I'm not crazy about leaving the MAC but if it's something that a school must do to stay alive in the top division(s) of football and basketball, then so-be-it. I figure w/ NIL and the crazy tv deals along with the playoff system, the MACs days are probably numbered.

I think we're less than a decade -- maybe less -- away from the FCS/FBS groupings being either a) replaced altogether or b) made completely meaningless.

It feels pretty clear to me that the top tier of college football is going to break off and do their own thing. It's the logical next step of all of this, and the only hope for the conferences left behind is that in doing so a relegation & promotion system's created.

But I wouldn't hold my breath. At this point, the MAC and similarly situated conferences are FCS in name only. We play for our own championship (the MAC) with very little additional upside. And we sign up for it because we get a little bit of revenue share.

It's not super clear to me what options the MAC has. They have no money, no fan support, pretty weak brands and tradition, and poor alumni support.

Hard for me to see the plan to change things on the timeline needed.

I used to think that way but realistically, we have ZERO chance of winning in the FBS so why not go to the FCS where we can repeat the national championship of 1960? Where we are now, we could go 13 and 0 only to get invited to get pummeled at a place like Ohio State or Alabama.

Gotta pay the bills, my man.

This is dead on.
(though I think we're closer to hearing about this plan within 5 years at most.)

There will be one or two super conferences, and then the wreckage of everyone else who hung on too long, or didn't insulate themselves from it.


If you want to illustrate just how far off we are from competing in the Big 12 - even though it's become fairly common for us to beat up the bottom and middle - keep this figure in mind: $100M

That is West Virginia's athletic budget. $109M to be more specific. They rank at the bottom of the Big 12.


OU's is $35M.



I've been joking about the MAC BELT for most of my 4-5 years here, and many years before that, but I think it's time for a real exploratory study. Because we're gonna get left in the dust trying to hold on to the illustrious history of mid-american conference football.

Honestly, I dont know what you do, and usually I have a million ideas, but execution wise... no idea. I just don't want to be executed. Every school is out for themselves. Every school is chasing the dangling P5 carrot. If we insulated ourselves into the most powerful G5, that would be a start, but revenue sharing, tv contracts, I have no idea. Feels like most schools would just as soon ride inaction into obsolescence.

All jokes aside, I think MAC BELT has a path forward, where our options in both conferences are singularly quite limited.

If MAC leadership doesn't start providing any solutions, then they are part of the problem.

The only way to fix said problem, in that case, is to get away from it altogether.

The other G6 conferences don't have perfect situations, but they've clearly been more proactive than what the MAC has been for decades.

It's really this simple for the MAC in the business sense: Adapt or die.

What should the MAC be doing?

I think the mid-week contract should pay better when it's renewed. The deal they signed was way too long given how quickly the media market shifts these days. So next time it comes up, I'd expect better per-school numbers, though the numbers will still lag other conferences.

I can see the case, but ultimately the TV deal is about ratings, and our ratings are dependent on not being on head-to-head against 10 better conferences.

Additionally, the mid-week games only lose revenue for the handful of MAC teams that actually fill their stadiums. And even then, I'm not sure if more ticket sales will actually outstrip the likely increase in TV revenue. I suspect ESPN will only offer mid-week. What other value do we offer?

And if it's not mid-week ESPN, who offers?

CBS? Could have some games on CBS, CBSSN, and they also have a deal with free over the air channel Ion for content, plus paramount plus. Ion is also owned by Scripps, so bit of an OU/MAC connection there.

Until a new TV deal is signed who knows.

ohio should definetly leave the mac. but the sunbelt is not the right conference. much better would be the big east, american or conference usa. those conferences are much better than the sunbelt.