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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: UMass Back in the MAC - This time for ALL sports
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ctb
2/28/2024 4:47 PM
Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
3. Lack of corporate sponsorship in the smallest and poorest market in the conference.
Perhaps they can rename the Convo "The GoMart Dome."
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ExCat21
2/28/2024 5:38 PM
I also believe SIU Carbondale would be a great fit. Plus they seem to give Northern Illinois a run in football some years.

Saluki Stadium: https://siusalukis.com/facilities/saluki-stadium/34
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M.D.W.S.T
2/28/2024 5:47 PM
ctb wrote:expand_more
3. Lack of corporate sponsorship in the smallest and poorest market in the conference.
Perhaps they can rename the Convo "The GoMart Dome."
Jackie dOme
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colobobcat66
2/29/2024 2:19 PM
There’s a lot to like about the MAC as far as distances, rivalries, etc but you have to wonder whether it’s stable or stagnant? It sort of feels like we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with potential changes but who knows how it will turn out.
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ctb
2/29/2024 2:30 PM
colobobcat66 wrote:expand_more
There’s a lot to like about the MAC as far as distances, rivalries, etc but you have to wonder whether it’s stable or stagnant? It sort of feels like we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with potential changes but who knows how it will turn out.
I think the MAC is stable- probably the most stable in the FBS. All the current members seem happy where they are nobody seems to have plans to move. Expanding and getting more members is a positive step- a 13th and likely a 14th, and who knows? Maybe the MAC be a 16 team conference after everything is said and done. I think the MAC is doing everything it needs to ensure its future. I mean, we're never going start snagging P5 schools or anything like that.

I would be much more worried if we were in the C-USA. They're the definition of instability with the conference being pretty much a revolving door of a random, disjointed assortment of teams.
Last Edited: 2/29/2024 2:32:11 PM by ctb
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77 Mulberry
2/29/2024 9:52 PM
Did Temple ever win a MACC or beat Ohio? I think we beat them every time we played.
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Y-CityCatFan
3/1/2024 6:24 AM
I like UMass, and really believe this to be a great move, obviously for basketball, but for football too. If for nothing else, just seeing some sort of change in the MAC is at least interesting!
If you haven't looked yet, take a peek at the UMass Facebook and basketball message board. I'm pretty sure these people just had their entire world implode around them, judging by the comments. I'm getting serious Temple fan vibes from these folks.
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Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
3/1/2024 7:11 AM
ctb wrote:expand_more
There’s a lot to like about the MAC as far as distances, rivalries, etc but you have to wonder whether it’s stable or stagnant? It sort of feels like we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with potential changes but who knows how it will turn out.
I think the MAC is stable- probably the most stable in the FBS. All the current members seem happy where they are nobody seems to have plans to move. Expanding and getting more members is a positive step- a 13th and likely a 14th, and who knows? Maybe the MAC be a 16 team conference after everything is said and done. I think the MAC is doing everything it needs to ensure its future. I mean, we're never going start snagging P5 schools or anything like that.

I would be much more worried if we were in the C-USA. They're the definition of instability with the conference being pretty much a revolving door of a random, disjointed assortment of teams.
I agree the MAC is the most stable. I'm just not sure that's actually a good thing?

It's sort of like how the basement of a house is most likely to survive a tornado unscathed. Sure, the basement will be stable, but that doesn't mean people want to live in basements, or they once the tornado's over they don't rebuild the house.
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shabamon
3/1/2024 9:01 AM
77 Mulberry wrote:expand_more
Did Temple ever win a MACC or beat Ohio? I think we beat them every time we played.
Temple beat us in 08. That's it. Here's a highlight video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLu2_IDjSNg
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SBH
3/1/2024 9:15 AM
Article in yesterday's (I believe) Bowling Green, KY, newspaper says WKU less enthused about MAC since CUSA has stabilized.
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SBH
3/1/2024 9:45 AM
Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame wrote:expand_more
There’s a lot to like about the MAC as far as distances, rivalries, etc but you have to wonder whether it’s stable or stagnant? It sort of feels like we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with potential changes but who knows how it will turn out.
I think the MAC is stable- probably the most stable in the FBS. All the current members seem happy where they are nobody seems to have plans to move. Expanding and getting more members is a positive step- a 13th and likely a 14th, and who knows? Maybe the MAC be a 16 team conference after everything is said and done. I think the MAC is doing everything it needs to ensure its future. I mean, we're never going start snagging P5 schools or anything like that.

