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What division do you want to play in?

I would like for us to stay in the west because of all the good rivalries we've got going with teams like NIU. Plus the West is stronger, and winning the west would be a lot more prestigious

On the other hand, we would have an easier time getting to the MACC in the east.

I want to go back to the East.

Stay where you are... better for My Redskins

First off, we don't give a darn about your Skinhawks!

Second, while we have an existing rivalry with Kent and a rivalry with the aforementioned Skinhawks would take about a half a quarter to develop, the competition is much, MUCH better in the west. Better for strength of scheduel, but I do see the Ohio attendence aspect of it, too. Still, I say screw the east. I'd rather be the best in the West!

The part about being in the west that I do not like is the long trips to NIU, CMU and WMU. And I guess BSU is not all that close either. I do think the fact that these teams our so far away and nobody in the state of Ohio could give a damn about them really hurts attendence.
I like being able to play NIU and UT each season but it seems like both of those games are becoming games where the home teams always win.
Though maybe we should stay away from the East. Our luck is not too good with Miami. When was the last time we beat them?

Ball State isn't that bad. OH! You meant from BG! Sorry.

Though actually, its closer to BG than OU and Buffalo, and not that much different than Kent or Akron. But I do see what you're saying about people being not as familiar with schools outside of Ohio. I would be interested to see if that really affected attendance, but would rather we stayed in the west.

Looking at it from the conference perspective, I think it would be best, at least in terms of football, if BG moved back to the East. This would help maintain some competitve balance between the two divisions. If someone like Ball State moved to the East, I think it would be a foregone conclusion that Miami wins that division, at least in the near future. Moving BG over there at least evens things up a bit, two pretty good teams in each division then.

I voted to stay in the West.

I like playing East schools, particularly Miami.

But the Toledo game is so much more meaningful these days. It wouldn't be the same if it were a crossover game. and NIU is good. Those are two games we know can pack our place.

Since we are now zeroing in on Western Kentucky and Temple, it is possible that something much more dramatic could be put together.

If we get settled into all sports divisions, what about:

East: Western Kentucky, Ball State, Miami, Ohio, Temple, Buffalo and Akron
West: Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Bowling Green and Kent State

The East would be *killer* in basketball. I'm not a mathematician, but I wonder if it would be so strong that we would have a much better shot at multiple bids. It would be even more killer if Akron and Kent State were switched. (I put Kent State in the west because they are our sister school.

That's the flaw in this plan; it splits Akron and Kent State. But it isn't like spliting Toledo and Bowling Green. If the Flashes and Zips are a crossover football game, it isn't as big a deal, because a title has never been on the line.

Finally: I don't have a problem with a reasonable amount of competitive imbalance between the divisions. It created quite a bit of excitement for Akron this year, and it may continue to do so. That's good for them. Meanwhile, in the tough division, fans tend to recognize its tough and already be involved in the team...

West.

Bleeding Orange wrote:First off, we don't give a darn about your Skinhawks!

For the Record, I believe it is now ForeHawks since the "skins" has been dropped.

I voted to go back east. I am tired of having NIU and Toledo on the road every other year.

I am sorry - NIU is no more of a rival than Ball State or Central Michigan 10 years ago. The ONLY rival there is Toledo. I say move east and face 'sister school' Kent and our true rival, Miami.

Besides, Imagine a BG Toledo MACC. whoa.

Falcon30 wrote:

Bleeding Orange wrote:Besides, Imagine a BG Toledo MACC. whoa.

I guess that would be one way to ensure Ford Field was packed. Wouldn't have to worry about panning up to see the empty stands! The only problem with that is you would run into a Broncos/Colts scenario where we would play them two times in a row. You have to admit....that would be pretty lame...if we moved to the east, we would almost have to move that game a week or more back in the schedule to prevent something like that happening.

Living so close to Akron and Kent, I really miss seeing the BG teams here on a regular basis. But I don't mind BG in the West, either. The rivalry with NIU has become a good one...as well as the UT game deciding the West title the last 3 years. OTOH, there really isn't any rivalries with Ball State, EMU or WMU. The BG/CMU rivalry in football was a great one up to the mid 90's. I'd rather see us play Miami, Ohio U and Kent State every year instead. And I can make it to Buffalo in less time than it takes me to drive to CMU, WMU or Ball State....just my selfish feelings there.

I spoke with a very important individual in the Athletic Dept last night during the hockey game and this individual stated BG has the option of choosing what division it wants....since we were moved over, we get to make that choice. This person was 95% sure we would be moving back to the East. I think we are heading back to the East....

GO FALCONS!!

kdog27 wrote:Though maybe we should stay away from the East. Our luck is not too good with Miami. When was the last time we beat them?

How about a 28-21 win in 1997.... We've lost 6 straight to the 'Hawks ('98, '99, '00, '01 and twice in '03!)