Being discussed on the football board but wanted to start a basketball slanted discussion. Reports are trickling in that Western Kentucky & Middle Tn are set to join the MAC. I know football drives the discussion but my mind went straight to hoops and got very excited. From a competitive standpoint, I think they are good additions as both have a lot of sustained competitiveness (despite MTSU's recent struggles). It will make it harder for us to win our conference but make our conference overall more formidable.

Geographically I also like it and am already thinking about a trip to Nashville and/or BG (KY).

If this happens, in my opinion we have to go back to having divisions and make it a 19 game conference schedule (12 against division, 7 cross-division).

There is no perfect divide geographically for this crop of 14. I suspect this will be part of the negotiations to bring them into the conference and I would expect them to push hard to be included with Ohio, Miami & Ball St. I'd like to see all 6 Ohio teams and Buffalo kept in a East division but I am not sure our southern members would take too kindly to having half their division in the state of Michigan.

MAC - HEARTLAND
Akron
Kent
Ohio
Miami
BSU
WKU
MTSU

MAC - GREAT LAKES
BG
UT
UB
CMU
EMU
WMU
NIU

I like that breakdown. They may also consider building the schedule with road trips in mind so teams can hit various pairings (WKU/MTSU...Kent/Akron...BG/Toledo/EMU...WMU/CMU) with 1 hotel stay. Maybe mix in some Mondays or Thursdays to make it work.

I agree about 19 game conference schedule.

South -- Ohio-Miami-BSU-MTSU-WKU_NIU_WMU

North -- UB-BG_UT_CMU-EMU-Akron-Kent

Al rivalries stay intact ...

I really like this distribution. You should send it to the MAC Commish!

Buffalo is the one school that might not like it. Kent and Akron are the closest trips for them, and they get separated. But I don't see any better options.

I like this as well, although if I were Buffalo I would be kicking and screaming about this arrangement. Akron and Kent are the two closest schools to them. I see no reason they'd be eager to start playing the Michigan schools or NIU.

This would probably keep UB happier than the North\South alignment on the football discussion and the Michigan schools might not scream about Toledo and BGSU being moved to the other division as long as they don't have to go to Kentucky and Tennessee every year. So I guess that this is a fifth realistic option. If I had to bet on an alignment I'd bet on this:

NORTH\WEST

NIU
BSU
WMU
CMU
EMU
BGSU
UT

SOUTH\EAST

OHIO
Miami
KSU
Akron
UB
WKU
MTSU

Which is what was mentioned above in moving BGSU to the West and putting the new guys in the East.

So you think the ADs weren't aware of the of the stance of the university president on admitting these two schools? And, you feel they were completely free to express their own opinions divorced from the opinions of their bosses? That's not the way it usually works in higher education administration. Normally, there is a great deal of discussion among the relevant administrators and president before a meeting where university business at that level is to be discussed. This particular situation couuld be different for some reason, but I'm dubious.

I don't think the dysfunction in the UT athletic department would be an issue in this context. That earlier situation, if it happened that way, would be an anomaly. Not saying it couldn't happen again, but it's not very likely. I suspect what's going on now is that there is negotiations on what division the new schools will be in, how ESPN and playoff revenue will be shared, etc. Reading some stuff on other boards, I get the impression that WKU may be in a stronger bargaining position than MTSU.

Hmm . . . this was just posted on Twitter by a guy WKU fans seem to think has the inside scoop:

https://twitter.com/wkubasketballr1/status/14555662037500...

So, if true, that now only leaves MTSU

I-75 and East

West of I-75

Is a unanimous vote required?