On midweek MACTION games there is a huge difference between being on ESPN ( which we were twice) andESPN2. Then there is another major difference between ESPN2 and either ESPNU OR CBSSN.
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https://x.com/brett_mcmurphy/status/1875240739892027486?s=46&t=ZH1fFGwu8Q0191V3SgsUtQ
Looks all but done
In the latest collegiate conference nomenclatural crime, the Mountain West conference has added the flatest place on earth DeKalb Illinois. Not quite the travesty that Stanford and Cal are in the Atlantic Coast Conference but close.
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Good! NIU can make their exit fee check out to “MHT.com” and we’ll split it evenly among our members.
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I cant wait for the NIU non conference game in 2029
Of the current 12 full members of the Missouri Valley Conference only one school (Missouri State) is actually located in the watershed of the Missouri River. Geography Matters!
I admit I don’t follow the revenue streams of the various conferences but how is NIU making substantially more by joining the MW? I thought all the conferences got the same amount from the BCS pie and am not familiar with their TV deal.
Nothing is equal. The historic MWC made somewhere between 2 to 5 times what the MAC made in tv revenue- but what the future holds is unknown. I am actually disappointed that NIU is being told they will make more with the new MWC because it really doesn’t seem that appealing to me
They are making more as of now, but I think once the MAC and MW get new deals the MAC will be making equal or more
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350?! Jeez, I didn’t even know there were that many D1 basketball teams. Who’s worse?
McMurphy referred to NIU as the most successful MAC program - what a joke - simply not true. Good riddance - their basketball sucks and the academic and financial health of the university is crap - no endowment to speak of - just not an institution to want to be a peer of in any way. NIU will fit very well with the profile of Cleveland State and Youngstown State among others in the Horizon.
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Idea to make the MAC stand out in the ever evolving football landscape:
-Shorten MAC schedule to 7 games
-Create the MAC tournament with 1 team from each pod making it
-semi finals hosted on higher seed campus during rivalry week
-finals still in Detroit on championship weekend
Would make us different, more exciting, and potentially increase attendance during rivalry week
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Very creative with the semi final. Probably would tweak up the viewership just a tad higher than normal late season maction
I read that the new distribution to Hawai’i is going to be 5%. Air Force and UNLV getting almost 5x that to retain them in the new conference. I can’t imagine NIU getting more than Hawai’i.
In comparison, in 2023 CSU got about $6m in distribution and NIU just short of $3m. That $6m wouldn’t be there in the near future….the move barely makes fiscal sense to me
Maybe they finally came to the realization that Miami does own Chicago for the.MAC.
I have mixed feelings about NIU leaving, as it was fun when they pulled off the occasional big P5 upset over the years. Living in Chicago burbs for 20 years, selfishly I liked how easily I could catch Miami playing in DeKalb every now and then.
OTOH, as has already been pointed out, overall outside of football, NIU was weak in MAC sports, and college campus is pretty bleak with rather weak academics.
So overall I find myself pretty unaffected by the announcement. Just kinda wish our 12th team would’ve been WKU instead of UMASS.
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This……
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Yeah, losing NIU isn’t great but it’s not devastating for us or the MAC. I get a sneaking suspicion however that in 10-20 years they’ll regret this move, just like they did after going to the Big West.
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