MW interested in Toledo & NIU

[jpfalcon09]

From Brett McMurphy:

"Mountain West notifies the MAC of its interest in NIU & Toledo as football-only members in 2026, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. This adds Central Time Zone to MW, potentially increasing future media rights value. NIU & Toledo have combined for 7 of last 13 MAC titles. MW currently has 7 football members but would still need 2 full-time members in addition to NIU & Toledo."

Game on.

[mbenecke]

If it happens:

Bring in Western Kentucky with UMass and stay at 12.

Preserve the Battle of I-75 as an annual non-conference game. You can really play it anytime during the year, just as long as it’s not a weeknight.

[Miami Valley Falcon]

The MAC has done, in general, a pretty good job of keeping the schools together throughout this madness. I think the conference is banking on keeping some semblance of tradition and it’s an easy sell to keep those travel costs down. Plus, this year if any shows that if you run the table in the MAC, you’ve got a pretty good shot at the playoff. If BG runs the table this year, I think they’re in. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they stayed put.

All of that said, as soon as the core of the MAC breaks up (it’s probably inevitable at this point), I think my college football fandom is done. The things I enjoyed about college football are mostly gone at the expense of media rights deals.

[Globetrotter]

As long as BG has a football team I will follow them. If we can't compete financially with Toledo let them go.

[guest44]

Let them go. The Mountain West doesn’t want Northern Illinois for any other sports because they are pure trash across the board. Like bottom of barrel garbage. Toledo is in a weird spot. The current run on success in sports in probably not sustainable, it’s also a function of really mediocre AD’s throughout the conference. Just look at how inept BGSU was for eight or so years. Buffalo missed its opportunity and hired an incompetent AD. Toledo needs to go now if they are going to do it. It may not be the Mountain West but some other option as it shakes out.

[Falconfreak90]

The MAC has done, in general, a pretty good job of keeping the schools together throughout this madness. I think the conference is banking on keeping some semblance of tradition and it’s an easy sell to keep those travel costs down. Plus, this year if any shows that if you run the table in the MAC, you’ve got a pretty good shot at the playoff. If BG runs the table this year, I think they’re in. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they stayed put.

All of that said, as soon as the core of the MAC breaks up (it’s probably inevitable at this point), I think my college football fandom is done. The things I enjoyed about college football are mostly gone at the expense of media rights deals.

I tend to think this way. I already don't care about the "power 5" unless BG is playing. My interested is G5 conferences and down. The portal is a mess and the game we used to know is gone. I will always be a huge BG football fan but my interest in college ball, in general, isn't what it was even 10 years ago. It's a shame and a travesty what money has done to the game.

[hammb]

UT is in a very strange spot, if they get offered an all sports spot I could see them bolting. Realistically they don't fit in the MAC that well anymore. They've balloooned their athletic budget, and have experienced quite a bit of success for it. I don't see how their budgets are sustainable with MAC revenues, but they are an outlier in the conference with being the identified institution in a reasonable size city. Akron & Buffalo might be comparable, but without having spent much time in Akron my impression is the city of Akron doesn't embrace UA nearly the same way Toledo embraces UT.

In a world where corporate money and private donors can dwarf any sort of revenues from attendance/MAC media rights, and also funnel money directly to athletes there is simply no way to compete financially with a place like UT. The city of Toledo still has a fair number of large corporations that live in the city and identify with the city, and by extension the university. Comparatively, there simply isn't anything similar in BG, Muncie, Athens, Mt. Pleasant, Oxford, Kent, etc.

The real irony is that it comes at a time that our two NW Ohio Universities as a whole couldn't be trending in more opposite directions. BG is welcoming record enrollment even as college enrollment as a whole is going down, while UT can't get students and is having to cut programs.

[hammb]

The MAC has done, in general, a pretty good job of keeping the schools together throughout this madness. I think the conference is banking on keeping some semblance of tradition and it’s an easy sell to keep those travel costs down. Plus, this year if any shows that if you run the table in the MAC, you’ve got a pretty good shot at the playoff. If BG runs the table this year, I think they’re in. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they stayed put.

All of that said, as soon as the core of the MAC breaks up (it’s probably inevitable at this point), I think my college football fandom is done. The things I enjoyed about college football are mostly gone at the expense of media rights deals.

I tend to think this way. I already don't care about the "power 5" unless BG is playing. My interested is G5 conferences and down. The portal is a mess and the game we used to know is gone. I will always be a huge BG football fan but my interest in college ball, in general, isn't what it was even 10 years ago. It's a shame and a travesty what money has done to the game.

Yeah, I don't think I've watched a full college football game yet this year. Other than following BG I have next to zero interest in the sport.

[jpfalcon09]

I can't see either school taking the bait here, especially for football only. MW would be better served going after Idaho, Montana, Montana State, NDSU/SDSU before the crazy idea of raiding schools based in the Midwest. Toledo does have the resources though to pull this off if they want to, but the AAC is geographically a much better fit. That invite may never come though.

One thing to note here too is that if either school leaves as football only, they will no longer be MAC members per NCAA rules. All other sports would have to drop to a non-FBS member conference like the A10 or MVC. So much to consider here.

What makes the most sense is for the MW and Pac-Whatever to merge into one with two separate divisions with the winner of each going to a championship game. However, I get the feeling there is going to be significant realignment at the G6 level in the coming years in an attempt to combat the P4 and increase the odds of a conference getting a program into that coveted playoff spot, and of course try to capitalize on media rights fees.

[BillyLP]

I'm surprised to see NIU on that list, and would be shocked if they go for it. They are already stretched thin on budget and adding west coast travel 3-5 times a year isn't exactly mouth-watering. That said, the media payouts are much better with the MW. I'd argue exposure is relatively similar, though, especially since they're losing Boise St. and SDSU.

