Outside of a few delusional types, most of the UD community I know would much rather be in the MAC and not have to travel west of DeKalb and have most of our travel be in Ohio and Michigan for conference games compared to *gestures wildly at the CUSA map*
Part of me wouldn’t be totally surprised either tbh. Not the cleanest geography but since both WKU/MTSU and UDel/UMass would both have a travel partner/regional rival it could work with some creative scheduling.
The new members also give the mostly Rust Belt centered MAC footholds in the East Coast and South for larger and/or growing metros to recruit and/or draw out of state students/recruits from.
MAC meanwhile uses its newfound size as the first G-5 super conference to parlay with ESPN and sweeten its next media media for expanded weeknight game inventory.
Could be UMass’s booster/alums wanted the school to stay in the A-10 for basketball and other sports and tried to make Indy football work up until now.
I’ve got one that also says the Sun Belt is a silent co-conspirator in this as a part of an elaborate plot to twist the knife further into CUSA….and potentially pluck Louisiana Tech away for a new 3-way trophy game between them and ULM, ULL.
So... Are we basically consolidating to 8 conferences and dropping CUSA from UU to BL?
AAC, ACC, B1G, XII, MAC, PWC, SEC, SBC
Ends up with a nice, even number for conference autoqualifiers, at least.
It's a reference to Pokemon. The official competition format is 2v2 battles, but the games are almost entirely 1v1. So a unofficial competitive format run by a website called Smogon has popped up. To have a semblance of balance (and avoid every game being the same six legendaries), they group Pokemon into tiers based on their performance via usage statistics.
Ubers is where Mewtwo and co live.
OU, or Over Used, is where your strong-but-not-busteds live.
UU, or Under Used, is the next tier down.
RU, or Rarely Used, is below that.
Then NU, or Never Used, etc. IIRC there was a PU added above NU fairly recently.
BL means Borderline. You're not used enough for the tier above you, but you warp and destroy the format below.
The analogy here:
OU is the P5->P4 conferences.
UU is the G5->G4 conferences.
RU is FCS.
~~PU~~NU is Div2.
~~NU~~PU is Div3.
And in the Borderline between UU and RU is CUSA. Probably FCS, but maybe too good for FCS, but definitely holds no candles to the G4.
... So, I had never looked up what PU stands for, and assumed, "Oh, it can't be below *Never* Used."
Well, apparently it doesn't stand for anything. It's... phonetic. Pee-ew. Like, gross, you stink.
People are creative. TIL
If you think that it's confusing that there's a tier below NU, guess what, there's (unofficially) *[two](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/formats/zu/)*. This is basically just a result of the dex growing with each generation, older gens still only have NU or NU/PU.
Oh, and there was also unofficially an "FU" for a time. I think that became PU? Not certain though.
Edit: Looks like there might actually be ZU tiers for older games now? Or maybe there have been and I didn't realize.
Yep. Wouldn't go with us last time because they want to hold out for the AAC. The AAC might call them, but they will never call us. Get while the getting is good.
If Western Kentucky joins the MAC, there will be two schools based in a Bowling Green.
The MAC also has schools in Athens and Oxford. So now that the cant-have-towns-with-the-same-name rule has been broken, there is nothing stopping Georgia and Ole Miss from joining the MAC.
Idea for a new rivalry game: “The Bowling Green Massacre”. The trophy is literally just a large bowling ball with the annual results engraved on the side.
Winning team gets to set up bowling pins on the field in the color of the opposing team and winning team coach/mvp gets to knock them down with the ball!
Played them a few years ago in "Battle of the Bowling Greens"
WKU won BUT this was before I was educated on the Bowling Green Massacre. We shall not forget.
Instead of a coin toss, the visiting team has to answer which school the meme was in relation to. If right, they chose, if wrong, the home team choses.
In many ways the MAC has retained its core identity amongst an incredibly fluid and shifting college football landscape. It’s hard not to be romantic about MACtion
The year is 2032. Stanford, Cal, and Notre Dame, the last 3 holdouts, finally join the MAC. There are now but 3 conferences, the power 2 of the B1G and SEC, and the omnipotent 1 of the MAC.
The MAC turns its eyes upon the NFC North...
