Say it ain't so...........Sad day for the MAC

[FalconTurf]

25,000 x $20 = $500,000. So that one home game played on Tuesday instead of Saturday is made up for. Obviously that is a little inflated considering students are paying whether they attend or not and season ticket holders are paying either way.

On the other hand loyalty is priceless. What does a Tuesday game really cost?

Falconturf, not sure if I'm reading your comments above correctly (and this is not meant to be a flippant post)

25,000?

For a home game on a Saturday in November?

They better move Family Weekend and Homecoming to November and pray for good weather, because we are never going to see that many at a November home game without some type of promotion (unless we're undefeated and playing for a chance for New Years Day bowl game).

I've said it before. The University Presidents of the MAC schools are the ones who have us playing on weeknights in November. They see it as advertising that our institutions cannot normally afford to pay for. Every time they come back from a commercial (we had over 45 minutes of commercials in the Kent State game alone) they say the name of the university the game is being played at; they show a campus shot. That is big bucks right there. In addition, we get two national ads each game (and then BGSU also purchases a number of regional ads in areas we want to target - for prospective students as well as alums and donations). Weeknight games are not just athletic events - they are recruiting events; they are fund raising events; they are feel-good events. Maybe because we were on TV, some alum with a few bucks decides to make a donation to the university. It might not be for athletics - they may donate money for the library, the College of Business, or for an endowed scholarship. BGSU is not just an athletic department, it's a university.

From my admissions/enrollment point-of-view, I totally understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. Got to look at the B!G picture.

I was simply throwing the best case scenario out there to compare with income from the TV contract.

On the flip side the argument for advertising doesn't hold a lot of weight. Gamblers are not looking for colleges to attend. I have a HS student in my house that has little time for weeknight football games. Practice, studying and other activities leave little time to watch the big Tuesday night game. He might watch for a little while IF I have BG on but rarely seeks out a game on his own unless BG is involved. I think we are fooling ourselves when we believe Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night games that sometimes start as late as 9 PM actually attract the HS student. The students we want are studying and involved in extra-curricular activities and are more involved in social media during free time than ESPN3, ESPNU or ESPNU.

[hammb]

We've had the argument a billion times, but there is no concrete way to way the cost/benefits of these weeknight games. At least it's not easy.

I can speak for myself and say not only do I NOT attend these ridiculous weeknight games, I also dropped my season tickets solely because of them. Using up my season tickets became a chore that was not enjoyable. Once I was no longer obligated to attend all the games, I find myself now not even attending the Saturday games, unless there is a legit reason to. Last year, when we were good? I went to many of the games, I had tickets given to me for every one of them. This year I turned down my buddy every time, and didn't make a single game. I always either had something else going on, or quite simply didn't feel compelled to sit outside and spend 4 hours of my day watching a crap team.

College football isn't supposed to be JUST about the game. It's the pageantry, it's an entire day of fun tailgating, etc. By playing weeknight games, and never playing Saturday evening games we no longer have those long tailgate days to make BG football an experience. Losing that experience has almost entirely lost me as a fan. I rarely comment on this board about any game specifics because quite honestly, I barely pay attention anymore. Even if I have the games on (WOOHOOO ESPN3, big bucks!!), I'm only half-assed paying attention.

In college, and after, I would say I was as die hard as you could find. I attended every game my 4 years in school, and probably missed less than 5 games for the Brandon years combined. I was out in nearly any weather (missed that mudbowl Miami game due to work travel, that was a testament to any fan). I would say that I was the posterchild for a BG lifer that could not only be counted on for ticket revenue for the foreseeable future, but would actively work to sell the program. But here we are, 15 years after graduation and I didn't attend a single game. And I can pinpoint that specifically to the proliferation of weeknight games that made being a season ticket holder more of a chore than something fun.

[moneymaker02]

I think a lot of you are severely overreacting about the week day games. It gives the school a ton of money and for someone who lives in the south now, i enjoy the fact that they are on national tv. This way i don't have to stream the games. Just to build off hammb, that miami tropical storm game was my super senior year and we stuck through it and even tailgated inside of a box car in lot 6.

[hammb]

I think a lot of you are severely overreacting about the week day games. It gives the school a ton of money and for someone who lives in the south now, i enjoy the fact that they are on national tv. .

A "ton of money" is debatable and relative.

And being that you live away from NWOhio they certainly help you, because now you can watch a game on a Tuesday evening as opposed to streaming it on a Saturday afternoon. No doubt the weeknight games are a benefit to people who have no ability to buy season tickets/attend games.

If I'm not going to attend the games, I prefer them to be on weeknights for convenient viewing as well. But it's undeniable that playing on weeknights lessens my connection (and others, I'd imagine) to the program.

[Flipper]

I'm like hammb..the weeknight games made following the team live into a chore. Combine that with the spate of legal issues that cropped up under Brandon..abated somewhat under Clawson before returning a bit under Dino...it made me question why I would root for these guys. As an undergrad, I commuted and worked just about every weekend, so almost none of my BG memories involve anything sports related. I had some great times in class and in the bars with my friends...but sports? No.

When Blackney and then Meyer and to a lesser extent Brandon built teams that were really good on an absolute shoestring...I had to admire that and we had this fine website to really build a sense of community on top of that. But...that all kind of deteriorated to where we are now. I follow the team to a degree, but haven't been to a game at the Doyt since the Indiana game in Dino's first year.

