MAC Championship Game

[footballguy51]

What a great game. Imagine if the winner got to go to a tournament game now. Would make it all the more amazing.

It would righteously suck because the winner has no business being up for a national title.

Do you also think it would suck if the Mens basketball team won the MAC and went to that tournament?

The men's team can win the MAC but can't go the NCAA tourney unless they win the MAC tourney, which isn't a single game championship.

Plus, I don't buy the argument that the basketball tourney and a theoretical football counterpart can be compared.

Why in the world could they not be compared? The MAC championship would mean even more. You don't think it would be cool for BG to go to a 16 team tournament at the end of the year for the championship? I would love that. There would be no reason to play any games if you just awarded the game to the likely winner.

So your rule is, "if its a one game tournament then that is not as good"? Makes no sense to me. I think it would be fun as hell.

I do not think they can be compared, and have not felt that in the entire history of posting on this forum.

I do not think it would be cool to see a BGSU squad on par with the below average teams that just played in the MAC title game, in a 16 team tourney, which would begin with elites validly stating that BGSU has not credibility against any of the higher ranked teams it would play, and then prove it by being destroyed on the field.

Even if, and these days it is a massive, fat, ugly, IF, we somehow were one of the old-school giant killer MAC teams, I still would rather see a decent match in a bowl game where we walk away with something, rather than end the season on a loss, against teams we can't beat.

So no, I'm not in love with this fixation with football tourneys. No offense, no picking a fight, but I also do not back down from this point of view. You see it otherwise, go in peace, but I've heard the arguments endlessly here.

Isn't that basically what the NCAA basketball tournament is? Some 16 seed gets in because they are the winner of a terrible conference, plays against a powerhouse, gets destroyed, and looks terrible? That sounds exactly the same to me.

[footballguy51]

Do we need to rethink playing MAC Championship game at a neutral site? There is NO BODY in Ford Field! Embarassing for MAC and sure ESPN not happy. They can't even show a shot of the stands where there are more than a couple of fans sitting together.

I think if this game were played on a Saturday, there would have been people there. The issue with having people traveling from Athens and Dekalb to Detroit for a Friday night game is that nobody has a home game, so you don't even get a decent sized home crowd for the game. At least with bowl games, people have time to ask for time off work to get to the game. With conference championships, you sometimes don't know you're in the game until the week before, which often isn't enough time to ask for time off and buy a ticket.

They moved the conference title game to a neutral site to eliminate any perceived advantage in the game, just like the basketball tourney is now in Cleveland, home to none of the MAC schools.

[Falconfreak90]

Heck of a comeback by NIU...but why the heck was OU throwing the ball in the 4th quarter with a lead??!! Ohio blew it BiG time.

[factman]

Heck of a comeback by NIU...but why the heck was OU throwing the ball in the 4th quarter with a lead??!! Ohio blew it BiG time.

Probably for the same reason(s) that people complain that we often DON'T throw the ball much with a lead and then get beat in the last few minutes!
I don't think coaches are ever right!

[jpfalcon09]

Do we need to rethink playing MAC Championship game at a neutral site? There is NO BODY in Ford Field! Embarassing for MAC and sure ESPN not happy. They can't even show a shot of the stands where there are more than a couple of fans sitting together.

I think if this game were played on a Saturday, there would have been people there. The issue with having people traveling from Athens and Dekalb to Detroit for a Friday night game is that nobody has a home game, so you don't even get a decent sized home crowd for the game. At least with bowl games, people have time to ask for time off work to get to the game. With conference championships, you sometimes don't know you're in the game until the week before, which often isn't enough time to ask for time off and buy a ticket.

They moved the conference title game to a neutral site to eliminate any perceived advantage in the game, just like the basketball tourney is now in Cleveland, home to none of the MAC schools.

I'm from the thinking that any conference title game should be hosted by the better conference record team. Screw playing neutral site games, a good record deserves home field in the title game and the extra $$.

[feathers]

Warthong: You may have something there.

[MarkL]

Maybe it should be a doubleheader in Indy with the Big Ten championship game...

That would just lead to talk of the MAC being the Big Ten's little brother. I don't like that one bit.
I would FAR prefer to have the game at the college sites the way it used to be. West gets it one year, east the next, etc. The crowd would show up and be loud, even in crappy weather. If they can play outside the week before, why can't they play outside for the MAC title game?

[NWLB]

Isn't that basically what the NCAA basketball tournament is? Some 16 seed gets in because they are the winner of a terrible conference, plays against a powerhouse, gets destroyed, and looks terrible? That sounds exactly the same to me.

In that regard, yes, and a clear illustration of why it is a bad idea in football. I simply don't believe the two sports compare well enough to make possible tournaments in each equal to each other.

Far and beyond basketball, the "whose best" argument is at the heart of the football tourney idea, and I don't believe for a second, that any format will end that debate. Thus the act of creating a tourney is nothing more than destructive and wasteful. I'm also not a big fan of the existing series of bowls we have either, where most of the MAC is lined up against teams they too often have no chance against.

