Harrisonburg Daily News Record 9-20-2011

Not a bad idea.  nice traveling conference with theme: " I get my kicks on the new I-66."   ( that's the mostly to-be-built  yet  interstate highway from washington to the Mississippi River) and these schools are within  spitting distance.  add maybe a Richmond, ECU, Miami of Ohiya, George Mason, Georgetown, Navy,  u of Maryland Baltimore, or maybe Temple or Villanova,  william and mary.   There are a bunch of highly thought of schools in this region  would be a very classy conference .....generally well-known schools with rich history.

I would love a group of schools like this, BUT...it would make for some very eeenteresssttting bus trips in the winter...over the mountains and through some serious winter weather. 

I agree with you on this...I don't think Ohio should consider any conference move that is less than a step upward...a new conference including the cast-offs of the Big East and Big Twelve might fit that description, but any of the other 4 non-AQ conferences (MW, WAC, SBC, and CUSA) are at best a lateral move and all but CUSA geographically impractical, and a new conference made up largely of new FBS entrants certainly doesn't make it.

Of the 4 FCS schools mentioned in the article, all have Sagarin ratings better than Kent and Akron. All but ODU are better than CMU, Buffalo, Fiami, and EMU as well. Two other CAA conference schools--UMASS (to be MAC next year) and Richmond--rank higher than all MAC schools except OHIO, WMU, NIU, and Toledo.

Virginia is a recruiting hotbed, and gives you access to the DC market. Delaware expands presence in the Philly/NJ area. As a program, Appy State is as good as it gets in I-AA. Their average attendance last year (25,715) is 10,000 more than the MAC average (15,609).

I think it would be, at worst, a step sideways.