Given That..........

tylermeangreen · December 28, 2012

NIU is in the Orange Bowl playing Florida State

and that

Central Michigan beat WKU

and that

Ohio U is currently handing ULM's butts to them

.........it just seems logical to me that those of you who have so adamently declared the MAC to be the lowest of the FBS conferences (with the Sunbelt Conference being of higher standing) might need to go back and re-think that conclusion.

Even if NIU gets blown out against Florida State (and that is "iffy") it seems to me that the MAC deserves a lot of respect for what it has done this year - and before, as well.

I have no dog in the hunt - I just think respect should be given where respect is due.

GMG

Green Mean · December 28, 2012

I have always liked and respected the MAC and their stability. Yes I realize conferences aren't dying to steal teams from the MAC but perception wise I think the MAC is very very respectable and much moreso than the SBC IMO.

KRAM1 · December 28, 2012

NIU is in the Orange Bowl playing Florida State

and that

Central Michigan beat WKU

and that

Ohio U is currently handing ULM's butts to them

.........it just seems logical to me that those of you who have so adamently declared the MAC to be the lowest of the FBS conferences (with the Sunbelt Conference being of higher standing) might need to go back and re-think that conclusion.

Even if NIU gets blown out against Florida State (and that is "iffy") it seems to me that the MAC deserves a lot of respect for what it has done this year - and before, as well.

I have no dog in the hunt - I just think respect should be given where respect is due.

GMG

I think you have a very valid point. Nice post.

Dr. Seuss · December 28, 2012

If NIU still had there HC for the game, it might of been a close one... Jordan Lynch is Johnny Football in the north, kid can flat out play

Harry · December 28, 2012

NIU is in the Orange Bowl playing Florida State

and that

Central Michigan beat WKU

and that

Ohio U is currently handing ULM's butts to them

.........it just seems logical to me that those of you who have so adamently declared the MAC to be the lowest of the FBS conferences (with the Sunbelt Conference being of higher standing) might need to go back and re-think that conclusion.

Even if NIU gets blown out against Florida State (and that is "iffy") it seems to me that the MAC deserves a lot of respect for what it has done this year - and before, as well.

I have no dog in the hunt - I just think respect should be given where respect is due.

GMG

It's proof positive to me that local rivalries and stability are good things! Unless you are moving to a power conference, you should align with other schools your fans can drive to so you can build rivalries and attendance. People knock C-USA for bringing up D-I starter kits but in the end I think - as evidenced by the MAC - they got it right.

UNT90 · December 28, 2012

I have always liked and respected the MAC and their stability. Yes I realize conferences aren't dying to steal teams from the MAC but perception wise I think the MAC is very very respectable and much moreso than the SBC IMO.

Considering the Sun Belt has never had a top 25 ranked team (at least since 2007 when I started paying real attention) and the MAC had multiple teams ranked this year, I think it's safe to say the MAC is WAY more respected.

DeepGreen · December 29, 2012

Kudos to the MAC. I think they have a good, tradition rich conference that garners respect from everyone, especially the media. Those teams have stuck it out during all of the conference makeovers. They focus on tradition, rivalries, and hard nose football. To me, they epitomize what college football should be about.

LakeTravis · December 29, 2012

More people don't know about the MAC because they play pretty much all their games on week nights.

FirefightnRick · December 29, 2012

Few people realize that the Mid American Conference has a 54 year head start on the Sunbelt in football and a 48 year jump on C-USA.

Rick

Harry · December 29, 2012

Few people realize that the Mid American Conference has a 54 year head start on the Sunbelt in football and a 48 year jump on C-USA.
Rick

Good point Rick.

shaft · December 29, 2012

Top of the MAC is having an up year. Bottom of the MAC is still the bottom of FBS.

Middle of the SBC is having an up year. Bottom of the SBC is still the bottom of FBS.

Top of the MWC is down. All of CUSA is down. All of the Big East is down. And make up the middle of FBS.

All of the BIg Ten is down and is the middle of FBS aswell. Most of the Big 12 is down.

North Texas Shep · December 30, 2012

Top of the MAC is having an up year. Bottom of the MAC is still the bottom of FBS.
Middle of the SBC is having an up year. Bottom of the SBC is still the bottom of FBS.

Top of the MWC is down. All of CUSA is down. All of the Big East is down. And make up the middle of FBS.

All of the BIg Ten is down and is the middle of FBS aswell. Most of the Big 12 is down.

So we are down? Of course I do not need you to tell me that... Why couldn't we win three more games!?!?!?

Arkstfan · December 30, 2012

MAC has 10 schools that have been in the league longer than CUSA has existed.

The difference is in the culture of the schools.

