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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Potential Conference created on Twitter
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ChiCat2018
6/19/2020 12:07 AM
https://twitter.com/Marshall_FQ/status/127369350090784768...

Saw this on Twitter, it's essentially sun belt, C-USA and Ohio. Doubt this will ever be discussed by the schools but it's interesting seeing. Personally I'd be ok with this if you also add Fiami. Would be tough leaving the MAC but at least mid week MACtion wouldn't be freezing every game
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OhioCatFan
6/19/2020 12:24 PM
Add Toledo and Miami and drop Georgia State and Southern Miss, and I think you have well-balanced conference. I don't think that this new league will happen, but I would not be surprised to see some conference shifting, which could involve Marshall and WKU in the MAC, and maybe a current MAC school or two dropping football or dropping down to Div II. Just one man's guess. No inside knowledge.
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ou79
6/19/2020 1:47 PM
Makes for interesting discussion but I doubt it would ever happen. As for ECU, I could not see them leaving the AAC for any other conference then a P-5, and that will probably never happen.
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BillyTheCat
6/19/2020 10:35 PM
If you actually read the entire thread, most want rid of OHIO
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Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
6/20/2020 7:57 AM
Feels like an odd time to create a conference that increases our travel requirements.
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OhioBobcat
6/20/2020 10:06 AM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
If you actually read the entire thread, most want rid of OHIO
Right. And I never really understood why some people want or suggest that Ohio should leave the MAC. And go where exactly? To a conference like C-USA? No thank you. I often wonder if they really think that through and everything that actually entails. While I get the MAC doesn't have the financial power, exposure and following such as the likes of those in P5 conferences, I think there are a lot of people who fail to see how those outside of the MAC view the positives of the conference that many of us take for granted. The geographical footprint, the close proximity, the rivalries (even the secondary ones), the cohesiveness, and the parity of most facilities, budgets, salaries, etc. It makes for a solid, competitive and entertaining league. One that a school like Marshall often looks back at with regret about leaving.
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UpSan Bobcat
6/20/2020 12:54 PM
There's really little incentive for any G5 school to change conferences unless it can either move up to a power conference or can have a better geographic fit that saves costs. Otherwise, the opportunities from one G5 conference to the next is too neglible for it to make a difference.
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Pataskala
6/20/2020 1:25 PM
Fantasy football. Or football fantasy.
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The Optimist
6/21/2020 6:29 PM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
Add Toledo and Miami and drop Georgia State and Southern Miss, and I think you have well-balanced conference. I don't think that this new league will happen, but I would not be surprised to see some conference shifting, which could involve Marshall and WKU in the MAC, and maybe a current MAC school or two dropping football or dropping down to Div II. Just one man's guess. No inside knowledge.
I would like to see the MAC add Marshall again.

If we did add WKU, I wouldn't be opposed to adding Middle Tennessee State with them. Those two campuses are under 2 hours from each other. Would give each a regional opponent.
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OhioCatFan
6/21/2020 6:59 PM
The Optimist wrote:expand_more
Add Toledo and Miami and drop Georgia State and Southern Miss, and I think you have well-balanced conference. I don't think that this new league will happen, but I would not be surprised to see some conference shifting, which could involve Marshall and WKU in the MAC, and maybe a current MAC school or two dropping football or dropping down to Div II. Just one man's guess. No inside knowledge.
I would like to see the MAC add Marshall again.

If we did add WKU, I wouldn't be opposed to adding Middle Tennessee State with them. Those two campuses are under 2 hours from each other. Would give each a regional opponent.
I agree with you about Middle.
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Jeff McKinney
6/21/2020 7:11 PM
I could possibly see Marshall considering rejoining the MAC, but none of the others make sense to me. WKU and Middle would be good to have in the MAC, but I can't see them joining a northern league.
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OUcats82
6/21/2020 10:34 PM
Jeff McKinney wrote:expand_more
I could possibly see Marshall considering rejoining the MAC, but none of the others make sense to me. WKU and Middle would be good to have in the MAC, but I can't see them joining a northern league.
I don't see WKU or MTSU wanting to move north either.

It seems like most of the G5 schools fall into the footprint and have some cultural/regional overlap with a P5 conference (and maybe struggle with sharing eyeballs from students with the larger schools in the area). Seems to be some steady non-conference games played between them, too.

MAC-Big 10 (11 of 12 in same footprint)

C-USA-SEC and Big 12 (11 of 14 in same footprint)

Sunbelt-SEC and Big 12 (11 of 12 in same footprint or 9 of 10 football members)

Mountain West-PAC 12 (Only 6 of 12 have a direct overall, but schools like Boise overlap with the Oregon and Washington schools quite a bit etc., New Mexico with the Arizonas (used to be conference rivals).

