(11-27-2023 08:17 PM)Garden_KC Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:13 PM)Just Joe Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:00 PM)Garden_KC Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 07:58 PM)Yosef181 Wrote:  Will there be any possible MAC additions left?

Marshall, Western Kentucky, Old Dominion, Middle Tennessee, Delaware, UMass...it seems like everyone the MAC has been rumored to talk to have gone in other directions. That's not great.

No its not great.....

MAC has a problem.

The MAC has stability and makes geographic sense. Maybe they’d prefer less weeknight games but expanding with FCS call ups isn’t going to change that. The MAC is fine.

Who was the last call up the MAC offered?

The MAC most recently struck out on WKU/MT.

If UMass heads to CUSA as Matt Brown suggests its not a good look for the MAC.

It's a great look for the MAC. Not adding crap = winning.

(11-27-2023 10:30 PM)Scoochpooch1 Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:17 PM)Garden_KC Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:13 PM)Just Joe Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:00 PM)Garden_KC Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 07:58 PM)Yosef181 Wrote:  Will there be any possible MAC additions left?

Marshall, Western Kentucky, Old Dominion, Middle Tennessee, Delaware, UMass...it seems like everyone the MAC has been rumored to talk to have gone in other directions. That's not great.

No its not great.....

MAC has a problem.

The MAC has stability and makes geographic sense. Maybe they’d prefer less weeknight games but expanding with FCS call ups isn’t going to change that. The MAC is fine.

Who was the last call up the MAC offered?

The MAC most recently struck out on WKU/MT.

If UMass heads to CUSA as Matt Brown suggests its not a good look for the MAC.

It's a great look for the MAC. Not adding crap = winning.

Theyre used to being the worst FBS conference

Theyve been Last for who knows how long…

CUSA - Call Up Sports Association

(11-27-2023 10:32 PM)Scoochpooch1 Wrote:  CUSA - Call Up Sports Association

That’s funny and creative. I will gladly take them if they help and improve the conference. Liberty has done well since coming up from FCS. Jax St. had a stellar season and is going bowling. Sammy struggled winning buy was very competitive in most games. Happy with our most recent call ups. We’ll see about Kenny when they play next season, and I feel like Delaware will be successful early. I think we’ve got room for more call ups if they are committed to winning and growth.

Delaware choose CUSA not the MAC or SBC.

EKU and Mo St could end up in the SBC. MAC will have several options from MVC to expand.

Dont see any teams moving from SBC, CUSA or MAC to the other. Unless AAC offers a better deal than the less media deal the last ones received only a few would make the AAC move. UTEP and NMSU would most likely make the MWC move after the PAC2 settle, Tx St would also consider a move. Then some FBS schools out west could be an option for the other four G5 leagues. The PAC2 decision will cause more movement Im afraid.

Article says a lot without saying a lot.

(11-27-2023 11:46 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  MAC will have several options from MVC to expand.

Who?

(11-28-2023 04:44 AM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 11:46 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  MAC will have several options from MVC to expand.

Who?

Pretty much no one. Outside of Missouri St, most MVC schools have no interest in FBS. They are basketball schools through and through. And they don’t have the money to move up anyway. There isn’t interest from either side.

And even with Missouri St, the school isn’t in the geographic direction the league is looking in and the league isn’t in the geographic direction the school is looking in.

Quote:EKU and Mo St could end up in the SBC. MAC will have several options from MVC to expand.

I'd love any reason to believe the Sunbelt will be interested in us, but I haven't seen one yet. I think from most reasonable metrics we'd be a solid add, but I just don't think people get excited enough about Eastern Kentucky, and they don't know enough to *get* excited. We don't "move the needle" for a conference in that sense.

As for EKU to the MAC, which was brought up earlier in the thread...I think kind of the same deal. I'd love to think they're interested, but I think the MAC is in a position where they can afford to be pretty choosey.

Ultimately, we'd be a solid add for a conference that actually needs us. It's just that no one does at the moment.

(11-27-2023 09:54 PM)JSchmack Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:50 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  Is the MAC fine, though?

I'd say yes. The MAC is what it is. (It's actually what conferences are supposed to be: Peer institutions who should play each other every year in all sports! Real throwback!).

I mean no disrespect to anyone school, fan base, or conference, but... both the MAC as a conference and the MAC schools as members really aren't going to change their slots in the FBS hierarchy of conferences and schools via expansion and realignment.

(I think Buffalo conceivably could, because they're the FBS program of the State University of New York system, while the other MAC schools are in the shadow of Big Ten state schools).

But at the end of the day, it's risk vs safety and stability.

Anyone remember Northern Illinois in the Big West? The Big West in the 90s was like the C-USA of today, where you had the schools coming up to join FBS from the Big Sky (UNLV, Nevada, Boise St, Utah St) as well as a group of teams with no where to go: North Texas, Arkansas State, Northern Illinois, La Tech and Louisiana.

If you leave the MAC to seek a rise through a conference that's more diverse market wise, and hope to play your way up to more lucrative league, you run the risk of your conference changing around you and putting you in a far worse place than before (like what happened to C-USA over the last 15 years).

The MAC fan bases aren't going to be unhappy playing their local rivals every season; while UConn fans were less than thrilled buying basketball tickets to play Tulane and East Carolina.

This is a good post, but UNLV was never in the Big Sky. They were a probationary member of the WAC in the early 80's, but their arena wasn't secured and they were cut and played in the PCAA/Big West before finally getting into the WAC in the 90's.