Again, it's a point of view, not anything more. These days I shrug and care very little about sports.

[NWLB]

I'm watching the CUSA title game, and it is a perfect example of why this MAC game in Detroit, is a BAD idea.

Full stadium, excited home crowd.

[Globetrotter]

I'm watching the CUSA title game, and it is a perfect example of why this MAC game in Detroit, is a BAD idea.

Full stadium, excited home crowd.

Yeah, looks great. I am easily persuaded on this one. I thought that the neutral site makes more sense because I am all about fairness but it seems pretty clear that a neutral site just kills the college football environment. Can you imagine if they had a tournament game next

[NWLB]

I'm watching the CUSA title game, and it is a perfect example of why this MAC game in Detroit, is a BAD idea.

Full stadium, excited home crowd.

Yeah, looks great. I am easily persuaded on this one. I thought that the neutral site makes more sense because I am all about fairness but it seems pretty clear that a neutral site just kills the college football environment. Can you imagine if they had a tournament game next

Despite the blow-out, that it was an upset of the home team, and a top 6 upset, good game.

Glad that an auto bid to an unworthy team didn't have to happen here.

[Globetrotter]

I'm watching the CUSA title game, and it is a perfect example of why this MAC game in Detroit, is a BAD idea.

Full stadium, excited home crowd.

Yeah, looks great. I am easily persuaded on this one. I thought that the neutral site makes more sense because I am all about fairness but it seems pretty clear that a neutral site just kills the college football environment. Can you imagine if they had a tournament game next

Despite the blow-out, that it was an upset of the home team, and a top 6 upset, good game.

Glad that an auto bid to an unworthy team didn't have to happen here.

Can you imagine the memories that the Southern Miss players would have even just playing Alabama on the national stage. Then imagine they get hot and Boise State them the way Oke got it. Would be sweet.

[Globetrotter]

Did we just lose a share of 17 million because Southern Miss beat Houston and knocked them out of the BCS?

[NWLB]

I'm watching the CUSA title game, and it is a perfect example of why this MAC game in Detroit, is a BAD idea.

Full stadium, excited home crowd.

Yeah, looks great. I am easily persuaded on this one. I thought that the neutral site makes more sense because I am all about fairness but it seems pretty clear that a neutral site just kills the college football environment. Can you imagine if they had a tournament game next

Despite the blow-out, that it was an upset of the home team, and a top 6 upset, good game.

Glad that an auto bid to an unworthy team didn't have to happen here.

Can you imagine the memories that the Southern Miss players would have even just playing Alabama on the national stage. Then imagine they get hot and Boise State them the way Oke got it. Would be sweet.

The players would say all the politically correct things, but would feel better winning their last game, instead of being shown to be second or third tier in college football.

And it isn't basketball, again, which is my point. You can't compare the "hot team" in the NCAA BB tourney to something in football. Such runs rarely, if every happen. And BGSU isn't Boise, in fact the entire MAC isn't a Boise.

Again, I'm not in the mood to pick a fight. I'm simply saying that the comparisons are unrealistic. There is a mindset in sports fandom that always wants to sell-out everything for any bowl, or any hope of a spot in some mythical title tourney. The hard reality is that the vain hope of a once in a 150 year title, which likely as not won't happen anyway, is not worth screwing the game over even more.

And that applies to the growing number of simply lousy bowl game match-ups and hopeless OOC games too.

[Globetrotter]

I'm watching the CUSA title game, and it is a perfect example of why this MAC game in Detroit, is a BAD idea.

Full stadium, excited home crowd.

Yeah, looks great. I am easily persuaded on this one. I thought that the neutral site makes more sense because I am all about fairness but it seems pretty clear that a neutral site just kills the college football environment. Can you imagine if they had a tournament game next

Despite the blow-out, that it was an upset of the home team, and a top 6 upset, good game.

Glad that an auto bid to an unworthy team didn't have to happen here.

Can you imagine the memories that the Southern Miss players would have even just playing Alabama on the national stage. Then imagine they get hot and Boise State them the way Oke got it. Would be sweet.

The players would say all the politically correct things, but would feel better winning their last game, instead of being shown to be second or third tier in college football.

And it isn't basketball, again, which is my point. You can't compare the "hot team" in the NCAA BB tourney to something in football. Such runs rarely, if every happen. And BGSU isn't Boise, in fact the entire MAC isn't a Boise.

Again, I'm not in the mood to pick a fight. I'm simply saying that the comparisons are unrealistic. There is a mindset in sports fandom that always wants to sell-out everything for any bowl, or any hope of a spot in some mythical title tourney. The hard reality is that the vain hope of a once in a 150 year title, which likely as not won't happen anyway, is not worth screwing the game over even more.

And that applies to the growing number of simply lousy bowl game match-ups and hopeless OOC games too.

Why do you keep saying you don't want to pick a fight. It's just discussion, I would hope that we don't have to devolve into that all the time.