I would be much more worried if we were in the C-USA. They're the definition of instability with the conference being pretty much a revolving door of a random, disjointed assortment of teams.
I agree the MAC is the most stable. I'm just not sure that's actually a good thing?

It's sort of like how the basement of a house is most likely to survive a tornado unscathed. Sure, the basement will be stable, but that doesn't mean people want to live in basements, or they once the tornado's over they don't rebuild the house.
In the MAC's case, "stable" = inert.
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M.D.W.S.T
3/1/2024 10:35 AM
Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame wrote:expand_more
There’s a lot to like about the MAC as far as distances, rivalries, etc but you have to wonder whether it’s stable or stagnant? It sort of feels like we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with potential changes but who knows how it will turn out.
I think the MAC is stable- probably the most stable in the FBS. All the current members seem happy where they are nobody seems to have plans to move. Expanding and getting more members is a positive step- a 13th and likely a 14th, and who knows? Maybe the MAC be a 16 team conference after everything is said and done. I think the MAC is doing everything it needs to ensure its future. I mean, we're never going start snagging P5 schools or anything like that.

I would be much more worried if we were in the C-USA. They're the definition of instability with the conference being pretty much a revolving door of a random, disjointed assortment of teams.
I agree the MAC is the most stable. I'm just not sure that's actually a good thing?

It's sort of like how the basement of a house is most likely to survive a tornado unscathed. Sure, the basement will be stable, but that doesn't mean people want to live in basements, or they once the tornado's over they don't rebuild the house.
This is good. And correct.

You're either moving forward, or someone is passing you. Being "stable" for the sake of stability isn't all that great. MAC is stable (today), but we've been passed in quality by other conferences. I'm in favor of adding UMASS. I'm in favor of adding half of Kentucky. I'm in favor of pulling in the Dakotas. I'm in favor in making the MAC the G5 version of the BIG10. Rising tides n that.
Last Edited: 3/1/2024 10:36:27 AM by M.D.W.S.T
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Deciduous Forest Cat
3/1/2024 12:29 PM
M.D.W.S.T wrote:expand_more
There’s a lot to like about the MAC as far as distances, rivalries, etc but you have to wonder whether it’s stable or stagnant? It sort of feels like we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with potential changes but who knows how it will turn out.
I think the MAC is stable- probably the most stable in the FBS. All the current members seem happy where they are nobody seems to have plans to move. Expanding and getting more members is a positive step- a 13th and likely a 14th, and who knows? Maybe the MAC be a 16 team conference after everything is said and done. I think the MAC is doing everything it needs to ensure its future. I mean, we're never going start snagging P5 schools or anything like that.

I would be much more worried if we were in the C-USA. They're the definition of instability with the conference being pretty much a revolving door of a random, disjointed assortment of teams.
I agree the MAC is the most stable. I'm just not sure that's actually a good thing?

It's sort of like how the basement of a house is most likely to survive a tornado unscathed. Sure, the basement will be stable, but that doesn't mean people want to live in basements, or they once the tornado's over they don't rebuild the house.
This is good. And correct.

You're either moving forward, or someone is passing you. Being "stable" for the sake of stability isn't all that great. MAC is stable (today), but we've been passed in quality by other conferences. I'm in favor of adding UMASS. I'm in favor of adding half of Kentucky. I'm in favor of pulling in the Dakotas. I'm in favor in making the MAC the G5 version of the BIG10. Rising tides n that.
Sure but what are we gaining by adding schools? Change for the sake of change n all that. If the MAC wants to improve its lot then there need to be more fans at games. And watching on TV. Glad to see UMass in all sports and hope WKU is next, but none of that does what a significant increase in student and alumni support could do.
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ctb
3/1/2024 2:17 PM
Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
There’s a lot to like about the MAC as far as distances, rivalries, etc but you have to wonder whether it’s stable or stagnant? It sort of feels like we’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with potential changes but who knows how it will turn out.
I think the MAC is stable- probably the most stable in the FBS. All the current members seem happy where they are nobody seems to have plans to move. Expanding and getting more members is a positive step- a 13th and likely a 14th, and who knows? Maybe the MAC be a 16 team conference after everything is said and done. I think the MAC is doing everything it needs to ensure its future. I mean, we're never going start snagging P5 schools or anything like that.

