MAC football success

[Guest]

So will the much talked about MAC football success this season just encourage other wannabe schools to redirect efforts towards football and drop more track programs?

[Guest]

Re: MAC football success

Well gosh, there's a happy thought! Thanks for adding to my breakfast time enjoyment.

[Guest]

Re: MAC football success

Roid, You hit it on the head. As much as I like the smaller conferences to play even with the larger conferences in all sports, the recent MAC football success has produced a melancholy reaction. The very schools at the front of trashing othe sports for football are the ones making all the noise: Marshall, Toledo, & Bowling Green. Obviously, the two are unrelated as there has not been sufficient time for the additional money to have had an impact, but I'm sure AD's will trumphet the results. Your news did not ruin my breakfast. It was lunch for me.

[Guest]

Re: MAC football success

You forgot Northern Illinois -- they don't have men's track either. Ball State used to be Letterman's favorite target but has played respectably. Miami, wich tried to drop its program a few years back and still doesn't have indoor, won by 20 at Colorado State. It appears that the worst teams in the conference support full men's track programs, and the correlation in near 100%.

And if you still say that cutting track teams has nothing to do with football, then maybe you can help us find some weapons of mass destruction, too.

[Guest]

Re: MAC football success

jesse, Northern Illinois cut track somewhere around '80-'82. I selected the three schools that most recently cut their programs. My statement inferred that the additional income created by cutting sports (track)hasn't had time to make any impact for football, yet. I definately agree with you that there is a distinct divide between the MAC schools that are putting all their eggs in a football basket and those that continue to value all sports. I can't help but laugh that the MAC truly believes they are just around the corner from the BCS, major tv contracts, and a consistent national power conference. I have you ever looked at their football attendance totals?

[Trackshark]

Re: MAC football success

You can find the latest MAC attendance below: (scroll down a bit once you open the page)

http://home.cfl.rr.com/essency/ucfsport/attendance.html

[Guest]

Re: MAC football success

An ESPN website article attributes the MAC football success to a "redirection in resources to football."

If ESPN says it, it must be true.

[Guest]

Re: MAC football success

Bite me, MACAaholics! Despite high-profile wins, you're just 6-17 against BCS teams overall. Conference-USA is 9-8.

[Guest]

Re: MAC football success

I knew UNI didn't have track when they left the MAC in the 80s. I was trying to underline the fact that the worst football teams in the MAC this year still have full men's track programs.

Ten or fifteen years ago, the MAC had scholarship limits across the board that were lower than the NCAA limits (85 for football, 9 for track, 2 for tennis, etc). The idea was that they knew they'd never be like the Big Ten and any attempt to do so would destroy competitive balance and send costs out of control -- in effect, it might destroy the long-term health of the conference. When a new commissioner came on in the early 90s, that attitude went out the window, which was made worse by the re-admission of Marshall (a university whose attitude towards athletics is markedly different than the traditional MAC schools). You now see the wonderful effects of overemphasis on national competitiveness.

As for comparisons with Conference USA, there is no comparison. This was a conference that nearly lost its 1-A status when I was in school (and it would have been far better off if it had). Cincinatti has played home games in an NFL stadium, while Bowling Green once sent an 11-0 team to the exciting city of Fresno.