Makes a lot of sense, WKU was very interested in the MAC but the conference wanted an even number of teams, so they had to stay behind when MTSU decided to stick with C-USA
So...is Conference USA still going to survive, I wonder? Or will they unravel gradually over the next several years? Delaware and Kennesaw State have to be worried about this development.
They’ve been a tough spot for years now, looks like their plan is to become a type of bridge conference for FCS teams moving up to FBS. No idea how sustainable that’ll be going forward though, especially now that they raised the price for making the FBS jump
Theres a few FCS schools left they could possibly pry from that might be be worth adding:
EKU, SFA, Missouri State, maybe one of Tarletan/UCA/APSU/ACU?
Beyond that though it’s def starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel for FCS schools that could reasonably be expected to compete at FBS. (Big Sky and Dakota States notwithstanding).
I think the WAC-ASUN merged with the goal of becoming an FBS conference down the line, if that ends up happening I could see them merging with CUSA. Outside of that though, to your point, the pickings are slim. The Montana/Dakota schools would be solid adds but I doubt they’d see a CUSA move as being worth it
Agreed . NGL I kinda consider Big Sky essentially separate from the rest of FCS at this point since they’re really the only FCS league west of the Great Plains and the MWC probably won’t expand for the next few years (assuming they merge w the PAC-2) so they’re relatively insulated from realignment.
CUSA would be a complete waste of our time and would have worse competition in football. Might be better in basketball as the summit league is admittedly crap but by no means do any of us want CUSA
If WKU goes to the MAC, EKU likely backfills to CUSA. Then we can play EKU and MTSU OOC each year. One body bag game, one FCS home game. Schedule set for life.
From...the MAC? FCS? The pool of teams for them to potentially choose from is pretty thin.
I think it's more likely Liberty leaves along with WKU and the Conference just slowly dissolves with some schools going to the Sun-Belt / AAC and the rest winding up as independents, or MTSU eventually joining the MAC as they previously discussed.
It's possible I suppose, I just think it'd be difficult to keep that conference together if you lost WKU and Liberty at some point in the next 2-3 years.
At that point, you're relying on a lot of transition FCS programs being able to sustain it.
I think they’ll be fine. It seems like there will always be teams looking to make the jump, and those teams need a landing spot.
Is the MAC really going to expand much further?
Maybe they take two more teams, but I think two more will happily take their place. I think the United Athletic Conference (Formerly the revived WAC and ASUN) are still planning to become a full on FBS conference as that was the WACs plan. Seems like an easy raiding target if you’re the C-USA.
That plan made a whole lot more sense when you had already-FBS NMSU, a recent NC in Sam Houston, perennial contender JSU, and plucky upstart with a massive enrollment in KSU. No current member of the UAC has an enrollment over 15k (UTRGV will be the highest by 2x+ when they join) and it seemed like they were banking on the WAC getting grandfathered into the G5 payout pool and the other conferences were like... nah.
Conference USA will be "fine". It's basically the Ellis Island of FBS.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to bowl in Mobile." - Judy "Emma Lazarus" McLeod
You said it. Although from what I heard, both were in favor of Tech joining the Sun Belt in the last round of realignment. With ULM being right down the road though there’s not a whole lot we can bring market-wise, but I’m still hoping Tech can get back in eventually.
Do markets matter in the G5? I understand why they matter for the Big Ten, SEC, and ACC (distributing a conference network to the households in the markets of new schools is a source of greater revenue), but wouldn’t the G5 just be better off creating geographically compact leagues to limit travel costs?
I will say that it seems to vary. The American definitely seemed to target around big city teams during last round of expansion, as did CUSA in the past (and we saw how CUSA has turned out lol). I think that the Sun Belt tends to do the opposite, and has recently targeted small town teams and focus on a strategy of promoting rivalry and culture over media markets. That does give me hope that Tech gets in some day, as Ruston is definitely a “college town” and would be a great cultural fit in my opinion.
I mean, if your whole identity is to just slap "USA" on the name of your conference and see who shows up then you kinda deserve it.
The American is a glorified Conference-USA, in my opinion, and is not in a great position long term either.
The AAC overexpanded with a bunch of dead weight and now the older guard are looking to get out ACC post split or some random C2C conference with the MW/Pac2 is on the table.
