Sacramento? Sacramento?! There are lots of lovely places in California. Sacramento is not one of them. The worst experience of my professional career involved doing due diligence on a landfill out there. (No, not the Kings. That would have stunk even more.) There may be something nice about the place, but I sure as hell didn’t find it.
3 Likes
Blue Diamond Almonds!!
This really seems like a stunt by the student newspaper. Competitively, logistically and economically, it makes no sense
1 Like
Shaq is worth nearly half a billion, if I were that wealthy I wouldn’t mind bankrolling a college/athletic program with family ties (after Miami).
I suppose it’s not the worst idea in the world if they’re paying for themselves (and it makes the MAC’s TV deal more valuable), but they’re gonna leave as soon as there they’re able. I don’t think it’ll happen.
Had to spend a week there and Stockton, for work. I echo your experience. Been lots of places in Cali that were incredible, but those 2 were not.
From Mark Brown at Extra Points:
"I’m not sure yet how seriously to take the possibility of Sacramento State football joining the MAC. A $10-ish million entrance fee plus forgoing conference distributions over the duration of the current TV deal would give each MAC institution around $1 million, depending on the exact fee and what sort of take the MAC central office were to accept. That’s a lot of money for many MAC institutions (among the lowest resourced in FBS), but it’s also not pure profit. After all, Sacramento State in the MAC would mean schools would have to fly to Sacramento, a slightly more expensive drip than a bus to Bowling Green.
I would be very surprised if the hypothetical addition of Sacramento State, or any individual institution, meaningfully changes the size and scope of the next MAC television deal, even as it opens another time zone for football broadcasts. The ability of any MAC institution to deliver any “market” simply isn’t very meaningful.
My bigger question is … what do these rumors mean for the MAC?
For a long time, the MAC could be held up as a rare paragon of stability in an increasingly fragmented college football world. Other leagues might realign, expand or contract in ways that made no geographic or institutional sense, but the MAC remained … a bus league of regional public schools across the Midwest. (Sure, there were occasional exceptions; I’m old enough to remember MAC institution Central Florida.)
But it’s clear that that foundation is showing cracks. Northern Illinois decided to leave for the Mountain West, throwing geography and tradition to the wind in the name of elevating its football program (and saving money on other sports). Toledo considered the same proposal, and I’m told other MAC institutions seriously modeled possible moves to the Horizon League over the past 16 months.
Plus, Ohio reportedly kicked the tires on joining the Sun Belt. Over the past year, I’ve heard other ADs express frustration with the weekday football games; the addition of UMass; the failed additions of Western Kentucky, MTSU and/or Delaware; and the idea that the league isn’t prepared to be as ambitious as it needs to be amidst a changing world.
Now, some of that could be ADs complaining just to complain. Lord knows that happens. And it’s not as if the MAC is the only league to play football games in the middle of the week or to strike out on realignment targets.
But flirting with bringing in a team from California, and one that many other conferences have passed over multiple times, in the name of short-term financial gain … is the sort of gambit that could either work out very well or blow open simmering tensions and frustrations with other members.
Is this the sort of idea you entertain when you’re committing to really changing how your league operates, or is it a desperation move for a group running out of good options?"
6 Likes
$15M divided by 12 is a nice amount($1.25m). Interesting for sure.
Access to wine country is the biggest sell here tbh
4 Likes
That has to mean a #14 team is on the table then as well??
The article claims it’s football only too
2 Likes
This would be such a bad look for the MAC.
Fumbling the bag with WKU, MTSU, and even Delaware…all to settle for Sacramento State 
2 Likes
Hard for me to get excited by it. Such a lousy fit.
2 Likes
Geography Matters!
This sucks man
Realistically, we should take the $$, put it towards our buyout, and leave
What conference, that would want Miami, is ultimately better than the MAC? Unless it’s the ACC, not sure we have a reason to leave the MAC
If the MAC is going to continue to enshittify itself, we need to leave. The p4 isnt going to show us a helping hand, start something new.
1 Like
Dream MU conference when all the chips crumble and certain schools need to rebuild. In this fantasy world, it’s academics first and I’ve also based this on plausible (people who might need a place to land)
Miami, Wake, UVA, Rutgers, Syracuse, Purdue, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Boston College, William and Mary, Pitt. Sac State.
2 Likes
Of course it’s football-only. That overpaid Sac State men’s basketball team wants no part of Miami on the court.