Okay, I’ll bite. This looks like UCF Part 2 because all of the same arguments – upstart program at a surprisingly large university that is starting to put a lot of money into athletics – were advanced in favor of the Golden Kanniggits. But it just wasn’t a good fit. UCF spent its entire tenure in the MAC trying to get big enough for its next jump while its fans bitched constantly about the league and never developed any sense of affinity for it.
Sac State is going to do the same thing. If they really have the level of booster money people claim, they’re using the MAC to validate their G6 pedigree just long enough to get to a league like the MWC or reconstituted Pac-12 that actually makes sense for them and would fit their alumni base. And seeing our leadership sign up to get used like that for the short-term sugar high of some cash while degrading the continuity of the league is disappointing at best.
We don’t have the money to quit the MAC then join the American then quit the American to join something new in a ten year span. That’s not reality. We will prolly be in the MAC in at least football until the lights turn on and the bouncer says “you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.” Hence why we got out of our old hockey league (it ended, not we left first). I think it’s a 2-3 league future for us across all sports and honestly, that might be ok.
Sign of the times. While it isn’t ideal, it isn’t as drastically stupid as something like Cal/Stanford to the ACC for all sports.
Sayler’s goal seems to be to get us in a strong enough position that we’re on the short list to join a new conference of Northern schools if there’s a huge realignment that destroys the MAC (or drives it to permanent obsolesce). He isn’t perfect, but the athletic department is in way better shape than the end of the B2 tenure.
I think the point about the potential for Sac State to leave in 2-3 years is all the more reason to do this. Great! You have to go play them LITERALLY once! I think the reputation risk is also misplaced. The conference being known for a tight regional fit is a nice story, but nationally - no one cares.
Sac State will draw attention. Eyeballs. The MAC NEEDS eyeballs. They gave us 9x more money than NIU gave the MWC. The MAC NEEDS money.
I’m just a dumb hockey guy so can someone explain to me where this windfall of extra cash is going to come from if we move to the American? As it stands today, we can barely afford to be in the MAC - how are we going to financially survive in a significantly more expensive conference? Is the cash from the American really so much more accretive that it will cover a substantially larger nut? NIU sacrificed every sport in their portfolio to the football altar of the MWC. Is that how this is going to work? No? Well then explain it to me like I’m in kindergarten because this “We need to move to the American STAT!” smells like hubris to me.
tl;dr - Where’s the cash to move away from the MAC coming from ‘cause as it stands today we ain’t got enough?
I appreciate your perspective. I guess I’m concerned about the MAC not doing anything as well. It needs to stay relevant, and outside of Miami and a couple of other schools, it’s definitely losing relevancy. At the time UCF joined, the landscape of college sports was not at all the same.
Completely agree. Still haven’t heard much that makes sense (in my opinion) from the anti-Sac. St. side other than Sacramento is a dump, they’re using us, and it’s a money grab. It’s college athletics—it’s a big damn money grab.
Regardless, it will be interesting and thanks for sharing your thoughts, all!
Every conference needs an identity. The MAC has stood out for it’s geographical coherence and stability. We just sacrificed that for a relatively small payday.
Sacramento State will be either unsuccessful, in which case they do not help the conference. Or, if successful, they will be gone in no time reinforcing the perception that the MAC can only be a stepping stone.
The best thing I can say about the addition is that it generated a Bloom County reference by DevilGrad!