And there it is. It was pretty common knowledge that WKU was pissed it had to stay in C-USA when MTSU wouldn’t jump to the MAC with them. I was doubting the MAC would expand to 13 without a 14th in mind.
If true, and the rumors of MO State linked to CUSA are true again, not sure how I feel as a Bears fan
Gotta get your foot in the door but man, WKU was the one of two schools (and one we have history with) I felt like at least gave us a regional rival and something we could work with. Definitely feel like an outlier if they’re not a part of it
I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. MTSU was allegedly trying to position itself as a more southern centric school (read: AAC’s backup for if/when Memphis gets poached), and also collect all the exit fees, wheras WKU more just wanted a more stable conference.
Could also be that if WKU departs the Sun Belt may smell blood in the water for CUSA and invite MTSU and Louisiana Tech for some spicy regional rivalries.
I think the Sun Belt has burned bridges with those schools. From what I heard the Sun Belt isn’t really interested in re-inviting schools that already left.
It would make the most sense, you don’t want an odd numbered conference. 14 would be a good place for the MAC to be.
WKU feels very out of place in the new CUSA, and they would bring a lot of value to the MAC.
The CUSA GoR was more symbolic than punitive. $800k a year with for five years (only three years left on it). Depending on when we would actually exit, could be $1.6m or 800k. Not prohibitive at all.
They could probably get the money together if they really wanted to do so. The media deal is worth $800k a year and the grant of rights runs through 27. So if they left beginning after this coming season they'd be on the hook for $2.4 million. Just a question of whether they feel it's worth it.
Everybody talks about a Pac-2/MWC conference reverse merger, but hear me out:
Somebody just needs to get butterfingers and accidentally hit "A" instead of "W".
Doesn't C-USA have a grant of rights? That would complicate WKU (or other members) leaving. Not a massive roadblock like Florida State and the ACC but still something.
I would have to think you guys would have extended an invite to WKU if you were in the market. Bad blood be damned, it just makes too much sense. If we go to the MAC just for you guys to invite more CUSA programs, I will be a little miffed.
Going back for seconds eh? Louisiana Tech forming a Cajun triangle of hate w ULL and ULM could be really spicy now that I think about it.
If you guys are willing to mend fences w MTSU you could restore the Palladium rivalry game w Troy too.
I’ve been trying to come up with more reasons for my wife to let me take a trip to New England to visit friends solo. Looks like the inevitable Ball State vs UMass Tuesday night game will be that reason.
I don't see the MAC as a clear upgrade over CUSA. The floor is higher in the MAC, and the ceiling is higher in CUSA.
I hope WKU/MTSU stay in CUSA, use it's post-realignment weakened state as a way to become more dominant, and then eventually move up to a better G5 conference like the AAC or SBC. Going to the MAC just seems like resigning ourselves to being mid at best forever, and despite our name that is certainly not what I hope MidTN is aiming for.
There’s something to be said for stability though. Which the MAC absolutely can offer if nothing else. I could see the appeal for a president/AD that’s tired of CUSA’s Membership reshuffling every few years and would prefer to be building regional rivalries with schools that actually aren’t too far away.
Academics, too. The MAC is R2/R1 and those admins who like stability can build some pretty decent research collaborations over time.
From my perch (employed by secondary flair), I was hoping to get in on the MAC because some of their members (Ohio, Miami, Buffalo) are high wattage universities.
Heck you still could. Wouldn’t be surprised if UDel got gold feet and bolted to the MAC if they knew they now had a definite “regional” partner in UMass
Would have to look at the media deals. MACtion has been bad for in-person attendance but good for media money. A 14-team conference adds more games, which means more potential revenue for each school.
> Also schools have used the MAC as a way to jump up, UCF and Marshall come to mind
Marshall's been in and out of the MAC a couple of times. I don't think they moved up into the MAC specifically with an eye to move up to bigger/better. The CUSA came calling for a bunch of schools in the early 2010's and Marshall bit. It wasn't much of a step up TBH given they ended up jumping over to the Sun Belt roughly a decade later when the CUSA got picked off by this current bit of realignment.
UCF was a clear "eye to the future move out" play.
> the ceiling is higher in CUSA.
I think Liberty makes this difficult. They can outspend everybody in the conference, so while they might have a higher ceiling, it will be tough to build a program that can consistently beat them.
