Many alums at most universities the size of Ohio don't follow intercollegiate athletics closely. Most are focused on their career, family life, kids, etc.
FYI --- the guys playing football are STUDENT-athletes. 99.9% of them will need to pursue a career other than pro sports after graduation. So a clean program and kids doing well academically is highly important. Or do you prefer we have football teams like Baylor or any other number of teams that have seemingly done well on the field only to have BIG problems off the field?
Rant on ... you always want to get in the last word. So go for it. Maybe one day you'll actually comprehend what intercollegiate athletics is all about.
I don't feel like I agree with anyone specific on here, but I'll add a couple thoughts to this thread. First, "rankings", such as these, are effectively pointless to me most of the time, but it gets us talking, so I guess it's a success in that regard.
Second, I fully agree that part of defining success for a MAC Football program should include the number of times you've been to or won the MAC Title game. While it might draw more attention, 90% of the bowl games the MAC plays in are useless attempts by ESPN to sell advertising. (Like most bowl games are). For me, Ohio is a mid-pack program until it wins in Detroit. That's not an insult to the work that's been done here, because it's considerably better than pre-Frank. It's just my opinion on Ohio, and MAC Football as a whole.
Third, I agree that a large number of Ohio Alumni don't care much about football. Some because they don't care about sports, others because they're ignorant and define Ohio University and the MAC as not being "big time" enough for their sports watching ego's. As an example, I have college roomies who are planning to attend an Ohio game with me this fall around the O$U schedule. I'm disgusted, but I otherwise love the guys, so I roll with it. Whatever the reason, I feel sorry for those who small time their own Alma Mater(s). They miss out. In fact, I'll take it a step farther for me personally. If it weren't for Ohio Football, and a little bit UC Football (family of Bearcats around me), I would pretty much be disengaged from college football because of what it's become in the "P5". I agree with mid70's that most players coming to Ohio aren't destined for pro careers. Frankly, I like that feeling that we're still watching college sports in Athens, rather than the pro-feel up here in Central Ohio.
Fourth, I'd like to ask (hence the reason for quoting mid70's post) what exactly you mean by "Many alums at most universities the size of Ohio don't follow intercollegiate athletics closely."?? I know not everyone focuses on sports in the way many of us on here do, but I guess I feel like in the State of Ohio, college football is sort of a big deal. I'm curious to understand what you mean by that?