Mike, on the other forum regarding attendance and "crossing the chasm " you stated the following: "It's OK if we don't, there is an entire conference (MAC) that didn't really try to cross, they fill a niche. I think we want more."
As an alum of three mid-major schools, I understand the desire to want Middle Tennessee to grow and prosper but why do you think MT can greatly expand its fan base when so many other mid-majors have not? Since you referenced the MAC, I will attempt to explain why the average MAC attendance is only just over 17,000. As you know, Ohio has six MAC schools, one AAC school, and one Big 10 school. The advantage that Big 10 schools have is that they are much more spread out geographically than MAC schools. The state of Ohio has 13 Division I schools and countless other smaller colleges. With Ohio State having such a large fan base, the rest of the state has to divide itself among 12 other Division I universities. Although not likely, it's conceivable that you could have eight Division I games going on at roughly the same time. With Ohio State having 100,000 plus every game, that makes it hard on the MAC schools in Ohio to compete in drawing larger crowds. And less crowds translates into less money, which is the real key to this puzzle. Although the MAC has the fourth largest undergraduate enrollment and third largest total enrollment (average 22,000), the attendance will always be considerably less than the attendance of the Big Ten.
Since Middle Tennessee does not have nearly the number of Division I schools it has to compete against compared to schools in the MAC, I can see MT doing better in attendance but not by much given the limited athletic budget the university has relative to schools in the SEC. But other than increasing attendance and winning championships in Conference USA, what else would you like to see MT do in the coming years? Why do MT fans have such an obsession with recognition when they know mid-majors will never have the same amount of publicity as the "big schools" The reason that I like mid-majors over the larger schools is because many of them do more with less. That has certainly been the case in basketball and it has been shown in football but not as much. The way I look at it, if I wanted to be an alum of a Power 5 conference school I would have attended one. I just never had the desire. Back in the early 80s, Governor James Rhodes came up with the crazy idea of combining Kent State and the University of Akron so that it could join the Big 10. When I first heard of this I was totally against it because I have never liked the Big 10 and I wanted Kent State to keep its own entity and identity. Fortunately, others must have thought the idea was lame because it didn't get much support. The point I want to make is not all alums of mid-major schools want to be a part of the Power 5 conferences. Most alums of MAC schools are totally comfortable in their own skin and have no desire to be anything else. That said, where do you see Middle Tennessee's position ten or twenty years from now and if it is not at the level that you would like how disappointed will you be?
MAC Avg Home Attendance (through Week 8)
23,142 Ohio (25,211 + 23,027 + 24,311 + 20,018)
21,756 Buffalo (20,329 + 24,714 + 21,139 + 20,841)
19,924 Toledo (20,184 + 24,196 + 17,229 + 18,087)
18,604 Bowling Green (18,311 + 23,717 + 17,185 + 15,201)
18,221 Central Michigan (15,793 + 25,531 + 18,223 + 13,337)
17,434 UMass (30,479 + 10,227 + 17,000+ 12,030)
17,215 Miami (19,005 + 16,670 + 15,970)
17,169 Kent State (22,754 + 15,355 + 12,451 +18,114)
17,091 MAC Average (786,199/46)
16,890 Western Michigan (22,226 + 11,493)
14,838 Northern Illinois (12,398 + 15,620 + 20,122 + 11,211)
12,252 Ball State (9,659 + 15,860 + 11,237)
10,317 Eastern Michigan (8,748 + 11,886)
9,775 Akron (9,104 + 13,357 + 8,416 + 8,223)
MAC Average by Week-
16,845 WK 1 (UMass 30,479/KSU 22,754/UB 20,329/UT 20,184/UM 19,005/CMU 15,793/NIU 12,398/BSU 9,659/UA 9,104/EMU 8,748)
16,952 WK 2 (UT 24,196/BGSU 18,311/UM 16,670/KSU 15,355/UMass 10,227)
22,456 WK 3 (CMU 25,531/UB 24,714/BGSU 23,717/BSU 15,860)
19,832 WK 4 (OU 25,211/WMU 22,226/UB 21,139/UT 17,229/UA 13,357)
19,739 WK 5 (OU 23,027/UB 20,841/UT 18,087/UMass 17,000)
14,485 WK 6 (CMU 18,223/BGSU 17,185/UM 15,970/NIU 15,620/WMU 11,493/UA 8,416)
14,705 WK 7 (OU 24,311/NIU 20,122/KSU 12,451/EMU 11,886/BSU 11,237/UA 8,223)
14,985 WK 8 (OU 20,018/KSU 18,114/BGSU 15,201/CMU 13,337/UMass 12,030/NIU 11,211)
Top 10 MAC Home Games 2014-
30,479 UMass v Boston College (8/30/14)
25,531 Central Michigan v Syracuse (9/13/14)
25,211 Ohio v Idaho (9/20/14)
24,714 Buffalo v Baylor (9/12/14)
24,311 Ohio v Bowling Green (10/11/14)
24,196 Toledo v Missouri (9/6/14)
23,717 Bowling Green v Indiana (9/13/14)
23,027 Ohio v Eastern Illinois (9/27/14)
22,754 Kent State v Ohio (8/30/14)
22,226 Western Michigan v Murray St (9/20/14)
