hammb wrote:I didn't say I'd be in favor of dropping football. And I'm certainly not. I still think dropping hockey would be a great move for the athletic department as a whole, but I know how that goes over on this board, so I'm not going to advocate that either.
My initial thought was not about BG, specifically, dropping football either. My thought is along the lines of the MAC dropping football altogether in favor of a basketball-centric approach.
I'm afraid that at some point something has to give. Athletic budgets have soared while the MAC tries to compete in D1 hoops and D1A football with miniscule fan followings compared to even other mid-majors. At some point it's going to be VERY difficult to justify keeping all these programs alive. Especially considering the MAC is one of the worst conferences in both sports. We FINALLY won a bowl game this year breaking a pretty long string of losses. Last year's OU NCAA tourney win was the first in awhile as well.
Maybe I'm jaded because I was in school at a time where not only was BG very good in both major sports, the conference as a whole was very good in both major sports. In the past 7-8 years I've watched this conference go to total crap in both of them, and I just don't think the schools can put up the budgets expected to compete in both sports. I really do think that at some point the conference is going to have to make some tough decisions.
I hear you on a few of these points. I too think having hockey is a huge struggle for us as we're one of only a few non-BCS schools to have D-I hockey and football. But like you said, that's another can of worms. Likely you, I too was part of some good years of BG hoops and football - and even hockey, baseball and men's soccer for that matter - when I was in school. It was great! But these are certainly tough times for our men's programs, no doubt about it. But I do disagree with the idea of the MAC dropping down in football. And this response isn't directed directly at you, I am responding to the idea you presented, not a personal jab. But my response to that is - for what??? To maybe finally get an at-large bid every now and again? Because that’s all we are (the MAC) possibly are going to get if it hypothetically were to ever happen. And that in no way IMO offsets what we have in football where we’re sending 3-5 teams to bowl games and have fielded teams in the Top-25 more than we have in hoops in recent years. The MAC has made more progress in football than it has in basketball in the last decade by far.
Also along these lines is, BG is one of 120 schools at the FBS football level. And every year, there are schools trying to attain the exact status we are currently sit in. Next year Texas State and UT-San Antonio (starting a program this year at the FCS level) will be coming up to join the WAC. South Alabama is also putting together a team and will be joining the FBS ranks in a couple years and will compete in the Sun Belt. We’re at the top now, with the exception of not being a BCS school. I want to stay there! Off the top of my head, the last FBS (or then I-A) school to drop football or go down a level was Pacific in 1995 when they did away with football. Several FCS (formerly I-AA) schools have as well in recent years, but Pacific is the last one I can think of at the FBS level to do so. In the 16 years since dropping football, they have made four NCAA Tournament appearances, winning a first round game twice, but have never gotten past the second round in the NCAA Tournament. Did dropping football push their basketball program to new heights? No. And let’s be honest, aside from remembering Michael Olowokandi, does anyone outside of the Big West even really know about them?
I’m sorry, but no way. I’m proud of BG and proud to be in the MAC. I might be in the minority here, but I love it. I love being D-I, I love being in elite (FBS) company, and it actually makes me both mad and sad to hear our own fans discuss this kind of talk. When we were hosting College Gameday and in the Top-25 not long ago, this kind of discussion was the furthest from our minds then. We can do it here at BG again. We have and will again. And I guarantee it, if we start winning in football and basketball again, these type of threads won’t be all over our boards like they are nowadays. Others schools in the MAC East are doing it, we’re just not one of them – right now. BG is my favorite D-I football and basketball school, period, But if we were to ever drop a football or basketball program down level, then I will be picking a new school to follow. I’ve poured way too much time, money and effort into my school and expect nothing but the same in return from it. GO BG!!!