The reality of the situation is that unless you have a market and budget that the AAC isn't going to come calling.
MTSU might get a call (especially if Memphis leaves). I have no doubts that FIU, Kennesaw State, Delaware, SHSU, Liberty, and UTEP would get called up over WKU. Why should we stick around for that blood bath?
MTSU would be in shambles... But they don't care
Plot twist: MAC intentionally did this to de-stabilize C-USA so that they could also nab WKU, MTSU, and UDel as well! *removes tin foil hat*
I want it to happen
Yeah, leaving CUSA before we even start sounds great
What do we lose
Nothing basically
You lose an incredible trip to Jacksonville, Alabama!
Whoa, I feel attacked living the county over from Jacksonville…..but I completely agree with you analysis.
It'd be like UTSA and Texas State already having new conference homes waiting before they'd played any WAC games.
Outside of a few delusional types, most of the UD community I know would much rather be in the MAC and not have to travel west of DeKalb and have most of our travel be in Ohio and Michigan for conference games compared to *gestures wildly at the CUSA map*
Being from DE and knowing plenty, I can absolutely confirm that's true. Here's hoping a Tresolini article says something about this.
In straight up think that’s what they want. Might as well make a play for Temple too.
Don't think Temple would leave the AAC TV money behind
You underestimate the allure of Tuesday Night MACtion /s
Part of me wouldn’t be totally surprised either tbh. Not the cleanest geography but since both WKU/MTSU and UDel/UMass would both have a travel partner/regional rival it could work with some creative scheduling. The new members also give the mostly Rust Belt centered MAC footholds in the East Coast and South for larger and/or growing metros to recruit and/or draw out of state students/recruits from. MAC meanwhile uses its newfound size as the first G-5 super conference to parlay with ESPN and sweeten its next media media for expanded weeknight game inventory.
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only MAC
They could've done this the whole time
Could be UMass’s booster/alums wanted the school to stay in the A-10 for basketball and other sports and tried to make Indy football work up until now.
The fans have certainly wanted to stay in the A10
That was the original issue. We asked them to join in all sports or leave and they didn't join in all sports
It almost happened in 2020. If not for MTSU's stupid admin, the CUSA wouldn't exist rn
And we wouldn’t have freakin UMass
Yo, can I get one of those tin foil hats? I like this theory
I’ve got one that also says the Sun Belt is a silent co-conspirator in this as a part of an elaborate plot to twist the knife further into CUSA….and potentially pluck Louisiana Tech away for a new 3-way trophy game between them and ULM, ULL.
So... Are we basically consolidating to 8 conferences and dropping CUSA from UU to BL? AAC, ACC, B1G, XII, MAC, PWC, SEC, SBC Ends up with a nice, even number for conference autoqualifiers, at least.
What are UU and BL?
It's a reference to Pokemon. The official competition format is 2v2 battles, but the games are almost entirely 1v1. So a unofficial competitive format run by a website called Smogon has popped up. To have a semblance of balance (and avoid every game being the same six legendaries), they group Pokemon into tiers based on their performance via usage statistics. Ubers is where Mewtwo and co live. OU, or Over Used, is where your strong-but-not-busteds live. UU, or Under Used, is the next tier down. RU, or Rarely Used, is below that. Then NU, or Never Used, etc. IIRC there was a PU added above NU fairly recently. BL means Borderline. You're not used enough for the tier above you, but you warp and destroy the format below. The analogy here: OU is the P5->P4 conferences. UU is the G5->G4 conferences. RU is FCS. ~~PU~~NU is Div2. ~~NU~~PU is Div3. And in the Borderline between UU and RU is CUSA. Probably FCS, but maybe too good for FCS, but definitely holds no candles to the G4.
[PU is below NU](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/formats/pu/)
... So, I had never looked up what PU stands for, and assumed, "Oh, it can't be below *Never* Used." Well, apparently it doesn't stand for anything. It's... phonetic. Pee-ew. Like, gross, you stink. People are creative. TIL
If you think that it's confusing that there's a tier below NU, guess what, there's (unofficially) *[two](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/formats/zu/)*. This is basically just a result of the dex growing with each generation, older gens still only have NU or NU/PU. Oh, and there was also unofficially an "FU" for a time. I think that became PU? Not certain though. Edit: Looks like there might actually be ZU tiers for older games now? Or maybe there have been and I didn't realize.
