Depends on who in the MAC is opting-in for the house settlement. There could be some movement because of it.

Beyond that I believe joining the PAC-12 would be more attractive given they have Oregon St, Boise St and SDSU. They are also hard pressed to find more full members that sponsor FBS foootball.

I guess why follow NIU into the MWC abyss. The PAC-12 has 7 in the west and could balance itself at 14 with 7 in the east. In the MAC with those who are still committed; Western Mich (new arena), Ball St (11.5k arena), Toledo, Miami (new arena), Ohio (expanded arena), Buffalo, UMass. Then at 7 form a regional division playing 6 football games and 12 round robin basketball games. That would mean only 1 trip out west required for football (8 game schedule) and 3 trips out west in basketball (20 game schedule). What if instead it was Memphis and Tulane instead of WMU and BSU?

Memphis
Tulane
Miami
Toledo
Ohio
Buffalo
UMass

Washington St.
Oregon St.
Fresno St.
San Diego St.
Boise St.
Utah St.
Colorado St.

One could only dream I suppose but it would no doubt be the best G5 conference.

That would be a pretty cool league.

The PAC 12 is committed to keeping the regionality that killed it in the first place when UW, Oregon, USC and UCLA left the conference. They've had "talks" with the likes of UConn, Memphis and Tulane, but ultimately they could never make it work because the travel just made absolutely no sense. You'd essentially be creating a super league if you wanted some type of Eastern division. I can't imagine they'd look at the MAC and think that's a good idea. The MWC might if they get further poached, though.

Thing to keep in mind: the PAC 12 and MWC are still involved in a legal battle over the exit fees for Boise, SDSU, Fresno, USU and CSU. Those schools along with the PAC 12 filed an antitrust lawsuit over those exit fees. The MWC recruited all of their new members (including NIU), with the expectation that those exit fees would be paid in full - essentially those exit fees are going to be equal to the $50M treasure chest sitting in the PAC 12 bank account which they themselves received when a court awarded them after the old members left. The latest rumor is that the penalty the MWC imposed ($15M per school) will likely be reduced to something in the $5M-$8M range to appease all parties involved.

This is most likely why you haven't seen UNLV and/or Nevada announce their intentions to leave for the PAC 12 or any other PAC 12 expansion. The motion to dismiss the lawsuit has a court hearing on March 25th.

Yes with Gonzaga that is a 3 bid basketball conference easy. Budget requirement though I heard with the PAC is 60 million. Who in the MAC is in for spending like that? Miami and UMass I believe are closest to that number.

What you said before with the PAC leaning regional and toward UNLV/Nevada it won't happen. But if the offer is to join a decimated MWC or CUSA I'd rather not bother with it as they are destined to lose more programs with time.

I think the NIU move was all about punishing the MAC for adding UMass. Their president and AD were very much opposed.

Please don't leave....

There you go OCF ripping on the most successful football coach the Bobcats have had in the last fifty years. Have you spoke to the man to see why he departed? I’m guessing you and many of the others that continue to shred him for leaving have no idea. This football program just finished a run of three straight ten plus win seasons and people want to criticize him instead of the administration.

I certainly appreciate what Albin did in winning the first MAC Championship since I was in school. However, the fact remains that Tim had horrible timing and with a little more patience he would have had a contract at OHIO at least as good as what he got at Charlotte.

The tough pill to swallow is a few years down the road from now.

https://www.hustlebelt.com/2025/2/28/24375406/playoff-exp...



How will we prepare for what's next? I think its important our AD starts reaching out to other ADs to start planning. I would hate for it to be 2029 and something comes up unexpectedly and we weren't prepared for it.


My immediate thoughts are a G5 playoff. ADs with potential "next G5 to P5" should either be looking at adding teams with similiar or better endowments or look to formulate the Mountain West East to tap into better deals.

Im not thrilled with our commish and his acceptance as ESPN's "red-head stepchild" conference.

It's also important we win against these P5 programs for notoriety as they "may" dwindle down in years to come. Not great showings or almosts, we need solid game-thrilling wins to become media darlings like Boise State (was).


Thoughts?

Former MAC stars and current ones coming back to talk #MACtion would be cool. Maxx Crosby talking about his new deal or Eddie George discussing his approach to building a quality program would definitely have my ears. I could imagine Antonio Brown's CTEspn segments would do numbers too. 😂

ESPN: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41531125...

On3: https://www.on3.com/news/will-the-sec-non-conference-sche... /

USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2024/10/14/se... /

NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6147740/2025/02/20/sec-b... /

ElevenWarriors: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/college-football/2025/02/1...

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1isd4rc/comment/mdf... /


Here are a couple good ones to look at. NY Times and USA Today are the best ones. The Reddit article is in regard to the latest meeting they had in February, but the comments are interesting from mid-tier to bottom feeder P5 schools about being left behind and never winning a conference championship with so many teams now.

Those comments are the reason why Ohio needs to beat WVU and Rutgers (mid-tier teams) over the next few years.