My daughter's is a freshie flute in the Temperance Bedford marching band (go Mules!!) . Went to all the home games except one this year.. we even went to a road playoff game because the district agreed to send the band to all the playoff games. The two bands hooked up postgame in the endzone and played "Land of a 1000 Dances " together because everyone knows that. It was such a great moment to see...completely organic and fun. Not fun because we're following the mapped out traditions from a program...but fun because it was....fun. My wife says HS football is a better fit for me because it's about the game, the team and the community...I think that's probably true. I love the vibe and the energy.

Now if we could just get the local firebug to stop burning down all the sheds...
http://www.bedfordnow.com/news/20161026 ... igh-school" target="_blank

[gmartin]

WMU ranked #17 in CFP. Navy #19.

Navy plays Temple Saturday for the American Conference Championship and then Army next weekend. Something tells me that if Navy wins this weekend they will be playing in the Cotton Bowl over undefeated WMU. Yes the bowl selections are Sunday HOWEVER they just said that if Navy wins this weekend they will hold off on the Cotton Bowl until after the Army Navy game. That's ridiculous!!!!!

[Schadenfreude]

A two-loss Navy should not be ranked ahead of Western Michigan.

[Flipper]

Yeah...they're fixing to screw the Broncos

[hammb]

Inexcusable and ridiculous but not the least surprised.

Bowl berths have always been more about money a team/school can bring in than resume. And nobody should honestly believe this current playoff committee bs is any different.

Until they define a concrete method of "earning" these things it'll always be about money first and resume second. Chalk it up as another reason to find college football pointless.

[bgdodgeball4]

If that happens, I may be done watching college football period.

Don't get me wrong, Navy is a solid team. But how anyone could realistically justify not rewarding a perfect season conference champ over a 2 loss school is absolutely ridiculous. Don't even argue with me about a win over a way down Notre Dame. I don't want to hear it.

I mean seriously, what's the point of playing the games anymore? There's essentially a negative chance for a playoff berth - and now the MAC is behind the eight ball on a NYD bowl after what should be a perfect season. They literally could not have done anything else, but good luck in that Little Ceasar's bowl.

I sincerely hope Penn State wins, because that will start the playoff discussion all over again. 8 or 16 teams, where every team has a shot. Otherwise, might as well skip the regular season and just have Ohio State and Bama play every weekend.

[Flipper]

This has kinda been my point for awhile now..we can say we're D1...but the money that controls the sport will do everything they can to show us we're not.

[jpfalcon09]

If that happens, I may be done watching college football period.

Don't get me wrong, Navy is a solid team. But how anyone could realistically justify not rewarding a perfect season conference champ over a 2 loss school is absolutely ridiculous. Don't even argue with me about a win over a way down Notre Dame. I don't want to hear it.

I mean seriously, what's the point of playing the games anymore? There's essentially a negative chance for a playoff berth - and now the MAC is behind the eight ball on a NYD bowl after what should be a perfect season. They literally could not have done anything else, but good luck in that Little Ceasar's bowl.

I sincerely hope Penn State wins, because that will start the playoff discussion all over again. 8 or 16 teams, where every team has a shot. Otherwise, might as well skip the regular season and just have Ohio State and Bama play every weekend.

The AAC will always get the nod over the MAC. Just a matter of time until it gets accepted as a power conference.

This season has been all kinds of messed up. You have the potential of 2-3 conference champions not even making it to the playoff. It's becoming like college basketball where the season is being reduced to just not messing things up enough to not get a high seeding in March Madness. Money is the ultimate driver of who is going to get in, never mind who beat who. The only hope is as you said that enough schools bitch about being excluded who did enough to win their conference, only to sit on the outside looking in. In the end, the system needs to be that every conference champion gets an automatic berth (G5 included) much like CBB is. If not, then you're essentially acknowledging that the season doesn't matter as long as you don't lose to any bad teams.

[Flipper]

Two teams from the B1G might make the playoffs...neither are playing for the conference title. This "playoff" for the Trophy reeks of nonsense, monkey shines and tomfoolery. How is a set up that nullifies actual on field results in favor of subjective rationales an improvement over playing a bunch of bowl games and then taking a vote?

[hammb]

There will never be a playoff with all conference champs getting automatic berths. It's not going to happen for the exact reason that we (and I'm SURE PSU, Wisky, Colorado, VaTech, etc) are all bitching. The money that controls this sport wants, and NEEDS, a system where they can control exactly who gets in to make sure that the regular season doesn't matter.

If you're one of the 15-20 megapowers all you have to do is put yourself close to the top and you'll get every benefit of the doubt. What happens on the field means little as long as you win enough games to stay near the top. Conference championships are meaningless in this world...unless of course it's the team they WANT to put in. If that team wins the championship you'll hear how it was such a big factor.

They may expand the playoff to 8 or 16 teams someday. They'll never make it be a fair playing field for all teams, and I don't know how anybody could ever believe otherwise.

What I have found interesting is that it has pretty much ruined college football for me and most of my friends. I still know plenty of people that worship college football and talk about how much better it is than NFL or whatever, but most of those people are the fans of one of these mega powers. If you're not a fan of a mega power, I just don't know how you find college football enjoyable anymore. I know there are people on this board that still do, but I just don't get it.

[moneymaker02]

I'm going to slightly disagree with you. Everyone knows I'm a big10 hater. This year I think it is justified to get two big10 teams in. I believe OSU has punched their ticket unless Wisky absolutely stomps Penn State and they move up to number 2 or 3. Best case scenario is for Washington to beat Colorado. At this point it would be bama, clemson, washington, and then the committee would have to decide on either wisky or osu. What would create absolute chaos is if clemson and washington both lose.