I would be much more worried if we were in the C-USA. They're the definition of instability with the conference being pretty much a revolving door of a random, disjointed assortment of teams.
I agree the MAC is the most stable. I'm just not sure that's actually a good thing?

It's sort of like how the basement of a house is most likely to survive a tornado unscathed. Sure, the basement will be stable, but that doesn't mean people want to live in basements, or they once the tornado's over they don't rebuild the house.
This is good. And correct.

You're either moving forward, or someone is passing you. Being "stable" for the sake of stability isn't all that great. MAC is stable (today), but we've been passed in quality by other conferences. I'm in favor of adding UMASS. I'm in favor of adding half of Kentucky. I'm in favor of pulling in the Dakotas. I'm in favor in making the MAC the G5 version of the BIG10. Rising tides n that.
Sure but what are we gaining by adding schools? Change for the sake of change n all that. If the MAC wants to improve its lot then there need to be more fans at games. And watching on TV. Glad to see UMass in all sports and hope WKU is next, but none of that does what a significant increase in student and alumni support could do.
In the case of UMass, as already discussed, they don't bring much to the table in terms of football, but getting UMass basketball is a big gain. That should make the conference more competitive on the floor but also more valuable as a whole... even more so if WKU joins. I'd imagine those things will help in securing a more lucrative TV deal, seeing as the MAC's current deal expires in a couple of years. So there's a tangible way that adding schools could benefit the conference.