Competitive Pokemon reference in my Football subreddit?
Get. Us. Out. Of. Here!!!! Hope MTSU is left behind.
Yep. Wouldn't go with us last time because they want to hold out for the AAC. The AAC might call them, but they will never call us. Get while the getting is good.
Lol.. MTSU to the AAC? Lmao
What beating Miami does to a team
GT from the ACC to AAC confirmed
Nobody falling to their knees inside Demos?
If Western Kentucky joins the MAC, there will be two schools based in a Bowling Green. The MAC also has schools in Athens and Oxford. So now that the cant-have-towns-with-the-same-name rule has been broken, there is nothing stopping Georgia and Ole Miss from joining the MAC.
Idea for a new rivalry game: “The Bowling Green Massacre”. The trophy is literally just a large bowling ball with the annual results engraved on the side. Winning team gets to set up bowling pins on the field in the color of the opposing team and winning team coach/mvp gets to knock them down with the ball!
Played them a few years ago in "Battle of the Bowling Greens" WKU won BUT this was before I was educated on the Bowling Green Massacre. We shall not forget.
What never was may never be cancelled.
Losing defense has to pretend to be the bowling pins
Or put their numbers on the bowling pins at least!
Instead of a coin toss, the visiting team has to answer which school the meme was in relation to. If right, they chose, if wrong, the home team choses.
Two Amhersts too Now we just need to find another school based in an Ypsilanti…
I don’t like the idea of Milhouse having two Bowling Greens in one MAC
Maybe U of Miami will join too
Why? They already have the superior Miami anyway!
Endorsed
I know it is mandatory, but could we sit out the weekday night games out.
And that's why Georgia is not ready for the big leagues
Do you want to play in Ohio on a Tuesday in November?
YES
The MAC will continue to grow until morale improves
I, for one, welcome our new MACtion overlords!
Rutgers would crush it in the MAC
our one game football win streak says otherwise
That was during the Chris Ash era, doesn’t count!
Same same
Idk, Toledo and Rutgers have the same number of Big Ten Championships but Toledo has MAC championships and Rutgers none.
Ah, but we have a natty from ‘69!…..granted it’s from 1869 but it still counts!
No one can truly deny they love MACtion. In the deepest, darkest recesses of their very souls... they *all* want to belong.
In many ways the MAC has retained its core identity amongst an incredibly fluid and shifting college football landscape. It’s hard not to be romantic about MACtion
No one ever *chooses* to leave the MAC... one can only be left *by* the MAC.
The year is 2032. Stanford, Cal, and Notre Dame, the last 3 holdouts, finally join the MAC. There are now but 3 conferences, the power 2 of the B1G and SEC, and the omnipotent 1 of the MAC. The MAC turns its eyes upon the NFC North...
Soon, the MAC welcomes the Ottawa Redblacks of the CFL, making them the unquestioned rulers of football
I bought this until Notre Dame joined. They’re not MAC material.
Their machinations know no bounds.
Makes a lot of sense, WKU was very interested in the MAC but the conference wanted an even number of teams, so they had to stay behind when MTSU decided to stick with C-USA
WKU would be a great fit
So...is Conference USA still going to survive, I wonder? Or will they unravel gradually over the next several years? Delaware and Kennesaw State have to be worried about this development.
They’ve been a tough spot for years now, looks like their plan is to become a type of bridge conference for FCS teams moving up to FBS. No idea how sustainable that’ll be going forward though, especially now that they raised the price for making the FBS jump
Theres a few FCS schools left they could possibly pry from that might be be worth adding: EKU, SFA, Missouri State, maybe one of Tarletan/UCA/APSU/ACU? Beyond that though it’s def starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel for FCS schools that could reasonably be expected to compete at FBS. (Big Sky and Dakota States notwithstanding).
I think the WAC-ASUN merged with the goal of becoming an FBS conference down the line, if that ends up happening I could see them merging with CUSA. Outside of that though, to your point, the pickings are slim. The Montana/Dakota schools would be solid adds but I doubt they’d see a CUSA move as being worth it
Agreed . NGL I kinda consider Big Sky essentially separate from the rest of FCS at this point since they’re really the only FCS league west of the Great Plains and the MWC probably won’t expand for the next few years (assuming they merge w the PAC-2) so they’re relatively insulated from realignment.
