How will UMass change the MAC scene?

[MarkL]

Well, FWIW I couldn't watch the press conference, but I saw a writeup of it and there was no mention of division restructuring. I guess we'll have to wait for that one.

[jg4242]

It's going to add a great music program and world-class marching band to the conference, as well. UMass' marching band is one of the best in the country, and it would be pretty cool to bring them out to visit the Doyt...

[gmartin]

You couldn't view the online press conference because there wasn't any bandwidth remaining today. They were too busy streaming Boston Red Sox game.

[Falcon Commander]

anyone know what 'Perks' BG got for the previous "Division Jumping" that was done ??

[BGSU33]

BG should tell the MAC office to pound salt if they try to move us back to the West. We've done that dance before and someone else should be the one to move.

BG volunteered to switch divisions last time. Any team can move between divisions, so while some people think it is automatically BG, well they're wrong.

Listen to what the conference is willing to offer
i.e. Conference assistance in scheduling some NAME programs coming to BG for football and basketball games, AND GUARANTEEING UMass will play at the Stroh Center this year or next
Better TV exposure for the university within the conference television deals
An extra share of the television package revenue or the NCAA draw

If they don't want to deal, then they can go to Miami, OU, Kent, Akron, and Buffalo and see which of them wants to change divisions.

Some of you need to lighten up on the caffeine (NOT directed at the Freak) and realize that it is good to be in this position.

Thanks for the info Transfer, and this isn’t directed at you, only a response to what you posted the MAC has to offer. But after seeing those “offers,” I still say - so frickin’ what.

First off, the idea of “assistance” from the MAC in scheduling some name programs just makes me chuckle. My question would be – Just how does the MAC propose that will happen? Because with the exception of say Toledo for football (which has done a very nice job of pulling in BCS home games pretty consistently in the past and has some lined up for the future scheduling), all of us in the MAC are in about the same boat with that one. We are all pretty much on par with one another. We get a few BCS teams to play on the road in football and a few in basketball year after year. I simply don’t believe in the idea of the MAC helping BG starting bringing in these games. No way. What’s more, it was actually BG that had a big hand in helping the MAC itself out a few years ago with that scheduling mess with other schools. I’m sure many of you remember that mess, Ohio backing out of its games, another school overscheduled.

As for a guarantee that UMass will play in the Stroh Center this year or next, again, I say big deal. UMass went 15-15 last year, 12-20 the year before and 12-18 the year before that. Yes they had a couple good seasons several years ago and yes I am aware of their NCAA Tournament run 16 years ago. But they have only been back in the NCAA Tournament three times since that and have gotten to the second round once. This is UMass, not UConn, It’s not like Dr. J or Marcus Camby is still playing for them. “When” we get UMass doesn’t much matter IMO as to “that” we’ll get them. With UMass playing a couple MAC road games every year, we’re going to get them every once in awhile just like every other MAC school will, just like we all do with Temple. Whether UMass comes this year, next year or in four years just doesn’t do a whole lot for BG.

As for the better television expose with the conference television deals, again, not buying it. If we start to win again and get back to the top of the MAC, we’ll do that part on our own. Trust me, a 10-2 BG team is going to land better coverage in our MAC TV package of games than a 2-10 team. If we win, it takes care of itself. Period. We got College Gameday to come to BG by simply winning. What more needs to be said. You win, you’re happy. Fans comes out, you get better tv spots, everyone is happy. You lose, fans don’t come out, you get the short end of the tv spots, everyone is mad. Frankly, I don’t want to see our MAC package coverage exposure increase when we played as poor as last year. It was bad enough to watch in person, I was actually glad some of those games weren’t available for the nation to see. Win, and it takes care of itself.

To be honest, I just really don’t see these as “incentives” at all. To me, it’s like the MAC is pouring a bowl of Lucky Charms in front of us and scooping out a spoonful to eat saying, “Look, you’ll get pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars and green clovers – but wait – also blue diamonds, purple horseshoes and red balloons too!” I say - we can pour our own bowl and get the same damn thing while also getting a few toasted oats.

[Falconfreak90]

BG should tell the MAC office to pound salt if they try to move us back to the West. We've done that dance before and someone else should be the one to move.

BG volunteered to switch divisions last time. Any team can move between divisions, so while some people think it is automatically BG, well they're wrong.

Listen to what the conference is willing to offer
i.e. Conference assistance in scheduling some NAME programs coming to BG for football and basketball games, AND GUARANTEEING UMass will play at the Stroh Center this year or next
Better TV exposure for the university within the conference television deals
An extra share of the television package revenue or the NCAA draw

If they don't want to deal, then they can go to Miami, OU, Kent, Akron, and Buffalo and see which of them wants to change divisions.

Some of you need to lighten up on the caffeine (NOT directed at the Freak) and realize that it is good to be in this position.

No offense taken my friend. I do need to lighten up at times. LOL. I really don't want BG in the West...just my 2 cents.

[transfer2BGSU]

Thanks for the info Transfer, and this isn’t directed at you, only a response to what you posted the MAC has to offer. But after seeing those “offers,” I still say - so frickin’ what

I don't know what the conference MIGHT offer and what the Administration and the Athletic Dept. want from the conference. Those were just some quick thoughts. The coaches might want to go back to the west. We may get something, we might not. We may move to the west and we could stay in the east.

[Rightupinthere]

Having an East switch to the West would make sense from a Geographical point of view since Mass and Philly are - you know - in the East.

