teams). None of them is Akron, but Akron with its record and far-east conference location has more options.

Also, be interesting to see if/how teams we recognize attract any attention to matches. Not all/many fans know the details of who is/not a "national" power. But as a casual fan, I recognize Bradley, UIC and Drake moreso than I ever would Georgia Southern or Georgia State, no matter how good they are.

I also applaud uiniu57 for great research, which helps understand how it works in the msoc world.

(Note to NIUfilmmaker: I am upset about the overall staid, stale, stagnant but stable MAC leadership, which is reactionary rather than pro-active. They're too content to "monitor the situation" in their warm-and-fuzzy little world. But with 12 MAC presidents and commissioner Jon Steinbrecher being that leadership, not sure how it gets changed.)

(11-12-2022 12:00 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(11-12-2022 11:38 AM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(11-11-2022 05:18 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  How is this good? Our FBS level conference dumps a men's soccer, NIU migrates that sport to an FCS level conference, and Akron doesn't come with? Not a positive development in my book.

Your book is way out of date when it comes to soccer but not a surprise since you measure everything with a football mentality.

Check the latest Division I men's soccer rankings and you'll see the following programs ARE NOT in "FBS level conferences."
8--Cornell, 9--SMU, 10--Vermont, 11--Lipscomb, 12--UNC-Greensboro, 13--Akron, 14--Tulsa, 15--Penn, 17--FIU, 18--Saint Louis, 21--New Hampshire, 24--Elon, 26--Portland, 27--Georgetown, 28--Missouri State, 30--Marshall, 31--Denver, 32--Hofstra, 36--Seton Hall, 37--Butler, 38-_South Florida, 39--Central Arkansas, 40--Western Michigan, 41--Air Force, 42--Georgia State, 43--Creighton, 44 Xavier, 45-Harvard, 46--Dayton, 47--Loyola-Chicago, 48--Yale, 49--San Diego State, 50--Oral Roberts.

The NCAA Tournament will have 48 slots so once you get beyond the top seven-ranked programs that come from "FBS conferences", the field includes quite a variety of conferences completely unlike bowl games. And when it comes to those very top programs, there are several whose "soccer stature" is greater than their football rep: i.e., Duke, Stanford, Clemson, Virginia, Kentucky, Syracuse, and Washington.

As an NCAA champion in 2010 and national runner-up in 2018, Akron clearly will be sought after as an affiliate to a number of conferences while the MAC trio have an optimal geographical affiliation with the MVC.

I mostly upset that the MAC seems to be stagnent or moving backward (cutting an imptant Men's sport), and that arguably the best MAC program is not coming along with the rest of us to our new slapped together affiliation. Not good things. Not as much of a bright spot for me as you that the 'Valley" may currently have decent soccer.

The schools are dropping the sport for whatever reason (probably financially motivated but also because of Title IX/financials). The conference can't force them to have a program and they've been scrambling for a few years just to have enough affiliate members to field a conference.

I mean, we have 3 MAC schools who have hockey programs, should the conference also be held accountable for not having hockey as a conference sport?

Let's be real, the only reason any of us care is because NIU has a relatively good program and has had one for a long time. Otherwise, I'm sure the fans of Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, or any other non-soccer school actually blinked an eye about this news.

(11-12-2022 01:00 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  I am not upset about the MVC affiliation, just as nobody seemed upset that the now-SBC teams affiliated with MAC msoc (until the SBC formed its own). Or got Chicago State to affiliate as a 6th member.

It's obvious the MVC welcomed the "MAC Three," which boosted it to 10 teams. They had 7, which is the minimum for an NCAA autobid (same concern that plagued MAC msoc). That "problem" is now solved for all concerned.

NIU msoc has a "home" with reasonable geography and travel with teams that seem, over time, to be competitive (see the MVC link above for ranked teams). None of them is Akron, but Akron with its record and far-east conference location has more options.

Also, be interesting to see if/how teams we recognize attract any attention to matches. Not all/many fans know the details of who is/not a "national" power. But as a casual fan, I recognize Bradley, UIC and Drake moreso than I ever would Georgia Southern or Georgia State, no matter how good they are.

I also applaud uiniu57 for great research, which helps understand how it works in the msoc world.