I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
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Pataskala
3/2/2024 6:44 PM
ctb wrote:expand_more
I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
Some Saturday availabilities on CBSSN might have opened up with Army's move to the AAC. Noon and 3:30 slots on CBSSN have usually been filled with Army, UConn or UMass home games. (CUSA and MWC mostly show up at 7 pm and 10:30 pm with some 3:30 games.) With Army moving to the AAC, their home games should be on an ESPN/ABC channel because the AAC has an exclusive deal with ESPN until 2031. And with UMass coming into the MAC, there should be more opportunities for Saturday MAC games on CBSSN, including maybe those few November Saturday games.
Last Edited: 3/2/2024 6:47:19 PM by Pataskala
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GoCats105
3/3/2024 6:28 PM
Pataskala wrote:expand_more
I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
Some Saturday availabilities on CBSSN might have opened up with Army's move to the AAC. Noon and 3:30 slots on CBSSN have usually been filled with Army, UConn or UMass home games. (CUSA and MWC mostly show up at 7 pm and 10:30 pm with some 3:30 games.) With Army moving to the AAC, their home games should be on an ESPN/ABC channel because the AAC has an exclusive deal with ESPN until 2031. And with UMass coming into the MAC, there should be more opportunities for Saturday MAC games on CBSSN, including maybe those few November Saturday games.
I don't know the financials behind whatever the Sun Belt did, but they wanted to maintain as many of their Saturdays as possible and struck a deal with ESPN to move most of their games to ESPN+. You'll see one or two midweek games here and there in October, but nowhere near the volume that MACtion is in November. That's the model that the MAC should be following, IMO. I can't imagine the deal to be on TV on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in front of half empty stadiums is that much better than whatever the Sun Belt got. Weeknight MACtion has long gotten stale. You want to drive fan interest? Get more Saturdays back on the schedule.
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JimLurker34
3/3/2024 6:30 PM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
Some Saturday availabilities on CBSSN might have opened up with Army's move to the AAC. Noon and 3:30 slots on CBSSN have usually been filled with Army, UConn or UMass home games. (CUSA and MWC mostly show up at 7 pm and 10:30 pm with some 3:30 games.) With Army moving to the AAC, their home games should be on an ESPN/ABC channel because the AAC has an exclusive deal with ESPN until 2031. And with UMass coming into the MAC, there should be more opportunities for Saturday MAC games on CBSSN, including maybe those few November Saturday games.
I don't know the financials behind whatever the Sun Belt did, but they wanted to maintain as many of their Saturdays as possible and struck a deal with ESPN to move most of their games to ESPN+. You'll see one or two midweek games here and there in October, but nowhere near the volume that MACtion is in November. That's the model that the MAC should be following, IMO. I can't imagine the deal to be on TV on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in front of half empty stadiums is that much better than whatever the Sun Belt got. Weeknight MACtion has long gotten stale. You want to drive fan interest? Get more Saturdays back on the schedule.
Oh yes, it's much, much better. They got virtually nothing for ESPN+.
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Pataskala
3/3/2024 7:56 PM
JimLurker34 wrote:expand_more
I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
Some Saturday availabilities on CBSSN might have opened up with Army's move to the AAC. Noon and 3:30 slots on CBSSN have usually been filled with Army, UConn or UMass home games. (CUSA and MWC mostly show up at 7 pm and 10:30 pm with some 3:30 games.) With Army moving to the AAC, their home games should be on an ESPN/ABC channel because the AAC has an exclusive deal with ESPN until 2031. And with UMass coming into the MAC, there should be more opportunities for Saturday MAC games on CBSSN, including maybe those few November Saturday games.
I don't know the financials behind whatever the Sun Belt did, but they wanted to maintain as many of their Saturdays as possible and struck a deal with ESPN to move most of their games to ESPN+. You'll see one or two midweek games here and there in October, but nowhere near the volume that MACtion is in November. That's the model that the MAC should be following, IMO. I can't imagine the deal to be on TV on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in front of half empty stadiums is that much better than whatever the Sun Belt got. Weeknight MACtion has long gotten stale. You want to drive fan interest? Get more Saturdays back on the schedule.
Oh yes, it's much, much better. They got virtually nothing for ESPN+.
It looks like the 14-team Snn Belt gets $7 million a year while the 12/13-team MAC gets $8 million annually.
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JimLurker34
3/3/2024 9:03 PM
Pataskala wrote:expand_more
I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
Some Saturday availabilities on CBSSN might have opened up with Army's move to the AAC. Noon and 3:30 slots on CBSSN have usually been filled with Army, UConn or UMass home games. (CUSA and MWC mostly show up at 7 pm and 10:30 pm with some 3:30 games.) With Army moving to the AAC, their home games should be on an ESPN/ABC channel because the AAC has an exclusive deal with ESPN until 2031. And with UMass coming into the MAC, there should be more opportunities for Saturday MAC games on CBSSN, including maybe those few November Saturday games.