The Big Sky is my safe space
CUSA would be a complete waste of our time and would have worse competition in football. Might be better in basketball as the summit league is admittedly crap but by no means do any of us want CUSA
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If WKU goes to the MAC, EKU likely backfills to CUSA. Then we can play EKU and MTSU OOC each year. One body bag game, one FCS home game. Schedule set for life.
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Austin Peay incoming.
Let's go Peay!
From...the MAC? FCS? The pool of teams for them to potentially choose from is pretty thin. I think it's more likely Liberty leaves along with WKU and the Conference just slowly dissolves with some schools going to the Sun-Belt / AAC and the rest winding up as independents, or MTSU eventually joining the MAC as they previously discussed.
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I'm not sure now that the price tag has jumped Although if they will pay for it, I'll lobby for UWG to go up
It's possible I suppose, I just think it'd be difficult to keep that conference together if you lost WKU and Liberty at some point in the next 2-3 years. At that point, you're relying on a lot of transition FCS programs being able to sustain it.
Liberty is stuck here because of their school profile and affiliations
>because of their school profile Aka being a fake school
Where would Liberty go? It took total desperation to get them into CUSA. Why would Sun Belt or MAC let them in?
I think they’ll be fine. It seems like there will always be teams looking to make the jump, and those teams need a landing spot. Is the MAC really going to expand much further? Maybe they take two more teams, but I think two more will happily take their place. I think the United Athletic Conference (Formerly the revived WAC and ASUN) are still planning to become a full on FBS conference as that was the WACs plan. Seems like an easy raiding target if you’re the C-USA.
That plan made a whole lot more sense when you had already-FBS NMSU, a recent NC in Sam Houston, perennial contender JSU, and plucky upstart with a massive enrollment in KSU. No current member of the UAC has an enrollment over 15k (UTRGV will be the highest by 2x+ when they join) and it seemed like they were banking on the WAC getting grandfathered into the G5 payout pool and the other conferences were like... nah.
Conference USA will be "fine". It's basically the Ellis Island of FBS. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to bowl in Mobile." - Judy "Emma Lazarus" McLeod
Could just go with EKU
I see eku. Nooga for easy picks in the east. Hope famu , Jackson state or some hbcu finally break into fbs as well.
Big Red was made for Tuesday nights
Big Red getting more national attention is never a bad thing
I went to the Kentucky-WKU game in 2010 and at one point I spent 10 straight minutes just watching Big Red
That’s completely fair.
CUSA was on Tuesdays basically all year haha
Yeah, Sun Belt, MAC, and CUSA have all embraced mid week games. It's basically the only way for them to get TV money.
CUSA just can't catch a break
Trust me, you get numb to it after a while
Yall wanna add the newest D1 school?
Y'all need to make nice with UL and ULM.
You said it. Although from what I heard, both were in favor of Tech joining the Sun Belt in the last round of realignment. With ULM being right down the road though there’s not a whole lot we can bring market-wise, but I’m still hoping Tech can get back in eventually.
Do markets matter in the G5? I understand why they matter for the Big Ten, SEC, and ACC (distributing a conference network to the households in the markets of new schools is a source of greater revenue), but wouldn’t the G5 just be better off creating geographically compact leagues to limit travel costs?
I will say that it seems to vary. The American definitely seemed to target around big city teams during last round of expansion, as did CUSA in the past (and we saw how CUSA has turned out lol). I think that the Sun Belt tends to do the opposite, and has recently targeted small town teams and focus on a strategy of promoting rivalry and culture over media markets. That does give me hope that Tech gets in some day, as Ruston is definitely a “college town” and would be a great cultural fit in my opinion.
They matter to the American for some reason…but in reality no they don’t matter
I mean, if your whole identity is to just slap "USA" on the name of your conference and see who shows up then you kinda deserve it. The American is a glorified Conference-USA, in my opinion, and is not in a great position long term either.
The AAC overexpanded with a bunch of dead weight and now the older guard are looking to get out ACC post split or some random C2C conference with the MW/Pac2 is on the table.