(Note to NIUfilmmaker: I am upset about the overall staid, stale, stagnant but stable MAC leadership, which is reactionary rather than pro-active. They're too content to "monitor the situation" in their warm-and-fuzzy little world. But with 12 MAC presidents and commissioner Jon Steinbrecher being that leadership, not sure how it gets changed.)

I too applaud uiniu57 for the research. Yes, collegiate futbol vs football at the higher level D1 can not be compared.

MAC totally threw the towel in on this one! I have been saying since pre pandemic that the MAC needs to expand the conference, including soccer. Instead of expanding, they let good programs go elsewhere and replaced them with the likes of Chicago State and Georgia Southern. The MAC says they will revisit this at some point. This is about as likely as NIU joining the Big 10!

Hoping this opens up new recruiting channels and additional exposure for the program.

(11-12-2022 03:56 PM)Huskie D Wrote:  

(11-12-2022 01:00 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  I am not upset about the MVC affiliation, just as nobody seemed upset that the now-SBC teams affiliated with MAC msoc (until the SBC formed its own). Or got Chicago State to affiliate as a 6th member.

It's obvious the MVC welcomed the "MAC Three," which boosted it to 10 teams. They had 7, which is the minimum for an NCAA autobid (same concern that plagued MAC msoc). That "problem" is now solved for all concerned.

NIU msoc has a "home" with reasonable geography and travel with teams that seem, over time, to be competitive (see the MVC link above for ranked teams). None of them is Akron, but Akron with its record and far-east conference location has more options.

Also, be interesting to see if/how teams we recognize attract any attention to matches. Not all/many fans know the details of who is/not a "national" power. But as a casual fan, I recognize Bradley, UIC and Drake moreso than I ever would Georgia Southern or Georgia State, no matter how good they are.

I also applaud uiniu57 for great research, which helps understand how it works in the msoc world.

(Note to NIUfilmmaker: I am upset about the overall staid, stale, stagnant but stable MAC leadership, which is reactionary rather than pro-active. They're too content to "monitor the situation" in their warm-and-fuzzy little world. But with 12 MAC presidents and commissioner Jon Steinbrecher being that leadership, not sure how it gets changed.)

I too applaud uiniu57 for the research. Yes, collegiate futbol vs football at the higher level D1 can not be compared.

MAC totally threw the towel in on this one! I have been saying since pre pandemic that the MAC needs to expand the conference, including soccer. Instead of expanding, they let good programs go elsewhere and replaced them with the likes of Chicago State and Georgia Southern. The MAC says they will revisit this at some point. This is about as likely as NIU joining the Big 10!

Hoping this opens up new recruiting channels and additional exposure for the program.

It's probably hard to try to boost a conference with some level of focus on sports like men's soccer. They apparently tried to expand the conference last year with Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky, but neither of those schools offer soccer but...they were apparently available to be added. Neither offer wrestling either but both offer Men's Track and field. Not sure what they'd have done with the men's team had they come aboard.

I’m not a big soccer person in general but I find it weird that the actual MAC schools (meaning Akron didn’t go with) couldn’t stick together in the move to the MVC. The MAC has a whole is just pointed downward. Can’t find a single positive IMO.

We're talking about soccer here. I would have been fine if we dropped the program all together. We've only won the MAC soccer tournament twice.

(11-12-2022 04:32 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  I’m not a big soccer person in general but I find it weird that the actual MAC schools (meaning Akron didn’t go with) couldn’t stick together in the move to the MVC. The MAC has a whole is just pointed downward. Can’t find a single positive IMO.

From what I have read, Akron might be headed to the Big East.

(11-12-2022 04:45 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(11-12-2022 04:32 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  I’m not a big soccer person in general but I find it weird that the actual MAC schools (meaning Akron didn’t go with) couldn’t stick together in the move to the MVC. The MAC has a whole is just pointed downward. Can’t find a single positive IMO.

From what I have read, Akron might be headed to the Big East.

Last time I checked. Big East > Missouri Valley

Western Michigan just beat Akron 2-1 for the final MAC tournament championship.

(11-12-2022 06:10 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  Western Michigan just beat Akron 2-1 for the final MAC tournament championship.

Congratulations to the Broncos! Hopefully Akron's strength of schedule can allow them to join WMU in the NCAA tourney field.