Because you have a running tally going? If so, then you know that OHIO is overachieving on the field/court relative to donor support. For such a beloved university, many don't show it in the way of $$$.

Thanks for a solid post. My guess is that Frank will retire in the next few years, and then we'll all get to set out on a new adventure, and see what happens.

Whatever the MAC is, it is important to remember that Ohio is a part of that. If the MAC is awful (as some here say repeatedly), then unfortunately, by implication, it is Ohio's destiny to be "awful" with the rest of the league. Or, if the MAC is a solid G5 conference that is steadily improving, Ohio can be an improving G5 team as well, working towards parity with the lower P5 schools. I tend to believe that the entire MAC has been improving since the ESPN deal started in about 2010.

I suppose I should point out a mathematical truth. If one expects that results in the MAC are random, and that thus, Ohio should win the MAC once every 12 years or so, the flip side is that pure randomness also dictates that Ohio should finish last every 12 years or so as well. If you're going to expect one, you need to also expect the other.

Personally, I don't think results are random at all. I don't understand the reasons why they aren't, and perhaps someone here can explain it to me. What I have observed is that, for some reason, the teams in western Ohio always seem to rank higher in recruiting than teams in eastern Ohio. Thus, it seems to be true that the long term results of teams like Ohio, Kent, and Akron are going to be worse than Miami, BG, and Toledo. Historically that has been the case, and I don't see anything happening that indicates that the future will be different.

Here are winning percentages from 1960-2015:
Bowling Green .583
Toledo .580
Miami .563
Akron .481
Ohio .441
Kent .335

From 2005-2015 it looks like this:
Toledo .581
Ohio .567
Bowling Green .529
Kent .371
Akron .336
Miami .306

During the "unacceptable" period 2012-2015:
Toledo .700
Bowling Green .655
Ohio .588
Kent .408
Akron .388
Miami .188

And during 2015-2016?
Toledo .826
Ohio .640
Bowling Green .520
Akron .520
Miami .375
Kent .261

1. In general it remains true that the western Ohio teams win more than the eastern Ohio teams, with the exception that Ohio isn't where you'd expect to find them, and Miami isn't either, though they seem well on their way back.
2. Separating out just Ohio, you find:
1960-2015 .441
2005-2015 .567
2012-2015 .588 (the "unacceptable period, per Monroe)
2015-2016 .640 (in my opinion, the beginning of the next wave up)

Hmm, looks pretty terrible to me. I can see the clear plateau. Oh wait. No I can't.

JFC... Those win percentages are built on playing in the godforsaken MAC East that has been dreadful for years. When was last time you could honestly say that division had more than 2 really good teams?

And no... The MAC is NOT an above average mid major league. It consistently one of the lowest ranked FBS leagues in the country.

In fact MAC East is worst FBS league in country this year

http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

Stop trying to put this program on a pedestal just because you don't agree that it's not FAN-F***IN-TASTIC

I'm not saying 12-0 is only acceptable outcome. My goodness... That's absurd

But losses to teams like TxSt are equally absurd

When will this program graduate from that.

I'm not saying Ohio sucks. All I'm saying is that we can strive to be better.

I'm going to eat more turkey and drink more xmas ales and try to forget I even read this.

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppppppp

How about this? Being a consistent contender, good. Ups and downs. However the lows are higher. Ohio's recent low of 6-6 in 2014, followed by 8-5, followed by a MAC East championship, the trend is upward. Instead of I want this and I want it now (Monroe, cheeks puffed out holding his breath) we just see where this upward trend goes? Maybe not a MACC this year, but, the trend is in the right direction and based upon recent recruits it is time to get behind this program instead of .....

Average Sagarin rating of Big 10, minus OSU and MI: 73
Average MAC rating minus Buffao: 61

Big 10 teams rated witin 7 pts/1 TD of OHIO: Rutgers, Purdue, Illinois and Maryland.

Big 10 teams ranked WORSE than Western Michigan: all of the above, plus Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Minnesota, Michigan State and Indiana. This seems valid, given that Western 2-0 against these teams this year.

Let's be honest, we should have won a MAC by now. We have had the most stability coaching wise, we have outspent the other schools and we have one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, with beautiful coeds. Last year, I was fed up, but you have to give FS some credit. We played with fifth string running backs, third string quarterbacks and 9th string cornerbacks and we have won the east. FS has done a pretty good job this year, he needs to address the OC and the DB coach. The play-calling has been bad in most games and the 10 yard cushions are nuts. Monroe is right in some respects and so is LC and others. To act as if Monroe and Bshot 44's comments have no merit is ridiculous. FS has criticized the play calling and the pass defense. He is trying to win. I did not see any Minnesota press conferences where we have to play perfect to win, he said we could beat Tennessee and the players believed it. All I want to see is player hitting their apex and winnings championships from time to time. FS did a darn good job this year, he needs to make some executive decisions in the offseason. FS is also starting to win in the living room.

I'm always curious when people say Ohio should be one of the premier teams in the MAC. Why? Ohio's football facilities are average for the MAC; WMU's and Toledo's are better. In fact, one BAer (was it Deciduous Cat Forest maybe) said that after attending the Toledo game a couple of weeks ago the Glass Bowl gave Toledo a decided advantage in recruiting. Peden is old and getting older. Interest in Ohio football is casual at best amongst the typical student and alumnus; Ohio is not a rabid football school where students are pre gaming at 8 am for a Saturday game. And perhaps worst of all, it sits within the giant shadow of Ohio State football only an hour or so up Rt. 33.

Obviously Ohio University is a beautiful campus but it doesn't "scream football" (probably a good thing).

That doesn't answer my question. My question goes beyond this coaching staff, or any coaching staff for that matter. It goes more towards the thought or idea that because it's "Ohio University", that alone should make it a premier program, and I'm just not following or agreeing with that line of thought. Other MAC schools are spending as much or nearly as much $ as Ohio. No advantage to Ohio there. Half of the MAC schools are also in the State of Ohio and recruit from the same state as us, so no advantage there. And unfortunately most recruits could give a rat's *** about academics, so for the most part no advantage there.

Basketball is a different story. If Ohio actually does build that Visitor's Center in front of the Convo that the Master Plan envisions, Ohio could be one of the better destinations in the country. But football? Yeah, not so much.

Caveat: I love Ohio University to death but I recognize that I am not an 18 year old athlete who probably has his choice of schools to choose from.

I thought Ohio's spending about average in the MAC.

I agree that Toledo is a joke academically, however, the fact that they take take partial qualifiers (i.e. non-qualifiers), while Ohio sends them to Juco gives them a significant advantage. Consider Roberts, who verballed to Ohio, didn't qualify, and then went to Toledo where he didn't need to qualify.

I disagree with the rest, though. I'd say that Ohio wins without the best athletes because of conservative play calling.

And while we all consider it a beautiful campus, the rural location of Athens hurts us in recruiting.

I don't see much evidence in the rural location hurting us. We're attracting students statewide at a better clip than schools in populated areas. We don't win enough football games to offset the fact that its a smaller program. Boise is remote but they won a ton of football games. They have a great offense every year.