Bobcat Attack - Ohio Football - Is Ohio officially a Football School

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Topic: Is Ohio officially a Football School

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NashvilleKat

12/29/2017 10:17 PM

After years of listening to why Ohio should drop to FCS, and put all our money into basketball, can we now say that we should adjust our thinking. After watching Ohio put the beat down on UAB for three and a half hours on national television in the Bahamas Bowl, getting all kind of praise from Steve Levy, Desmond Howard and the entire ESPN crew, and being the only MAC team to win a game, can we finally admit there's something to this football thing. Then watching us scrape by against Northwest Ohio an NAIA school, has got to cause concern. I love Bobcat Basketball. Will always follow them, watch them on the various cable outlets and took my family to all the games of the Sweet Sixteen run. Just having fun. Happy New Year.

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TWT

12/30/2017 12:32 AM

Jessie Palmer from USC also talking up the 2018 Bobcats in the studio and the potential for next year with excitement. Every TV appearance for Ohio on ESPN is midweek, championship week or bowl week against limited competition in those time windows so we end up on the daily edition of Sportscenter. Its very good publicity for a non-Alabama sized program. The students are turning out for the football team but not the basketball team anymore. The basketball program was out front in exposure with the ability to grab a nationally televised game in the 90's while football was obscure. Football's ability generate publicity has eclipsed that of the basketball program more so than basketball moving backwards. MAC basketball is on the rise but you don't get sportscenter level coverage out of it aside from championship week.

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Bobcat1996

12/30/2017 7:10 AM

Basketball or Football, or why not both? Support both programs and enjoy it when they have some success. Both of these programs are in much better shape than the school in Oxford. The basketball program is suffering through some injuries, but hopefully they will be injury free later in the season and make a run in the league tournament.

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Brian Smith (No, not that one)

12/30/2017 7:37 AM

Can you be a football school if you haven't won a conference title since the Nixon administration?

Serious question.

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SBH

12/30/2017 12:37 PM

Johnson administration, actually. But point made.

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Alan Swank

12/30/2017 12:57 PM

SBH wrote:expand_more

Johnson administration, actually. But point made.

Well played, well played. And as for football school or basketball, unfortunately we are neither if you definition is a school that is first thought of because of its sports program.

Last Edited: 12/30/2017 12:58:43 PM by Alan Swank

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The Optimist

12/30/2017 1:57 PM

It's unbelievable how so many people are not capable of thinking about more than only the last result.

A month ago the football board was burning after we lost to Akron. Now, basketball has ONE disappointing performance (that they still WON) and the sky is falling.

Ohio beat a bad football team by a lot last week and a bad basketball team by a little this week.

Sure, I guess it's official. (sarcasm)

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BryanHall

12/30/2017 3:43 PM

I went to school during the 1980s and almost never missed a basketball game. I went to 5-6 football games during the "Boot Burke" and "Relieve Cleve" eras. I follow the basketball team a little now, but rarely miss watching a football game. I have attend more football games than basketball games over the past 10 years. I am only a single data point, but my interest shifted when Frank arrived.

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TWT

12/30/2017 5:48 PM

The vision with the football build up 20 years ago was to someday have this program playing on national TV. That we could go a decade without a losing season is at the edge of the most optimistic projections of the leadership at the time. Basketball the goal is dominate the MAC and win in the post season, no more life in the MAC. That goal was accomplished but not consistently. Football has consistently been on national TV a total change from the obscurity of the pre-Solich years.

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Alan Swank

12/30/2017 6:53 PM

Uncle Wes wrote:expand_more

Everyone is on "national TV (whatever that is). Check out our Bahamas Bowl ratings.

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2017/12/bowl-ratings-nba-... /

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catfan28

12/30/2017 7:12 PM

The whole "football school" vs. "basketball school" thing is silly to me. Ultimately, I enjoy both sports and most others do too. There's no reason why we cannot be consistently relevant and successful in both.

