BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

The MAC seems to be doing ok. But then they've got a reasonably-sized geographic footprint.

 

They do, and they're established. They aren't changing teams every season and they sort of know their places. They get the kids that are a notch below the Big Ten schools. Not knocking that. I'm just saying there aren't dozens of outsiders beating down the door to join the MAC.

 

I don't think the MAC is out looking for them either.

 

There was talk about James Madison and/or Delaware angling/hoping for a MAC invite. Not sure the MAC offers them that much unless they really want to upgrade to FBS and think a moratorium is imminent.

 

I can't see how either side gains by one of those joining the MAC.

 

I'm not sure what the MAC gains by being FCS.

Playing FCS football bleeds my alma mater and others in the conference dry and for what? The fucking Detroit and Mobile Bowls? Fuck that noise. No wonder my alma mater has major difficulty drawing 10K per game. Who cares? I don't.

 

Georgia Southern is out of the move up sweepstakes. It sounds like any noise out of Statesboro may have been a ploy to raise money for a new football building.

www.statesboroherald.com/section/291/article/42479/

 

New Mexico would go independent before they'd ever agree to be in the same conference as NMSU. The administration and alums have always looked down their nose at State.

 

You mean FBS. (I know, it confuses me too.)

 

It's fucking Division I-A and I-AA! I don't care that those idiots try to call it!

 

Those idiots were the ones to call it I-A and I-AA in the first place.

 

Some alumni of the local MAC school whom I work with seem to think they're one recruiting class away from being Boise State East simply because they managed to beat the Big Ten's worst team twice in a row.

Boise State has really done a disservice to the "mid-major" teams, because the belief now is "if we can just have one or two good years, we'll get into a BCS bowl, we'll get an invite to a bigger conference and then the real money will kick in." Given the Big East has basically invited every mid-major with a football program east of the Aleutian Islands because of its status as a BCS conference, that theory is fueled even more. I'm sure UMass is going to be angling for a Big East invite, and that won't happen unless it has I-A football, which it is starting this year.

Not only that, but it's also an opportunity to fund the athletic department through "guarantee games," which are more open to I-A mid-majors than I-AA teams because of the NCAA rule that a school can only play a I-AA once a year. And, the "appeal" of being in the highest division theoretically should attract donors and more attention. It's similar to a city being a Major League city or a AAA baseball city. Our local AAA team is pretty good, running away with its division, fun to watch, has a chance to win a league championship. But we're not a "major league" city, therefore perception, crowds, et al, are different. If the same team, same roster was the worst team in MLB, it would still convey "major league" status, a bigger stadium, more recognition for the city, et al. Same goes for the attraction of I-AA to I-A at the college level. The MAC has a TV contract and some degree of regional. The Missouri Valley doesn't have any of that.

Meanwhile, several MAC teams have resorted to scheduling "home" games at NFL venues against the nearby Big Ten school to boost their attendance numbers high enough to meet the I-A threshold.

A lot of schools who aren't in the top 50-60 of I-A (sorry, NCAA, I refuse to use the other designations) would be better-served in I-AA. A chance to play pretty good competition that's at your level, without having to deal with the big-spending arms race that the Big Ten & SEC schools are engaged in, and a chance to really truly compete for a national title every year, without much of a dropoff.