Will the MAC be shrinking?

[JoeWildcat]

Sounds like eastern Michigan is in trouble.

http://www.athleticbusiness.com/col...-drop-football.html?eid=111323432&bid=1387032

 

[phatcat]

who would notice?

http://www.hustlebelt.com/2015/12/1...all-attendance-numbers-down-fbs-group-of-five

 

[Deeringfish]

Eastern is simply in the worst place possible for football. NU struggles because it is in a huge pro sport market but Eastern practically shares a campus with U of Mich. and they are in many ways a commuter school.

 

[Eurocat]

They seem to be backing off that idea, at least publicly and at least for now.

http://www.emueagles.com/news/2016/...s-community-alumni-friends-and-supporter.aspx

 

[YesterdaysCat]

They seem to be backing off that idea, at least publicly and at least for now.

http://www.emueagles.com/news/2016/...s-community-alumni-friends-and-supporter.aspx

Schools view being in FBS as a status symbol. To many people, if you're part of FBS football, you're a "big-time" university. Which is funny because the FBS schools themselves downplay any role that football has on admissions application numbers and revenue. (You might jump up and down and say, what about U of Chicago and the Ivies. Don't forget; they were already deeply entrenched institutions. Oh, and they were part of this pigskin monstrosity and profited enormously from it for 50 years before walking away.)

Eastern has had only a handful of seasons in the last 40 years that were not a total embarrassment. Eastern can't drop the sport but I bet everybody in the administration wishes that the school had never been in the MAC or FBS.

 

[wildcat229]

Schools view being in FBS as a status symbol. To many people, if you're part of FBS football, you're a "big-time" university. Which is funny because the FBS schools themselves downplay any role that football has on admissions application numbers and revenue. (You might jump up and down and say, what about U of Chicago and the Ivies. Don't forget; they were already deeply entrenched institutions. Oh, and they were part of this pigskin monstrosity and profited enormously from it for 50 years before walking away.)

Eastern has had only a handful of seasons in the last 40 years that were not a total embarrassment. Eastern can't drop the sport but I bet everybody in the administration wishes that the school had never been in the MAC or FBS.

In a similar situation, Idaho announced it will drop down to FCS

 

[GECat2]

On the national picture, no one cares about the MAC. Just the way it is. Deal with it.

 

[YesterdaysCat]

In a similar situation, Idaho announced it will drop down to FCS

It's just a matter of time before it happens to other schools. I could see it happening to New Mexico State though their attendance is up 43%. Ball State, lordy! Their head coach nearly had his team beating ours, but he ditches a MAC head coaching gig to become an assistant head coach at Maryland, which has been a revolving door of coaching staffs lately.

Like many observers, I think that the Power 5 Conferences will eventually be the top tier of college football. I also think that many of those Power 5 state schools will have an increasingly tough time subsidizing their teams as public employee pension crises cripple state funding for, well, everything. And the expenses will continue to rise even if the TV money hits a plateau. Why? Players are constantly becoming bigger, stronger, and faster and they're playing more games (i.e., more plays, more practices equals more concussions and debilitating injuries). Eventually a 400-lb offensive tackle will be the norm.