I don't know the financials behind whatever the Sun Belt did, but they wanted to maintain as many of their Saturdays as possible and struck a deal with ESPN to move most of their games to ESPN+. You'll see one or two midweek games here and there in October, but nowhere near the volume that MACtion is in November. That's the model that the MAC should be following, IMO. I can't imagine the deal to be on TV on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in front of half empty stadiums is that much better than whatever the Sun Belt got. Weeknight MACtion has long gotten stale. You want to drive fan interest? Get more Saturdays back on the schedule.
Oh yes, it's much, much better. They got virtually nothing for ESPN+.
It looks like the 14-team Snn Belt gets $7 million a year while the 12/13-team MAC gets $8 million annually.
Not much of that $7 million SBC money can be from ESPN+, which is what the previous poster implied.
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Deciduous Forest Cat
3/4/2024 7:48 AM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
Some Saturday availabilities on CBSSN might have opened up with Army's move to the AAC. Noon and 3:30 slots on CBSSN have usually been filled with Army, UConn or UMass home games. (CUSA and MWC mostly show up at 7 pm and 10:30 pm with some 3:30 games.) With Army moving to the AAC, their home games should be on an ESPN/ABC channel because the AAC has an exclusive deal with ESPN until 2031. And with UMass coming into the MAC, there should be more opportunities for Saturday MAC games on CBSSN, including maybe those few November Saturday games.
I don't know the financials behind whatever the Sun Belt did, but they wanted to maintain as many of their Saturdays as possible and struck a deal with ESPN to move most of their games to ESPN+. You'll see one or two midweek games here and there in October, but nowhere near the volume that MACtion is in November. That's the model that the MAC should be following, IMO. I can't imagine the deal to be on TV on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in front of half empty stadiums is that much better than whatever the Sun Belt got. Weeknight MACtion has long gotten stale. You want to drive fan interest? Get more Saturdays back on the schedule.
Nope. This argument is what's stale. the stadiums are already half empty. Especially in November. We might as well get paid for the national cable spots.
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colobobcat66
3/4/2024 2:07 PM
Deciduous Forest Cat wrote:expand_more
I do agree that a significant increase in student and alumni support would do wonders. But what else exactly should the MAC be doing to go about this? If you want people attending football games, they need to be on Saturdays. If you want to be on TV, you'll have to to be doing weeknights, generally.
Some Saturday availabilities on CBSSN might have opened up with Army's move to the AAC. Noon and 3:30 slots on CBSSN have usually been filled with Army, UConn or UMass home games. (CUSA and MWC mostly show up at 7 pm and 10:30 pm with some 3:30 games.) With Army moving to the AAC, their home games should be on an ESPN/ABC channel because the AAC has an exclusive deal with ESPN until 2031. And with UMass coming into the MAC, there should be more opportunities for Saturday MAC games on CBSSN, including maybe those few November Saturday games.
I don't know the financials behind whatever the Sun Belt did, but they wanted to maintain as many of their Saturdays as possible and struck a deal with ESPN to move most of their games to ESPN+. You'll see one or two midweek games here and there in October, but nowhere near the volume that MACtion is in November. That's the model that the MAC should be following, IMO. I can't imagine the deal to be on TV on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in front of half empty stadiums is that much better than whatever the Sun Belt got. Weeknight MACtion has long gotten stale. You want to drive fan interest? Get more Saturdays back on the schedule.
Nope. This argument is what's stale. the stadiums are already half empty. Especially in November. We might as well get paid for the national cable spots.
I know some of the details of past weekdays versus weekends has been shown somewhere before. Is that available? It sure seems like November games are very poorly attended either way, but for sure the stadiums are not anywhere close to half full on weeknights.
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JimLurker34
3/6/2024 3:02 PM
This might be interesting to watch on Thursday morning. Press Conference about joining the MAC at UMass featuring all their coaches, the AD, the prez, etc. Will be streamed at 10:30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JfAb831NyY
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Steve1981
3/8/2024 6:41 PM
Of course I'm thrilled!

It's actually about a hour but almost the first 20 minutes was waiting. Talks started in September, they talk about faculty, academics, academic and leadership consortium and our Chancellor jumped in as he was a product of the academic consortium. About building the next department head, deans, chairs, provost etc while Javier Reyes was at Arkansas in the SEC. Seemed very thoughtful, covering athletics, facility, students, campus vision. Not really much rahrahrah. Commissioner Steinbrecher was quietly on campus during a game in November and disappointed did not seem him.

The investment in athletics will accelerate with 8 to 10 times the conference revenue growth. As our AD said, we are hitting the gas, no brakes. Frank Martin is a real team player, his wife ran track at UMass, football helps raise all programs and their budgets all went up from his career. Don Brown and Frank Martin had offices next to each other at Northeastern. They both recruit in programs that were at the bottom with no bells and whistles. You recruit players that believe in your vision, the school and not the conference.

Looking forward to playing you guys, especially in basketball and football.
Last Edited: 3/8/2024 6:45:19 PM by Steve1981
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Jeff McKinney
3/8/2024 11:15 PM
Welcome to the league!
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Steve1981
3/9/2024 6:53 PM
Thank you. Being the 4th seed in the A10 we get a double bye in Brooklyn.
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