2022 Transfer Portal

[Flipper]

Ferguson was the guy who drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while on the sidelines in street clothes and a walking boot, right?

[Schadenfreude]

And then you need to start asking about corporate sponsorships and advertising. IF a divisional change is made in one sport, how will that affect those?

This is not really a thing. The NCAA has three divisions: I, II, and III. In general, schools play all their sports in a single division. An exception is that (as I understand it) a school can play up a division in one men's sport and one women's sport. (Hence, the abundance of Division II schools in the Division I CCHA.)

I also know the collective here is smart enough to know the status quo isn't going to work much longer.

I don't understand this point of view. I'm not just expressing disagreement with it; I don't even understand the intellectual foundation for it. Bowling Green has been in the MAC for 70 years through a lot of thick and thin. Why would we want to change that?

I'm glad our university president and athletic director appear committed to the MAC and FBS football.

[Schadenfreude]

Ferguson was the guy who drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while on the sidelines in street clothes and a walking boot, right?

This is my understanding.

[mbenecke]

Ferguson was the guy who drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while on the sidelines in street clothes and a walking boot, right?

Correct. He's very talented, but his mouth sometimes got him in trouble. He played with a swagger that you had to appreciate, but the issue was that he couldn't always turn it off.

Wishing him the best.

[Flipper]

And then you need to start asking about corporate sponsorships and advertising. IF a divisional change is made in one sport, how will that affect those?

This is not really a thing. The NCAA has three divisions: I, II, and III. In general, schools play all their sports in a single division. An exception is that (as I understand it) a school can play up a division in one men's sport and one women's sport. (Hence, the abundance of Division II schools in the Division I CCHA.)

I also know the collective here is smart enough to know the status quo isn't going to work much longer.

I don't understand this point of view. I'm not just expressing disagreement with it; I don't even understand the intellectual foundation for it. Bowling Green has been in the MAC for 70 years through a lot of thick and thin. Why would we want to change that?

I'm glad our university president and athletic director appear committed to the MAC and FBS football.

The rules have changed so profoundly...primarily NIL and the portal...that it is completely unrealistic to assume that what has transpired over the past 70 years is going to be relevant going forward. And that doesn't even begin to address the larger challenges faced by Universities and other institutions in a post Covid world. The pandemic...and our response to it...shattered a lot of relationships and habits. Time and the evolution of society around us was fraying those relationships any way, but the pandemic hastened the process by leaps and bounds.

[Flipper]

Ferguson was the guy who drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while on the sidelines in street clothes and a walking boot, right?

Correct. He's very talented, but his mouth sometimes got him in trouble. He played with a swagger that you had to appreciate, but the issue was that he couldn't always turn it off.

Wishing him the best.

He really needs to learn to control that temper on the field...he has a lot of talent. I hope he's ablt to do that at his next stop

[jpfalcon09]

I'm a root for the jersey not the player kind of guy. So for me I have no sour grapes over anyone transferring out. It's their life and their decision, just hope it works out in the best possible way for them. A decent chunk of these kids though are throwing away a free education in hopes of latching on somewhere for more playing time. Maybe times have changed but I'd certainly take zero post-collegiate debt over hitting 3rd or 4th on the depth chart. Some things in life are bigger than football.

I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing athletic departments hire a "GM" type role to help manage all this portal chaos. It's a lot to saddle coaches (especially at this level) with the task of high school recruiting on top of managing the losses and gains with transfers. It's also going to lead to massive yearly performance swings which again is probably going to negatively impact coaching roles (more so at this level), which will increase program instability.

Guest is right that the "Clawson Model" of building programs is over. Your homegrown, developed talent is going to take off for greener pastures once they taste personal performance success.

[pdt1081]

And then you need to start asking about corporate sponsorships and advertising. IF a divisional change is made in one sport, how will that affect those?

This is not really a thing. The NCAA has three divisions: I, II, and III. In general, schools play all their sports in a single division. An exception is that (as I understand it) a school can play up a division in one men's sport and one women's sport. (Hence, the abundance of Division II schools in the Division I CCHA.)

I also know the collective here is smart enough to know the status quo isn't going to work much longer.

I don't understand this point of view. I'm not just expressing disagreement with it; I don't even understand the intellectual foundation for it. Bowling Green has been in the MAC for 70 years through a lot of thick and thin. Why would we want to change that?

I'm glad our university president and athletic director appear committed to the MAC and FBS football.

Yep, my bad. Guess I should have said "subdivisional" change instead? Or are you not ready to consider the MAC not being in the same Subdivision as the Big, SEC, etc?

And you'll notice I didn't say anything about WANTING to change. I simply said most here are smart enough to know something HAS to.

And don't take this as me advocating for going FCS or dropping football altogether. I'm not. I'm not even putting one sport above another. I'm saying some serious analytical work needs to take place in order to make some tough decisions that are no doubt going to be made. The longer they wait to do that work, the more knee jerk the decisions are going to seem.

[kdog27]

And then you need to start asking about corporate sponsorships and advertising. IF a divisional change is made in one sport, how will that affect those?

This is not really a thing. The NCAA has three divisions: I, II, and III. In general, schools play all their sports in a single division. An exception is that (as I understand it) a school can play up a division in one men's sport and one women's sport. (Hence, the abundance of Division II schools in the Division I CCHA.)

I also know the collective here is smart enough to know the status quo isn't going to work much longer.

I don't understand this point of view. I'm not just expressing disagreement with it; I don't even understand the intellectual foundation for it. Bowling Green has been in the MAC for 70 years through a lot of thick and thin. Why would we want to change that?

I'm glad our university president and athletic director appear committed to the MAC and FBS football.