Over the last 10 years, it's hard to argue that football hasn't been the headliner. Significantly more games on national TV, better crowds and just more interest (outside of the 2 NCAA Tournament runs). There is just more interest in football in general (in society and SE Ohio), so that tilts the scales some as well.

It's worth considering the the sum total of Bobcat fandom that attends football games vs. basketball games isn't even close. Way more going to football...even in the lean years. Same goes for the student body. Just guessing, but I'd say 80% of students have been to at least one football game. Maybe only 40% or so have been to a basketball game. There's little denying that football interest outpaces basketball.

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D.A.

12/30/2017 7:50 PM

Worst 9-4 team ever!

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colobobcat66

12/30/2017 9:27 PM

A football school? I’m afraid there’s been too much spiked punch passed around for some people.

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NashvilleKat

12/30/2017 9:41 PM

The reason I started this was to have a little fun with the people that think we should go FCS and devote resources to basketball. When I went to OU, we played Ohio State and Indiana at home in front of 10,000 or so excited fans. Now we play whoever A&M. The MAC games mattered because you won the opportunity to go to the tournament by actually winning the regular season. Now it's a crap shoot in Cleveland for the one bid MAC. Hard to get excited for regular season games. I hope we figure out a better way to get people excited for basketball again. Our guys deserve that.

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Alan Swank

12/30/2017 10:03 PM

NashvilleKat wrote:expand_more

A few data points on average attendance in basketball:

16-17 6372
15-16 6010
14-15 6681
13-14 6124
12-13 6932
11-12 6177
10-11 5599
09-10 5411
08-09 5418
07=08 5751

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bobcatsquared

12/30/2017 10:29 PM

Alan, you of all people using announced attendances.

What do your eyes tell you in terms of Convo crowds over these years?

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The Optimist

12/31/2017 8:10 AM

catfan28 wrote:expand_more

(outside of the 2 NCAA Tournament runs)

Outside the Patriots 2 Super Bowls the last 10 years, they don't have any.

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Alan Swank

12/31/2017 10:46 AM

bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more

Alan, you of all people using announced attendances.

What do your eyes tell you in terms of Convo crowds over these years?

I used this info from the NCAA. The only take away I can definitively offer is that following a MAC title/NCAA appearance, attendance goes up quite a bit.

http://www.ncaa.org/championships/statistics/ncaa-mens-ba...

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Alan Swank

12/31/2017 11:20 AM

And looking at additional data and football, the combined record of next year's opponents this year was 59-88 or .401. We play three teams in our league that were 2 and 10.

Last Edited: 12/31/2017 11:20:53 AM by Alan Swank

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ytownbobcat

12/31/2017 11:38 AM

Thanks for the research Alan. It does help shed light on why the MAC ooc and bowl records are so abysmal.
When I read about going to the next level I always wonder exactly what that means. It is difficult to get to the next level when there are so many weak teams in our conference.

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Alan Swank

12/31/2017 12:53 PM

I still think this is worth considering.

http://www.richmond.com/sports/college/schools/james-madi...

And their budget. Huge student fee line item.

http://www.jmu.edu/financeoffice/fin-statements/JMUncaa20...

Last Edited: 12/31/2017 1:08:45 PM by Alan Swank

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TWT

12/31/2017 3:05 PM

I believe staying the course is the best route. Yes there are issues with the bowls but economics are going to drive some fixes. TV last time around wasn't quite ready to move to 10 contract conference. One there were a lot of new alignments and questions on how strong the conferences would be moving forward. Two it was thought by TV the playoff would be more valuable if the Rose and Orange Bowls hosted the playoff every 3 years. That isn't what the Big Ten and PAC-12 wanted necessarily, they want to give as few Rose Bowl slots as possible up to the playoff. The stature of bowls has taken a hit to the point where how many time the Rose is in the playoff rotation is a non-factor in the next negotiations.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2017/12/12/ho... /

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CafTud

1/1/2018 1:05 PM

SBH wrote:expand_more

Johnson administration, actually. But point made.

Andrew or Lyndon?

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OUcats82

1/2/2018 9:53 AM

CatFud wrote:expand_more

SBH wrote:expand_more