Utah State has been FBS since the University/College Division split in the 1950's and was never a member of the Big Sky. I believe you're thinking of Idaho.

(11-27-2023 11:46 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  The MAC and SBC didn't choose Delaware but CUSA did.

Fixed it for you.

(11-27-2023 08:50 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  Is the MAC fine, though?

I don't think it is. I saw a stat recently about some MAC schools enrollment dropping, some by as much as 30%. The MAC reminds me of the PSAC in PA where the schools all compete with each other, keep costs down and just barely get by. Even though IUP has had a successful program, no one outside of PA has really ever heard of them.

The midweek thing was cute for awhile, but now you might as well watch a replay of a much better game from the weekend on some other network. Or you can watch some other sport on ESPN+ that plays midweek games.

In all honesty, I think the MAC as a conference is "dead man walking". There is nothing there to feel good about. Its basically a one bid basketball league and has been passed by everyone in FBS football. At some point maybe the whole conference should move down to FCS and compete there.

I could see Buffalo going to CUSA in the long run.

(11-28-2023 09:19 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 11:46 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  The MAC and SBC didn't choose Delaware but CUSA did.

Fixed it for you.

But you have it wrong

(11-28-2023 04:44 AM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 11:46 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  MAC will have several options from MVC to expand.

Who?

Illinois State
Southern Illinois
Northern Iowa

Then you have a bridgehead to the Dakotas.

MAC could also sit at 10 comfortably if they lost a couple of schools since whomever is left over isn't a flight risk. This isn't the CUSA situation where they are a sitting duck for G5s.

(11-28-2023 09:32 AM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  

(11-28-2023 09:19 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 11:46 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  The MAC and SBC didn't choose Delaware but CUSA did.

Fixed it for you.

But you have it wrong

Right...

(11-28-2023 09:20 AM)HP-TBDPITL Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:50 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  Is the MAC fine, though?

I don't think it is. I saw a stat recently about some MAC schools enrollment dropping, some by as much as 30%. The MAC reminds me of the PSAC in PA where the schools all compete with each other, keep costs down and just barely get by. Even though IUP has had a successful program, no one outside of PA has really ever heard of them.

The midweek thing was cute for awhile, but now you might as well watch a replay of a much better game from the weekend on some other network. Or you can watch some other sport on ESPN+ that plays midweek games.

In all honesty, I think the MAC as a conference is "dead man walking". There is nothing there to feel good about. Its basically a one bid basketball league and has been passed by everyone in FBS football. At some point maybe the whole conference should move down to FCS and compete there.

I could see Buffalo going to CUSA in the long run.

The only times I can remember when the MAC wasn't considered the weakest FBS confernece was the early days of the SBC when they had Idaho and NMSU in it and perhaps right now compared to CUSA 4.0.

Back when the Big West was around the perception of the MAC was even lower than today and the BW was higher profile. MAC scores were not posted on the bottom line ticker and the MAC wasn't included often in FBS preview magizines.

MAC is more on the level of the other G5's than what it has ever been with regard to facilities and coaching. MAC coaches 30 years ago were often paid so little they lost them to high schools.

Its obvious though having an exclusive Midwest footprint is a double edge sword for attracting more programs to join it. But also its definitely easier to win in FB than the SBC which is a plus for the top programs.

(11-28-2023 09:32 AM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  

(11-28-2023 09:19 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 11:46 PM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  The MAC and SBC didn't choose Delaware but CUSA did.

Fixed it for you.

But you have it wrong

His version is more plausible than yours.

(11-28-2023 09:20 AM)HP-TBDPITL Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 08:50 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  Is the MAC fine, though?

I don't think it is. I saw a stat recently about some MAC schools enrollment dropping, some by as much as 30%. The MAC reminds me of the PSAC in PA where the schools all compete with each other, keep costs down and just barely get by. Even though IUP has had a successful program, no one outside of PA has really ever heard of them.

The midweek thing was cute for awhile, but now you might as well watch a replay of a much better game from the weekend on some other network. Or you can watch some other sport on ESPN+ that plays midweek games.

In all honesty, I think the MAC as a conference is "dead man walking". There is nothing there to feel good about. Its basically a one bid basketball league and has been passed by everyone in FBS football. At some point maybe the whole conference should move down to FCS and compete there.

I could see Buffalo going to CUSA in the long run.

CUSA has 4 teams with more than 4 wins, but yeah, Buffalo's heading there.

(11-27-2023 08:23 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  I am a little stunned that Delaware did this for CUSA and not MAC, and I'm curious if there is something to MAC not wanting the transitional years of Delaware on their watch. I just have a ton of questions. But, overall, good for Delaware finally stepping up and out. And with big stones if doing this knowing the rest of their teams will get excluded from conference tournaments from here on out.

To add, though, that if UMass is partly the reason it's CUSA getting Delaware and not MAC, meaning that UMass still won't commit...oy.

This is speculation on my part. Perhaps the MAC thinks Delaware would be using them to go FBS and then be in line for the American or the Sun Belt. CUSA is in a different situation and is actively trying to get to 12 teams.

Before the news broke, our AD responded to some upset UMass fans that he will have something to say in the future. That meshes well with various things, including the Hampshire Gazette article.

PS. Please take out the word 'the' from the threads subject as it exceeds 85 characters when replying.

Delaware doesn't plan to be in CUSA for very long. They may end up being there for long haul, but they have aspirations of using CUSA as a stepping stone only.