For purposes of full disclosure; I view myself as an optimist which has helped m get through life's rough patches. However, I do not own a pair of rose colored glasses because like unbridled negative thinking, wishful thinking can also get you into trouble. The MAC, especially basketball has seemingly been at a crossroads for some time. We are a 1 bid NCAA conference amidst a slew of conferences and ever growing number of Division schools, the latest tally is 351. Thirty years ago when I was an undergrad, that number was almost half of what it is today.

In the 80s, we had coaches like Ohio's Danny Nee and Ball State's Rick Majerus. They both went on to do bigger and better things and both schools remember their years fondly, perhaps the Cardinals more so because of Majerus' recent passing and because they never made another run like the one they made when he or his successor Dick Hunsaker made the year following Majerus' exit. It seems we also don't have the cast of characters we once did a la Bobby Nichols or Charlie Coles.

Jim Larranaga, John Groce, Jim Christian and Keith Dambrot also moved on but the question is will the MAC ever get back to the level of success it once had? Is this because there are 351 Division I schools? Is this just the basketball world we live in today, or are we selling our programs short? Below are a couple of interesting links; one concerning Pitt's decline and Duquesne's rise in the city of Pittsburgh and the other about Boston College's best start in seven years. What are the MAC's realistic expectations about keeping quality coaches?

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/zeise-is-right/2018/01...

http://bcheights.com/2018/01/20/inside-boston-college-men... /