Let's say BG switches. Let's now take a look at the division line-up for bball:

East
OU
MiAudi
Kent
UB
UA

West
BG
Toiletto
WMU
EMU
CMU
BSU
NIU

Do y'all see something amiss? Something, perhaps odd, even?

Good. No one is switching. Can we PLEASE end that discussion? Please? Put UMass in the west. Yes, it doesn't makes sense but neither does it make sense having a Texas school in the BigEAST, 12 teams in the Big 10, 10 teams in the Big 12, and 12 teams in the Pac10, or organized religion.

[Flipper]

I wouldn't mind going back to the west...we had our best years of late in the west and I would get a semi-annual game with EMU in my back yard...well, figuratively in my bck yard...

[MarkL]

RUIT - if we move to the west, I imagine it would be for football only. All other sports would compete in the east. Not sure how I feel about that one, but that's what would happen should we be the one to move.

[Class of 61]

RUIT - if we move to the west, I imagine it would be for football only. All other sports would compete in the east. Not sure how I feel about that one, but that's what would happen should we be the one to move.

Mark, So in the BESTCASE Scenerio, BG could be a West Champ in FB, and East Champ in other sports...still doesn't make sense to me... It just might be time to go to a N-S division setup...OR...as several have already suggested, let UMASS play in the West... It would mean a total of THREE trips for them to play West Div. schools...and it would mean THREE trips for them to play East Div. schools (Their only saving grace would be that UB and Temple would be a "bit' closer for them). Frankly, I'm not in favor of us moving either, despite all the alleged "perks" to be offered.

[Rightupinthere]

RUIT - if we move to the west, I imagine it would be for football only. All other sports would compete in the east. Not sure how I feel about that one, but that's what would happen should we be the one to move.

So you're going to have split rivalries varied by sport?

That's what I call piss-poor marketing on the MAC - which they do with aplomb.

[sbkbghockey]

The more I think about it, the more I think the MAC's divisions are about to be restructured. I think they're going to split up UMass and Temple, but they don't want to welcome UMass into the MAC and move them into the west, then tell them that they have to travel to Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and NW Ohio on a weekly basis ... welcome to our conference. I think they're going to be splitting the divisions such that Temple and UMass are split but no one single school is completely screwed in terms of geography. Problem is, this will all be just in time I'm sure for UMass and Temple to try to move elsewhere, therefore screwing over the MAC and the new divisions.

I have a feeling this might be true. Buffalo sounds far but it's fairly close to the Northeastern Ohio MAC members. Temple and especially UMass are big outliers. I just read UMass has a 17,000-seat on campus stadium (15,000 is the FBS minimum average attendance and UMass averaged less than 14,000 in their current conference.) But instead of filling their 17,000-seat on campus stadium they're going to play in Foxborough over 90 miles from campus. Good luck getting students to drive from campus to see Umass play Northern IL, Miami (OH), Bowling Green. We're great schools but no regional rivals like in Much of the current MAC. If the MAC wants to expand I'd rather see us bring in more regional FCS upgrades with schools like Western Illinois or Youngstown State, or even Grand Valley State if they wanted to upgrade from DII. I think Umass as a MAC member could be short lived either they’ll decide it’s too much money to keep funding and go back to FCS or maybe join a closer BCS conference like the Big East or ACC.

[MarkL]

RUIT - if we move to the west, I imagine it would be for football only. All other sports would compete in the east. Not sure how I feel about that one, but that's what would happen should we be the one to move.

So you're going to have split rivalries varied by sport?

That's what I call piss-poor marketing on the MAC - which they do with aplomb.

Yeah, that's about what it sounds like. I could live with it but I don't like it. What it would mean is we would be in the better football division (the west) and the better basketball division (the east). I'd rather just set divisions and stick with it for all sports, except add UMass to one and Temple to the other. Allow rivalries to grow across all sports.

What perks are offered by us moving to the west? Preferred scheduling for OOC games (not that the MAC helps with that one bit)? Preferred TV coverage (not that the MAC helps with that one bit)?

[BGSU33]

MAC Membership Agreement

Temple and UMass have been Atlantic 10 basketball rivals for decades. Joining the MAC extends that to football. But the two schools, which are the MAC's sole football-only members, are more closely linked to each other than any of the MAC's other members.

Temple originally joined the MAC on a six-year contract in 2007 after being dropped by the Big East. UMass' contract calls for an open-ended agreement with no termination date. According to McCutcheon, Temple now has the same membership agreement as UMass.

If the Minutemen chose to withdraw from the MAC to join another Bowl Subdivision conference or become an FBS independent, UMass would be assessed a fee of $2.5 million and would be required to give two years advanced notice.

But if either UMass or Temple were to announce a decision to leave, the other's membership could change.

The MAC would have the option of retaining the remaining school as a full member, replacing the departing school with another program or converting the remaining team's membership to a term contract of no less than two years.

In the event of a term contract, the remaining school would only need to pay $500,000 if it chose to withdraw.

"We're aligned with them as the two football-only members. If something changes and one of us pursues another opportunity, it affects the other," McCutcheon said. "There are some assurances one way or the other that whoever would be remaining has some mechanisms to protect themselves.

"The exit assessment is significant," McCutcheon continued. "The MAC wanted to protect themselves from having too much turnover within the league, but they didn't want to overly penalize the institution that was not deciding to go."