http://saturdayblitz.com/2013/03/30/james-madison-and-lib.../

This is an interesting development because JMU was rumored at one point to make a possible MAC move. Does the MAC need to make a move to keep relevancy on the FBS level? More importantly, should Ohio set its sights higher?

The MAC reminds me of my 102 year old grandmothers house.  Furniture, carpet, clocks, appliances and everything has remained the same since I was a little child.   Everyone else is remodeling, but she appears happy just the way she is.   She did change out her rotary phone awhile back, but otherwise she's content just the way it has been and is.  Whether that's good or bad, I'm not sure?

No.  Adding the likes of Liberty and JMU does nothing for the MAC and in fact may help bolster its image as a minor conference.  I would rather go for somebody like Army (even on a football-only basis).

which of the 5 Little Sisters of the Poor conferences has actually improved because of realignment?

The Big Least? of course not, they used to be in the big leagues and got bumped down to the kiddie table. Lost teams to BCS schools and replaced them with CUSA teams. DOWNGRADE.

CUSA?Nope.  Lost teams to BE and replaced them with Sun Belt teams and FCS call ups. DOWNGRADE.

Sun Belt? Nope. Lost teams to CUSA and replaced them with WAC deadwood and FCS call ups. DOWNGRADE.

those 3 conferences have clearly degraded. that leaves the MWC and the MAC. MWC lost 3 good schools (BYU, TCU, Utah) and replaced them with the best remaing WAC schools (SJSU, USU). Slight downgrade, but then when you add in Boise State's return overall MWC stayed about even.

The MAC lost Temple and added UMass. A downgrade, but a slight one.


Overall, by not redecorating Grandma's House the MAC has mantained its property value while the other houses in the neighborhood were foreclosed on after the owners made bad upgrade choices hoping to flip it. The MAC should in no way add any other FCS school under any circumstances. 

The only teams the MAC should ever consider adding are the best of the rest that are in our region. In no order, those would be- UC, UConn, Temple, Marshall, Army/Navy. You don't have to point out that none of those schools would want to join the MAC, I get it. My point is, only add programs that would be a step up for the MAC, not a step up for the program. Otherwise, stand pat and let everyone else further degrade themselves.

I'm wondering if the whole neighborhood has gone down in value with all the FCS call ups. That is 9 new schools promoted to the top level since 2012 with more on the way. They are going to create a lot more competition for non-AQ schools that rely on Florida for recruiting. Without enough talent its going to make the non-AQ leagues very top heavy with the few schools that have their acts together consistently in the Top 25 while its going to be that much harder for the Akron's of the world to break out of their cycle.

The Sun Belt seems to be following the MAC of old play book...add to the bottom.  As I have said before, I hate that approach.  I'd still rather subtract from the bottom and add some middle to upper level schools but it looks like that ain't gonna happen either. 

So, please MAC leaders, if you are gonna keep the pretenders please make them at least try harder so they don't take the rest of us down with them...thanks!

Yeah, adding schools like James Madison who averaged 22,783 to their games last year would bring down the reputation if the MAC.

The risk of this strategy is exemplified by my wife's grandmother. She lived to be 99. Nothing ever changed in her house, and she was happy to live there. When the time came that she finally couldn't live there, the house had no worth anymore, and was condemned.

In terms of comparing these conferences, it seems like you could best compare them based on money. In the end how much they can spend of football is going to be a big factor in the long term health of the program. The available money also reflects factors like attendance, stadium size, ticket prices, bowl ties, and TV contracts.  I wonder if there is a table somewhere of the athletic budgets of the various schools, where one could then compute the average budget size by conference, after re-alignment?

I think it's pretty remarkable that George's and L.C.'s grandmoms are still playing football at the centenarian triple digit.

I live about 30 mins from JMU (Harrisonburg), its got a good college town vibe and the locals really seem to support the school. Route 33 runs through Athens and Harrisonburg, if we played each other we could call it the "Rumble on Route 33"...or something like that.

Maryland, I sorta agree with you.  Sun Belt additions are probably better than Buffalo and UMASS, time will tell.  Remember EMU was one of those additions way back when.  I believe CMU may have won a Small College Championship just prior to entering the MAC.  But none of the other additions to the bottom (Ball St and Akron) have consistently added much to the MAC over the years (at least in football).

Buffalo 1 MAC TITLE, OHIO - 0

Notice the word CONSISTENTLY in my post.  Everyone has one lucky season in a blue moon just like everybody tanks once in a while!