If this report is true, I say good riddance and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.

https://tinyurl.com/3esfzrwb

It's not great. But, future endeavors and so forth.

Is there some sort of extra you'd offer them not to go? Like Boise got from the MWC or Texas extracted from the Big 12? Because that don't work.

Good on the MAC for not bending over to make them part-timers and being positioned not to lose the game in Detroit.

I think this will turn out to be a good trade.

This is all I need right to hear. We need to move NOW.

Most of those cities are FAR better metro media markets then the trash we covet….

From a basketball perspective UMass for NIU is a definite upgrade. On the football side, right now, it's a downgrade. Keep in mind that UMass is promising a real upgrade in their football budget, and they have the money to do it. I would suspect right now they have more NIL money available than any other MAC school.

On the surface the NIU/UMass trade off sounds alright. Delete the worst basketball school in the MAC and add one which is reguarly going to be in the upper half of the confernce. The MAC can roll with 12 without having to need additional members.

But the problem is where can the MAC go for new members because without NIU and a Chicago presence nobody else is going to want to join it. Illinois St isn't going to want to do it with NIU or the Dakota schools. Horizon League schools wouldn't be motivated to join the MAC now they have NIU. The MAC long ago made a decision to only admit FBS members while the AAC, MWC and PAC-12 have added basketball schools where it benefited the conference. This is much worse for the conference than if Buffalo had left in terms of strategic importance.

At this point the MAC is not going to pick up the pieces if the AAC implodes. The might try to add some MAC schools. If they added Buffalo and UMass that would take the MAC down to 10 and almost exclusively in Ohio/MI. You won't have CUSA schools wanting to be a part of that and what is left then of the TV deal? At this point we have to take a ticket out if presented. The SBC could be an option since Marshall is in that conference and Ohio fits the SBC profile as a college town with good fan support. Marshall could be a natural travel partner in our case. CUSA is probably going to lose Western Ky and Middle Tenn making the geography unattractive there.

SBC is the strongest football conference out of the G5 and might lose programs to the AAC which is unstable. I don't know of anything better to aim for but something better could of course always materialize.

You mean conveniently leaving out the school that will no longer be in that conference? Yeah, I totally left them out on purpose.

The MAC is not going to do anything now because they have 12. They are going to lose two more at some point and then it will be too late to find anyone to join it which is my fear.

If the MAC could have grabbed WKU when it had the chance, kept NIU it would of had a shot to stay in the game as a regional conference with other like Delaware and Temple falling into line. UMass helped in this regard but the MAC did not pick up Delaware when it could. The attitude by MAC leadership has been its indefensible from G5 realignment and that nobody would ever leave it. Hence not much in the way of exit fees but that could change and make it as painful to get out of as the MWC.

Agree that Miami, Toledo and Ohio need to act together.

YEAH. The BIG10 should PAY US NOW.

Usual nonsense aside, NIU for UMASS was a good trade. They're great for basketball. They have been bad at football for a while, but NIU is also one of those programs that is good for a year or two, then garbage, then decent, then good again, then trash. Then okay again. I'd be upset if we lost Toledo, but I will shed no tears losing the worst basketball team in the conference and a team that just went 4-4 in the MAC. They were 7-6 last season. 3-9 in 2022. I mean we're hardly losing a consistent giant here.

Talk about some overreactions on this thread... The MAC is near the bottom of the G5 but is stable because most of the schools are content with their situations and have fair budgets due to their geographic proximities to each other.

Toledo had an opportunity to join NIU and jump ship to the Mountain West but didn't even seriously entertain the idea.

UB hasn't received any interest in other G5 conferences despite the thought they'd be an intriguing addition over the past decade.

Even at 10 schools, the MAC could survive. If it got to that point, I could see them offering FCS schools to get back to 12.

NIU is a good football program but doesn't offer a ton in terms of fan support, revenue, academics and other important metrics. We can complain about losing them but UMass will be fine. The MAC lost one school on the outskirts and replaced them with another.

I'd love to see the league be more proactive and look to add additional schools but don't think that's likely at the moment but who knows...

The problem with that stability is that eventually it's gonna catch up to them - go ask the PAC 12 about just sticking to your guns instead of being more aggressive in the realignment world. The MAC product is stale in both football and basketball, you can't argue that. Maybe NIU is the only defector, maybe not. We do know that both Buffalo and Toledo have explored other options. Why shouldn't Ohio and Miami do the same just to see what's out there? Unless the MAC has some grand plan to get more money out of ESPN/CBS when they go to renegotiate in 2026-27, then it's going to be the same stuff next time around.