Cincinnasti would be my first choice out of any university to join the MAC. However that’s never gonna happen unfortunately. They moved forward athletically while Miami stool still relatively.
UMass is a pretty good add IMHO. Beggars can’t be choosers. It should elevate basketball at a minimum. Can’t say I’ll be too excited about a Miami/UMass matchup on the gridiron. Just being honest. However a lot can change quickly in college athletics, so I’ll try to be optimistic.
WKU would great addition for all of the reasons listed above (and they’re a directional college, so it fits the MAC). In terms of matching up close in all sports (at least for the men), they fit. Much better exposure for us in KY.
I just have never been a huge fan of the MAC. Had we’d been able to capitalize in football post-Ben, we could have been attractive to another conference. Also, Miami not making the capital investments in basketball decades ago we would have put Miami in a better position to leave the MAC. We’ve pretty much boxed ourselves in to the MAC.
I’ve always thought, well at least for the last 15 years or so, that if MAC expansion were to occur it should expand into the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Ideally, add Temple, UMass, UConn, Army, Navy, James Madison, and Delaware.
Sure, but they have 40,000 undergrads and are right next to Atlanta, so they have good room to grow and would give the MAC good exposure in a large metro area and a region that loves CFB. I wouldn’t like them as a standalone addition, but as part of adding a southern wing I think they’d be a good pickup.
If one jumps right now you’re probably right. Delaware would probably be a decent addition if the MAC decides to work towards building a 16 team - or even larger -conference.
To be fair, Miami football attendance is nothing to brag about. Certainly less than 19,000 per game. I think NDSU is better than half of the MAC programs. They would be a solid addition.
Be careful what you wish for. WKU these days are not the old OVC team of the 70’s and 80’s. These guys have a top notch program and garner power 5 caliber players on the regular.
I am not arguing that (besides travel). Ndsu football would be better than most if not all of the
MAC
My argument was chief panic was saying ndsu was too good for the MAC and was likely Big 12 expansion. I said that wasnt right and they had the same chance at the big 12 that we did
Definitely better than ALL of the MAC. But I didn’t say “likely” for B12. Just that they would laugh at the prospect of giving up championships for the MAC.
The MWC would love to take them too (and the Montanas and SDSU) but none of the 4 want to become mediocre G5 teams.
Chief, I know they’ve been a good team, but I’m not convinced MU or Toledo couldn’t beat them. Not saying they wouldn’t beat us, but they aren’t invincible and I don’t recall their big wins being against Alabama or the like. Usually, they pick off some mediocre team from a big conference, but they do it so much it seems like it’s a given (which it is.) I’m gonna go look at their records now. Will report back.
Edit: I took the time to look at their schedule from 2014-24 and what I found was this: they beat a lot of good teams at their level but only had 2 wins that entire time over big time programs they were not supposed to beat. Iowa State and Iowa who was 13 at the time. A great program, but hardly world beaters. Youngstown State offers more to the MAC as their hoops program is solid and football has a solid legacy at the same level as NDSU. I was suprised to see that results as I thought they’d beaten more big teams but alas, no. Anyhow, glad to see new blood in the MAC. It’s a static and somewhat boring conference but it’s ours.
I tend to agree with Chief on NDSU. They’ve been a dynasty for 10 years at FCS - with something like seven consecutive FCS national championships. They also either won or came close to winning a game at Kansas State. The Bison were scheduled to play at Oregon in 2020 but COVID wiped it out.
During that same period we lost to both Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois. We’re better now. Low end MAC teams routinely struggle with FCS teams, many lower level FCS teams.
I think their football program would be highly competitive in the MAC. They have an absolutely rabid following that dwarfs every school in the MAC. The primary drawback for me is their remote location in Fargo. Their indoor stadium doesn’t bother me much, as it is necessary for that climate and isn’t much different in size than Ball State’s or UMass’ stadium.
Absolutely not, the MWC would like to shed a couple schools, pick up Gonzaga and merge with the PAC-2 to become the closest thing the West Coast has to a power conference. There’s zero interest from them to expand into Montana or the Dakotas.
Youngstown St offers no new geography for the MAC, would be the smallest school in the MAC by a large margin and generally has a losing record in the Horizon League for basketball. Their football has been decent in the FCS but most of that is their run in the 90s. They’d be a pretty bad pickup.
That said, not having to pay for travel to North Dakota for every sport is a decent advantage over NDSU, so I don’t totally disagree with you.