All that said, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be interested in BG got an invite along with Toledo. It'd be fun to play mostly on Saturdays again. Unfortunately, I think Miami and Ohio would be ahead of BG in the pecking order when it comes to other conferences, because of their budgets.

[jpfalcon09]

I'm surprised to see NIU on that list, and would be shocked if they go for it. They are already stretched thin on budget and adding west coast travel 3-5 times a year isn't exactly mouth-watering. That said, the media payouts are much better with the MW. I'd argue exposure is relatively similar, though, especially since they're losing Boise St. and SDSU.

All that said, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be interested in BG got an invite along with Toledo. It'd be fun to play mostly on Saturdays again. Unfortunately, I think Miami and Ohio would be ahead of BG in the pecking order when it comes to other conferences, because of their budgets.

MWC current media deal is based on a majority of the members who will be leaving for the PAC-12. Have to think whatever their next agreement is will not be as lucrative as to what is currently in place. None of this makes any sense which is probably why it's going to happen.

[Flipper]

UT is in a very strange spot, if they get offered an all sports spot I could see them bolting. Realistically they don't fit in the MAC that well anymore. They've balloooned their athletic budget, and have experienced quite a bit of success for it. I don't see how their budgets are sustainable with MAC revenues, but they are an outlier in the conference with being the identified institution in a reasonable size city. Akron & Buffalo might be comparable, but without having spent much time in Akron my impression is the city of Akron doesn't embrace UA nearly the same way Toledo embraces UT.

In a world where corporate money and private donors can dwarf any sort of revenues from attendance/MAC media rights, and also funnel money directly to athletes there is simply no way to compete financially with a place like UT. The city of Toledo still has a fair number of large corporations that live in the city and identify with the city, and by extension the university. Comparatively, there simply isn't anything similar in BG, Muncie, Athens, Mt. Pleasant, Oxford, Kent, etc.

The real irony is that it comes at a time that our two NW Ohio Universities as a whole couldn't be trending in more opposite directions. BG is welcoming record enrollment even as college enrollment as a whole is going down, while UT can't get students and is having to cut programs.

I keep hearing UT is bleeding out financially as enrollment has dropped....seems odd that they're doubling down on sports

[mbenecke]

UT is in a very strange spot, if they get offered an all sports spot I could see them bolting. Realistically they don't fit in the MAC that well anymore. They've balloooned their athletic budget, and have experienced quite a bit of success for it. I don't see how their budgets are sustainable with MAC revenues, but they are an outlier in the conference with being the identified institution in a reasonable size city. Akron & Buffalo might be comparable, but without having spent much time in Akron my impression is the city of Akron doesn't embrace UA nearly the same way Toledo embraces UT.

In a world where corporate money and private donors can dwarf any sort of revenues from attendance/MAC media rights, and also funnel money directly to athletes there is simply no way to compete financially with a place like UT. The city of Toledo still has a fair number of large corporations that live in the city and identify with the city, and by extension the university. Comparatively, there simply isn't anything similar in BG, Muncie, Athens, Mt. Pleasant, Oxford, Kent, etc.

The real irony is that it comes at a time that our two NW Ohio Universities as a whole couldn't be trending in more opposite directions. BG is welcoming record enrollment even as college enrollment as a whole is going down, while UT can't get students and is having to cut programs.

I keep hearing UT is bleeding out financially as enrollment has dropped....seems odd that they're doubling down on sports

Just heard a presentation from a guidance counselor at school today that BG charges kids $15 to tour campus and get lunch, while UT lets kids come for free. Seems like we can get away with that, since our admission standards are more competitive and enrollment is up, and they are moving in the opposite direction.

[hammb]

UT is in a very strange spot, if they get offered an all sports spot I could see them bolting. Realistically they don't fit in the MAC that well anymore. They've balloooned their athletic budget, and have experienced quite a bit of success for it. I don't see how their budgets are sustainable with MAC revenues, but they are an outlier in the conference with being the identified institution in a reasonable size city. Akron & Buffalo might be comparable, but without having spent much time in Akron my impression is the city of Akron doesn't embrace UA nearly the same way Toledo embraces UT.

In a world where corporate money and private donors can dwarf any sort of revenues from attendance/MAC media rights, and also funnel money directly to athletes there is simply no way to compete financially with a place like UT. The city of Toledo still has a fair number of large corporations that live in the city and identify with the city, and by extension the university. Comparatively, there simply isn't anything similar in BG, Muncie, Athens, Mt. Pleasant, Oxford, Kent, etc.

The real irony is that it comes at a time that our two NW Ohio Universities as a whole couldn't be trending in more opposite directions. BG is welcoming record enrollment even as college enrollment as a whole is going down, while UT can't get students and is having to cut programs.

I keep hearing UT is bleeding out financially as enrollment has dropped....seems odd that they're doubling down on sports

UT's enrollment has flirted with, and I think this year actually has, dipped below 15k.

A buddy of mine who is an administrator at TPS says that anything under the 15k student number for state institutions is a trigger for the state to step in and start dictating changes. I don't know if it's true or not, but he has his finger on the pulse of public and higher education far more than I ever will. He mentions that Cleveland State is in a similar position, but so far UT has avoided that state intervention. If/when that intervention does come it will be very interesting how they handle the ballooning UT Athletics budget.

[jpfalcon09]

FWIW, there are folks on the NIU board stating this is a done deal for the Huskies. They'd then drop to the OVC, MVC, Horizon in other sports. Speculation is this is rooted in the MAC (Steinbrecher) being unable to secure a more lucrative media deal. Basically the current $4.2 million increase in media fees would be worth the investment in football given that travel and budgets for other sports would drop by leaving the MAC.

We'll see if this is all true or not, and if so then what does that mean for Toledo?