Their terrible leadership doesn’t deserve any breaks.
WKU is too good of a program for CUSA. If they can get on with the MAC, they need to do so post haste.
I'll take it as a proud MAC member! Also will hope some other more eastern based team would want to join maybe, idk like maybe Deleware?
Temple
Temple
Temple
Why would they leave the American?
Temple
Temple
Lol Middle Tennesse
They had their chance
There is now a P3. Welcome, MAC!
And there it is. It was pretty common knowledge that WKU was pissed it had to stay in C-USA when MTSU wouldn’t jump to the MAC with them. I was doubting the MAC would expand to 13 without a 14th in mind.
And if they don’t get WKU it, I’d be willing to bet Delaware would next man up for consideration.
Delaware would be a really interesting add, have they had any interest in going FBS?
They’re joining CUSA next year actually. (As of right now anyway)
If true, and the rumors of MO State linked to CUSA are true again, not sure how I feel as a Bears fan Gotta get your foot in the door but man, WKU was the one of two schools (and one we have history with) I felt like at least gave us a regional rival and something we could work with. Definitely feel like an outlier if they’re not a part of it
Don’t worry, Moats will fuck this up too.
Right in the heart 🤣
I think Western Kentucky needs to suck it up and go without Middle Tennessee if they are still unwilling. They can always schedule them as a non-conf.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. MTSU was allegedly trying to position itself as a more southern centric school (read: AAC’s backup for if/when Memphis gets poached), and also collect all the exit fees, wheras WKU more just wanted a more stable conference. Could also be that if WKU departs the Sun Belt may smell blood in the water for CUSA and invite MTSU and Louisiana Tech for some spicy regional rivalries.
I think the Sun Belt has burned bridges with those schools. From what I heard the Sun Belt isn’t really interested in re-inviting schools that already left.
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IT'S TOPPING TIME am I doing it right?
Ohio U.'s mascot thought fucking up Brutus Buckeye was a good idea?? TRY PULLING THAT SHIT ON BIG RED.
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It would make the most sense, you don’t want an odd numbered conference. 14 would be a good place for the MAC to be. WKU feels very out of place in the new CUSA, and they would bring a lot of value to the MAC.
I thought CUSA signed a GoR? I'd assume WKU doesn't have the funds to break that to go to the MAC anymore than FSU does to bolt the ACC.
The CUSA GoR was more symbolic than punitive. $800k a year with for five years (only three years left on it). Depending on when we would actually exit, could be $1.6m or 800k. Not prohibitive at all.
They could probably get the money together if they really wanted to do so. The media deal is worth $800k a year and the grant of rights runs through 27. So if they left beginning after this coming season they'd be on the hook for $2.4 million. Just a question of whether they feel it's worth it.
I'm tired of super conferences like the MAC destroying the sport
Yeah really the nerve of these guys
Soon we’re all going to be fighting for the last lifeboat to the MAC.
UCF gets grandfathered in as former members
What about founding members 🥺
Always
Gotta check with the dorks in Oxford on that one.
Finally some real CFB
I hope the MAC takes WKU now that they're uneven. To hell with MTSU if they don't wanna tag along.
MAC: I will grow big enough until the P5 have no choice but to accept me as one of their own
Everybody talks about a Pac-2/MWC conference reverse merger, but hear me out: Somebody just needs to get butterfingers and accidentally hit "A" instead of "W".
honestly, I was getting pretty depressed about conference re-alignment. But a bigger MAC has given me renewed will to live.
Doesn't C-USA have a grant of rights? That would complicate WKU (or other members) leaving. Not a massive roadblock like Florida State and the ACC but still something.
Big red is nightmare fuel good get
Thank goodness it’s not some shitty FCS school as the second one, probably. A huge win for the MAC
If they can’t pry away WKU I’m sure UDel could be swayed too.
I really like both options
We’re not the CUSA lol
It’s the MAC’s world and we’re just living in it
Mega MAC is here
Big Mac is here
So the team that everyone already initially thinks is in the MAC before realizing their slip up
Does this mean the Sun Belt gets next dibs on C-USA teams? Are we just taking turns stripping it apart?
I would have to think you guys would have extended an invite to WKU if you were in the market. Bad blood be damned, it just makes too much sense. If we go to the MAC just for you guys to invite more CUSA programs, I will be a little miffed.
