A week ago I was accused of insanity at the thought of travelling to Northern Illinois.

In Conference USA, DePaul would be one of the closest trips.

It's a clear choice that the MAC is a comfortable place to be as long as there are no delusions of grandeur.

But then...

It is clear that our current position is only going to be marginalized further as the haves take more for themselves. I'm still confident the endgame will include AQ conferences abandoning NCAA governance and our current league affiliation essentially equivalent to the PSAC.

This may be that moment in which our leaders will have to inhale deeply, close their eyes, and move forward.

I wonder what Vern Alden thinks we should do.

Then when you get there, you'll be disappointed to discover DePaul is not in C-USA.

I would rather play anyone instead of Eastern Michigan. The question is what will the per team revenues for C-USA look like after these departures. If it's $6M today and goes to $3M but Ohio's travel costs are increased by $1M, why wouldn't you do it? The MAC has done nothing for Ohio and continues to do nothing for Ohio. If you have a way to get out of a conference based in a dying/stagnating part of the country (Ohio/Michigan), you should do it. There just seems to be no downside to leaving the MAC.

I would say that asking schools to up the ante, at least in basketball, isn't a lot to ask.  The MAC West over the last (how many anorris?) years has brought down the odds of a two-bid league drastically.  EMU and CMU, at least in hoops, are among the worst programs in the country.  The embarrassment that is EMU's attendance and athletics  support is even worse.  At the moment, they're basically a community college next to big brother U of M.  What I don't understand is why that's changed?  When I was in high school, they were outstanding in basketball, and had a fan base.  In Football, it would seem that there's a lot more balance.  If NIU, Toledo, and Western can have football programs, why not all three in basketball?  In the last handful of years only WMU and Ball State have been reasonably relevant in hoops. 

I also go back to a comment I made in another thread - why do we even need divisions i basketball?  They don't service any purpose.

No conference can make a move without it being reported. So I don't they are trying to make any moves. And you're right, all they have to offer is a safety net. But there are some schools out there who might need a safety net and could improve the league.

And your point about what the MAC is shows why the MAC needs to get smaller, take its strongest franchises and try to improve. As Pete C. mentioned elsewhere, the fear here should not be losing D-1 football. It will be all sports being relegated when some combination of these upper tier conferences form their own athletics organization.

The common sense approach for the MAC is to get stronger by eliminating teams from the bottom.  Then, maybe a Marshall or ECU would be more apt to come knocking.  Right now, it just appears the MAC is doing nothing but adding to the bottom.  Most recent example in football is UMASS.  We have tended to take (some) !AA programs (or whatever they are called)  that (in some cases) win a Championship and then think they will be perennial 1A poswers.  Has NOT happened!  For football, go back to avg of 15k paid for home games or get out.  Or, maybe a Sagrin of better than 100?  Or maybe an RPI less than 200.  Just take some criteria and apply it across the board.

Doubt it.  When FB was bad BB was good.  And, we have pretty much always had 15k announced avg for home games.  And, if it happens, it happens.  This is not about a particular institution.  And, it is not about ONE criteria but a number from each of the major sports.  This is not really that hard...just that this Conference sits on its hands and does not act or react to anything.  Again, happy with mediocrity?  Let's Just Do It!

There will always be a pecking order. Even if we jump to another conference, it doesn't move us up the ladder. Take a look at football budgets in the BCS. Basketball would be easier, as we have a nice arena. But money and our small market hold us back.

Anybody like the consisency of the MAC?  At least we know who's in our conference.

+1

The MAC would be better off cutting a deal with NBC for the channel formerly known as Versus.  At least it's free on DirecTV.