If you look across the Southwest and Southeast you have a group of schools that mostly have in their background a time they were a member of the Missouri Valley, the Southland, or the Southern. Those three conferences were all I-A in December of 1981 and I-AA in January of 1982 without warning. The MAC just barely dodged moving down and at one point actually expelled EMU to protect their future. Cincinnati was actually reclassified I-AA sued to block it and got back in before the case was settled.

During the era of the 1970's and early 1980's the NCAA TV deal and later the CFA deal that many larger independents were a member of paid a percentage out by school and then you got extra per appearance. 24 of 32 bowl slots were at-large. It was the era of the great independents. Florida State, Miami, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Syracuse, West Virginia, Southern Miss, Boston College and before that Houston all had some great teams in addition to the folks at Notre Dame.

So you had schools like Houston and others leaving conference affiliation to go independent (a path Memphis and UNT followed with less success). There were so many indys that scheduling was no great problem. The TV rules capped you at 5 national appearances over 2 years so if you could play well ABC was casting about for someone, anyone to show on TV that was any good.

The schools of the region had little reason to be in a football conference because half of the conferences couldn't even promise a bowl bid and the conference had zero to do with your ability to get on TV.

The MAC was located in an area where there was no strong history of independent football and an indy struggled to find regional opponents. They stuck together first because they needed to just to fill a schedule, then later because of the Tangerine Bowl tie and then the California Bowl tie.

The grand midwest independent experiment was NIU. Left the MAC in 1986, by 1992 had staggered into the Big West and back to indy for 1996 and then the MAC in 1997. The turmoil left them with 9 years without a winning season including 0-11 the first year back in the MAC. Three years later the started a run of 7 straight winning seasons and regular season .500 or better in 13 of 14 seasons.

In the years since Bowling Green and Toledo joined the MAC, UNT has been: Gulf Coast, Missouri Valley, Independent, Southland, Independent, Big West, Sun Belt and now CUSA.

Arkansas State in that span has been: Southland, Independent, Big West, Independent, Big West, Sun Belt.

At most MAC schools a 25 year old alum hates the same schools that a 45 year old alum hates and he hates the same ones the 65 year old alum hates.

Across the south (outside of the SEC) there is not that shared experience among alums because of the ever shifting line-ups.

SilverEagle · December 30, 2012

MAC has 10 schools that have been in the league longer than CUSA has existed.

The difference is in the culture of the schools.

If you look across the Southwest and Southeast you have a group of schools that mostly have in their background a time they were a member of the Missouri Valley, the Southland, or the Southern. Those three conferences were all I-A in December of 1981 and I-AA in January of 1982 without warning. The MAC just barely dodged moving down and at one point actually expelled EMU to protect their future. Cincinnati was actually reclassified I-AA sued to block it and got back in before the case was settled.

During the era of the 1970's and early 1980's the NCAA TV deal and later the CFA deal that many larger independents were a member of paid a percentage out by school and then you got extra per appearance. 24 of 32 bowl slots were at-large. It was the era of the great independents. Florida State, Miami, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Syracuse, West Virginia, Southern Miss, Boston College and before that Houston all had some great teams in addition to the folks at Notre Dame.

So you had schools like Houston and others leaving conference affiliation to go independent (a path Memphis and UNT followed with less success). There were so many indys that scheduling was no great problem. The TV rules capped you at 5 national appearances over 2 years so if you could play well ABC was casting about for someone, anyone to show on TV that was any good.

The schools of the region had little reason to be in a football conference because half of the conferences couldn't even promise a bowl bid and the conference had zero to do with your ability to get on TV.

The MAC was located in an area where there was no strong history of independent football and an indy struggled to find regional opponents. They stuck together first because they needed to just to fill a schedule, then later because of the Tangerine Bowl tie and then the California Bowl tie.

The grand midwest independent experiment was NIU. Left the MAC in 1986, by 1992 had staggered into the Big West and back to indy for 1996 and then the MAC in 1997. The turmoil left them with 9 years without a winning season including 0-11 the first year back in the MAC. Three years later the started a run of 7 straight winning seasons and regular season .500 or better in 13 of 14 seasons.

In the years since Bowling Green and Toledo joined the MAC, UNT has been: Gulf Coast, Missouri Valley, Independent, Southland, Independent, Big West, Sun Belt and now CUSA.

Arkansas State in that span has been: Southland, Independent, Big West, Independent, Big West, Sun Belt.

At most MAC schools a 25 year old alum hates the same schools that a 45 year old alum hates and he hates the same ones the 65 year old alum hates.

Across the south (outside of the SEC) there is not that shared experience among alums because of the ever shifting line-ups.

And the only school that we possibly hate (generationally) would be SMU. And because we don't play them on a regular basis, this falls more into the "stalker" relationship, rather than the "rival" relationship.

And based on what I have read about the generation(s) before me at North Texas, I'm not sure that the student body even hated any other school. The administrators of that era would have regarded it as impolite.