Yep, my bad. Guess I should have said "subdivisional" change instead? Or are you not ready to consider the MAC not being in the same Subdivision as the Big, SEC, etc?

And you'll notice I didn't say anything about WANTING to change. I simply said most here are smart enough to know something HAS to.

And don't take this as me advocating for going FCS or dropping football altogether. I'm not. I'm not even putting one sport above another. I'm saying some serious analytical work needs to take place in order to make some tough decisions that are no doubt going to be made. The longer they wait to do that work, the more knee jerk the decisions are going to seem.

Right. I don’t want to see football go away. But I do think other options should at the very least explored. If football is going continue to be our flagship sport it should be providing more value than it presently does. I mean what is the athletic departments strategy? Exist?

To use SF’s word earlier, the entire athletic department is atrocious and definitely needs more than the attitude of we just have these sports because that’s what other MAC members have.

[Flipper]

Right now...we are pursuing the same strategy a opossum does when a truck is approaching....freeze up and hope we don't get run over.

[footballguy51]

Ferguson in the portal...perhaps he can give some other team a bunch of senseless penalties.

[Schadenfreude]

Yep, my bad. Guess I should have said "subdivisional" change instead? Or are you not ready to consider the MAC not being in the same Subdivision as the Big, SEC, etc?

It is a fact that the MAC and the Big Ten play in the same subdivision of football, which is the highest level of NCAA football. A lot of universities would love to be in our position. Just today, 10 universities in the South and West announced they are going to try to move from FCS to FBS as the WAC. (Whether that will actually work I have no idea.)

And you'll notice I didn't say anything about WANTING to change. I simply said most here are smart enough to know something HAS to.

I fail to see an imperative here or how thinking there is one is smart.

I'm also struck by the fact that no one here seems willing to actually articulate a clear alternate vision. The reason, I suspect, is that the alternatives are all pretty bleak. Is the proposal here to model ourselves after Northern Iowa? Morehead State? Wright State? Ferris State?

I don't want to be like any of those schools. Who would compared to where we are now?

And don't take this as me advocating for going FCS or dropping football altogether. I'm not. I'm not even putting one sport above another.

When you talk about subdivisions, you are talking about football, though.

(You obviously aren't talking about eliminating hockey.)

The rules have changed so profoundly...primarily NIL and the portal...that it is completely unrealistic to assume that what has transpired over the past 70 years is going to be relevant going forward.

Isn't men's basketball -- now barely drawing 1,300 people per game and getting beaten by the likes of Queens and Southern Indiana -- just as challenged by these rule changes?

Some of us don't remember the 1980s, but I remember them. Back then, Bowling Green rarely got to play football games against teams in power conferences, especially the major powers. (And these games often did not go well for us.) The MAC was playing out entire football seasons just for the right to play in a single bowl game in Fresno that only aired on regional cable television.

The late 1970s were even worse. The MAC didn't have any bowl games at all back then. Central Michigan went 10-0-1 in 1979 and still had to sit home for the holidays. (Their nonconference wins? A 34-32 victory over San Jose State and a 28-0 win over Northwestern State.)

Compared to those dark days, we are so much better off now. The MAC has bowl games to go around. We have a national television contract. We appear to have a chance now -- small, but a chance nevertheless -- to play for a national title if everything breaks just right in the way that it did for Western Michigan in 2017 or Northern Illinois in 2013.

In this context, I don't see a couple of rule changes or a couple of down seasons for the MAC as that big a deal.

[Flipper]

Oh my...we only play in bowl games now because they expanded the number of bowl games to a point where they pretty much HAVE to let teams like ours play in them. The concept of a bowl game today vs what it was in the 70's and 80's has been devalued worse than Venezuelan currency.

We get to play P5 teams more regularly because they have an incentive to roll up as many wins as they can before their conference schedule. This isn't 2003 or even 2015 any more. We don't beat good P5 teams...we only beat them when they're bad or...maybe...mediocre.
You seem to tie a lot of your support for the University to the notion that we are in the "big time" with football...I used to think that way back in the early 2000's when it was closer to the truth...but damn..look at the product on the field. It's not good. We aren't competing at that level today and with the xfer portal and NIL...it will be practically impossible to get back there again

[BGSU33]

DB Davon Ferguson is in the portal, looking to play a 6th season of college football. He played in 2 games for BG this year after being a really significant impact player last year. He had some issues while he was here, but I'll appreciate what he did in his time here.

The best player on our team for two year - a flat out baller - yet he was injured both years and never played a full season. Big loss since we could have gotten him back next year. I fully expect him to be back at Power Five school and back at his naturally safety position.

[BGSU33]

I still laugh that some here despise those that leave, and roll out the carpet for the kid we pick up. They are the same person….

Let me ask you a question. Did you earn a degree from BGSU? I'm guessing the answer is no, but I could be wrong. Well I did. And many of us on here did. Many of us on here care about what happens at BG. I don't really care about the 1,000+ guys who have already left other schools or the issues they are dealing with at those places. Those aren't my schools. But I care about the guys who leave my school and the issues at BG. Now, do I understand or agree with the decisions of all those guys who leave? Sometimes, but not always. It varies. But it for sure hurts when we lose good players, especially as we continue to try and build this program back up to what it used to be and can be again. I can totally understand guys who aren't good enough to play here or those we missed on recruiting leaving. It's the guys we recruited and developed that we hope to build around that go that are crushing losses. The guys we pick up in exchange are guys who are choosing to come to BG. I don't care what school they left behind, I care about the one they are coming to. Of course we're going to welcome those who chose to come to BG. As for the ones who are leaving, the red carpet was once rolled out for them as well when they came here themselves. What do you expect, for red carpet to be rolled out for them now when they leave too? No one is doing that. Not BG, not anyone.