The American Conference lives up to its name being so spread out, overlapping every P5 but the Pac 12.
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TWT
6/21/2020 11:34 PM
OhioBobcat wrote:expand_more
If you actually read the entire thread, most want rid of OHIO
Right. And I never really understood why some people want or suggest that Ohio should leave the MAC. And go where exactly? To a conference like C-USA? No thank you. I often wonder if they really think that through and everything that actually entails. While I get the MAC doesn't have the financial power, exposure and following such as the likes of those in P5 conferences, I think there are a lot of people who fail to see how those outside of the MAC view the positives of the conference that many of us take for granted. The geographical footprint, the close proximity, the rivalries (even the secondary ones), the cohesiveness, and the parity of most facilities, budgets, salaries, etc. It makes for a solid, competitive and entertaining league. One that a school like Marshall often looks back at with regret about leaving.
Some people aren't too fond of the MAC's Midweek TV deal. Going somewhere else is the most realistic way out of it.
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Flat Tire
6/22/2020 9:13 AM
Did WKU and the MAC explore the possibility of WKU joining the MAC 5 to 10 years ago?
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OhioCatFan
6/22/2020 9:37 AM
Flat Tire wrote:expand_more
Did WKU and the MAC explore the possibility of WKU joining the MAC 5 to 10 years ago?
I heard a rumor about this several years ago, but not sure about any details. I think there were some discussion at some level.
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IceCat76
6/22/2020 10:21 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
Did WKU and the MAC explore the possibility of WKU joining the MAC 5 to 10 years ago?
I heard a rumor about this several years ago, but not sure about any details. I think there were some discussion at some level.
I realize that the MAC is not Vanderbilt, Stanford and Notre Dame, but how would WKU, MTSU amd Marshall stack up academically? Typically conference additions get hung up over what minimum requirements are used for athletic recruits.
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Jeff McKinney
6/22/2020 11:52 AM
Academics was the main barrier to WKU joining a number of years back. ADs would have supported it, but the Presidents wouldn't.
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Buckeye to Bobcat
6/23/2020 11:28 PM
I'll say it once and I'll say it again: I am fine with Marshall on our non-league schedule, and that's it. They left us back in the early 2000's, I hope they enjoy trying to come through a locked door. We owe them nothing, simple as that.
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GoCats105
6/24/2020 2:17 PM
Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:expand_more
I'll say it once and I'll say it again: I am fine with Marshall on our non-league schedule, and that's it. They left us back in the early 2000's, I hope they enjoy trying to come through a locked door. We owe them nothing, simple as that.
That's all well and good, but a Marshall return to the MAC automatically improves the branding of the league. I would make some kind of stipulation that if they wanted to come back they have to convince someone else to come with them.

It's all a moot point because they'll never do it. That would mean admitting they were wrong. Though I would LOVE to see the Chuck Landon articles after that.
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ou79
6/24/2020 3:54 PM
Does the MAC have an exit fee for those teams wishing to leave the Conference? I know that the Summit has a $1,000,000.00 exit fee for any university wishing to leave the Summit. Not that $1,000,000.00 is much in today's world, but it may slow some schools from conference shopping every several years. For that matter, does the MAC have an entrance fee?
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BillyTheCat
6/24/2020 11:39 PM
ou79 wrote:expand_more
Does the MAC have an exit fee for those teams wishing to leave the Conference? I know that the Summit has a $1,000,000.00 exit fee for any university wishing to leave the Summit. Not that $1,000,000.00 is much in today's world, but it may slow some schools from conference shopping every several years. For that matter, does the MAC have an entrance fee?
Currently a $1,000,000 is serious money to every MAC school. And the exit fee is well in excess of $1Mill

And, only social media and message boards is wanting change.
Last Edited: 6/24/2020 11:40:28 PM by BillyTheCat
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ou79
6/25/2020 11:33 AM
Agree BTC, while it may be fun to speculate on social media and play "what if", I think most universities have bigger fish to fry than looking at how to come up with a new conference/league. BTW, what is the exit fee for the MAC if you know?
Last Edited: 6/25/2020 11:35:30 AM by ou79
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The Optimist
6/25/2020 12:44 PM
Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:expand_more
I'll say it once and I'll say it again: I am fine with Marshall on our non-league schedule, and that's it. They left us back in the early 2000's, I hope they enjoy trying to come through a locked door. We owe them nothing, simple as that.
I don't think we owe Marshall anything, I want them in the conference selfishly because it's a great rivalry for Ohio.

...

I agree all this speculation is mostly just a fun "what if" and while Marshall seems realistic it would take something crazy to see the MAC expanding south with WKU and MTSU. That said, I do think college football is about to undergo massive realignment... Unlike the past couple shifts, I don't think this one will be viewed as "expansion" as much as conferences consolidating as some Universities fold or drop sports... Change is coming. The MAC should be proactive especially if they know we're about to see our own programs dropping sports...
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