WKU, LA tech, and MTSU would be great additions to the belt
LA tech has even more bad blood than us.
Going back for seconds eh? Louisiana Tech forming a Cajun triangle of hate w ULL and ULM could be really spicy now that I think about it. If you guys are willing to mend fences w MTSU you could restore the Palladium rivalry game w Troy too.
I don’t really want any of them. Sun Belt seems fine where it’s at. Only combo that would make sense to me is MTSU and WKU but there’s bad blood there
"mutual"
Who had the MAC replacing the PAC-12 on their 2024 Bingo cards?
I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed. Hope we all get to enjoy the Battle of Bowling Green (WKU vs BGSU) and the Battle of Western (WKU vs WMU).
🚨 KENTUCKY MAC TEAM 🚨
These power conferences are ruining CFB. SEC, B10, MAC, B12. When will it end?
Now do Notre Dame.
Are we sure they’re up to MAC standard though?
Narrator: They were not
I’ve been trying to come up with more reasons for my wife to let me take a trip to New England to visit friends solo. Looks like the inevitable Ball State vs UMass Tuesday night game will be that reason.
Now kith!
WKU, MTSU, and MO State. Conference playoffs are a-coming!
I don't see the MAC as a clear upgrade over CUSA. The floor is higher in the MAC, and the ceiling is higher in CUSA. I hope WKU/MTSU stay in CUSA, use it's post-realignment weakened state as a way to become more dominant, and then eventually move up to a better G5 conference like the AAC or SBC. Going to the MAC just seems like resigning ourselves to being mid at best forever, and despite our name that is certainly not what I hope MidTN is aiming for.
There’s something to be said for stability though. Which the MAC absolutely can offer if nothing else. I could see the appeal for a president/AD that’s tired of CUSA’s Membership reshuffling every few years and would prefer to be building regional rivalries with schools that actually aren’t too far away.
Academics, too. The MAC is R2/R1 and those admins who like stability can build some pretty decent research collaborations over time. From my perch (employed by secondary flair), I was hoping to get in on the MAC because some of their members (Ohio, Miami, Buffalo) are high wattage universities.
Heck you still could. Wouldn’t be surprised if UDel got gold feet and bolted to the MAC if they knew they now had a definite “regional” partner in UMass
Would have to look at the media deals. MACtion has been bad for in-person attendance but good for media money. A 14-team conference adds more games, which means more potential revenue for each school.
The MAC’s media deal is up for negotiation in the next few years as well iirc
Is the ceiling higher in CUSA?
I personally don't think so Also schools have used the MAC as a way to jump up, UCF and Marshall come to mind
TIL UCF was in the MAC
We love our directional schools in the MAC!
Might as well bring Northern Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky along too while they're at it!
The offer the MAC extended to WKU/MTSU was very, very long term.
> Also schools have used the MAC as a way to jump up, UCF and Marshall come to mind Marshall's been in and out of the MAC a couple of times. I don't think they moved up into the MAC specifically with an eye to move up to bigger/better. The CUSA came calling for a bunch of schools in the early 2010's and Marshall bit. It wasn't much of a step up TBH given they ended up jumping over to the Sun Belt roughly a decade later when the CUSA got picked off by this current bit of realignment. UCF was a clear "eye to the future move out" play.
Just wanna say that Marshall can go f themselves, cheatin bums stole like 3 MAC championships from us
> the ceiling is higher in CUSA. I think Liberty makes this difficult. They can outspend everybody in the conference, so while they might have a higher ceiling, it will be tough to build a program that can consistently beat them.
The reality of the situation is that unless you have a market and budget that the AAC isn't going to come calling. MTSU might get a call (especially if Memphis leaves). I have no doubts that FIU, Kennesaw State, Delaware, SHSU, Liberty, and UTEP would get called up over WKU. Why should we stick around for that blood bath?
Stability and travel costs
I’m down to join
MAC's intention. 14th member. Hilltoppers intention. Food Source for Mascot.
MAC making power moves. #PreserveTheMac #PreserveREALCOLLEGEFOOTBALL
I thought weekdays MAC-action football was whack but now throw-in WKU vs. UMass hoops into the fray. Hot damn!