MAC talk
- Thread starter BRaiderDave
- Start date
Austin brought this same thing up earlier today. Last I checked wku was silent on new cusa members
I completely disagree. This, every bit of it, resides with leadership. They are completely responsible for growing the brand, finding donors and putting a successful product on the field. Blaming the fans is utter chicken 💩. How much support did Kermit get during his success? How about football after 09? Didn’t capitalize on the opportunity when it was right there to be taken. Any business that failed to that level would have had major consequences. Not here, we live for mediocrity. Also, Dr Walker had a vision and put the movement in motion and I would gladly take him today over the complete and utter disaster we have now.
I’m not going to call out anyone specifically, but I’ve seen it multiple times people say AAC or SBC chances in the future are virtually zero. What do you all base this on? It amazes me that when I suggest that funds distributed from forfeited revenue by leaving programs is make believe but then it’s gospel that the MAC is the last ever opportunity. Fascinating. I mean really y’all??
MWC has strengthened. They will probably add again. More importantly, P5 moves aren’t done. Why would anyone think only the SEC is going to do something in this decade?? The ACC and Big 10 are right now at this moment pondering what they can do to close a gap that just got massive. They have to do something. The SEC which was already better just created separation by orders of magnitude. They won’t be able to do nothing.
My guess is the Big 10 is going to weigh options between schools like Iowa State, Kansas, Colorado, and Georgia Tech. Why these schools? They are the only institutions that can bring either AAU membership, a new media market, or both. They won’t be able to match SEC football but could steal media market share and enhance their basketball profile even more. Now that C-USA is going to survive staying until whatever happens next is our best course of action. It is certainly not squandering our future options and throwing them in the trash by signing a lengthy GOR agreement, because it is just an asinine decisions to pay money to go to a conference that isn’t going to be any better in any pecking order vs staying and receiving the benefits from the leaving schools forfeited revenues for two years. If college athletics is a business we really are operating like the Kmart of college sports. But whatever. Every fact I’ve offered has been ignored (like the false pretense that the MAC travel will be better) so I doubt my instincts on these issues will be listened to either.
MWC has strengthened. They will probably add again. More importantly, P5 moves aren’t done. Why would anyone think only the SEC is going to do something in this decade?? The ACC and Big 10 are right now at this moment pondering what they can do to close a gap that just got massive. They have to do something. The SEC which was already better just created separation by orders of magnitude. They won’t be able to do nothing.
My guess is the Big 10 is going to weigh options between schools like Iowa State, Kansas, Colorado, and Georgia Tech. Why these schools? They are the only institutions that can bring either AAU membership, a new media market, or both. They won’t be able to match SEC football but could steal media market share and enhance their basketball profile even more. Now that C-USA is going to survive staying until whatever happens next is our best course of action. It is certainly not squandering our future options and throwing them in the trash by signing a lengthy GOR agreement, because it is just an asinine decisions to pay money to go to a conference that isn’t going to be any better in any pecking order vs staying and receiving the benefits from the leaving schools forfeited revenues for two years. If college athletics is a business we really are operating like the Kmart of college sports. But whatever. Every fact I’ve offered has been ignored (like the false pretense that the MAC travel will be better) so I doubt my instincts on these issues will be listened to either.
I don't think you are being ignored. From what I have read is most don't trust our admins to do what is necessary to make it work. If your idea was a slam dunk, I think most would agree. Judy and M&M cast significant doubt and make it a huge risk.
I can’t argue agains that at all. I get it.
That said, even a broken clock is wrong twice a day. As many bad decisions as they’ve made hoping we could finally luck into one. Seems like we’re due for something good to happen. Not a sideways or backwards move.
Sit and wish? That’s not a plan. We are not that great. If we get great we will move up regardless of conference. If we stay middle, Mac trumps cusa. I think most agree we will stay middle so Mac is better!
Get it?
Get it?
Except that’s wrong. Just how many years of revenue can MT give up? We can’t afford to leave a conference again anytime soon plus no one will touch us with a GOR. So that GOR issue that will damn sure make true the AAC and Sun Belt never touching us.
IMHO, I don’t believe there are that many moves coming in the near future.
There is little appetite for B10 expansion. That’s a football driven league and there is little football value in Iowa State (they already have Iowa), Kansas, etc. They're not going to expand because the SEC did - they have to have programs of value - it has to make the pie bigger. The ACC has a near ironclad GoR, so no one is leaving them, and they’re not expanding because of ND.
The SEC didn't expand because it has some evil plan to dominate college football and hoard all the good programs. They're not going to go get Clemson or FSU. I know internet goobers and twitter-ers were all about those rumors - but the SEC saw 2 programs that enhanced it's brand and increased the size of the pie - pretty much the only 2 programs that could possibly do so, so they jumped.
TV dollars are driving this, but there's a finite # of prime TV slots to fill. Once you have them filled, adding more teams just shunts people down the totem pole until you get to ESPN THE OCHO or whatever. There's diminishing returns to ever expanding your conference.
I think the B12 will pick up Boise and Memphis when Texas and OU leave, and the AAC will backfill with someone. Maybe that sets off a domino that reaches us.
But then, I don’t believe we’re anywhere close to being a desirable program in the state we’re in.
I don’t think we’re just a few facility improvements from the promised land. We have no fans. We have not capitalized on any inroads into the Nashville market that got us into CUSA last time. We have a pathetic record of success in the major sports. We have no dynamic or visionary leadership to drive this forward and sell the program. This isn't turning around in the next 12 or 24 months.
I really think we’d be behind about a dozen schools before we even get a maybe phone call.
So, how do we get to where we want to be?
Frankly, I don’t think we ever will with McPhee in charge. For whatever reason, he’s not interested in athletic success, and that’s not going to change until he’s gone and hopefully we can get some leadership that does place some emphasis on athletics.
So, we have to somehow survive until then. And then rebuilding athletics can take place. That might take every bit of 10+ years.
The MAC offers us a home until we can get our house in order and get into a better place. It’s not only a home, it’s a place we can win. Even in our present state, we’ve got built in advantages over many of the MAC schools - recruiting, budget, even our meh-facilities are better than average in the MAC.
If we want to be attractive to bigger conferences - lets win a bunch of fun MAC-tion games on ESPN, maybe win a few conference titles, and see if we can't generate some momentum that way.
CUSA offers nothing but continued slow death. Their leadership is trash. Their TV deal is awful, and going to get worse. They just pulled in a fake university with toxic values. They added a couple of meh-sounding FCS teams with little to no brand or Q-rating. They're spread out across 75% of the continent across 3 time zones. I've already shown you why the travel is far worse in CUSA than in the MAC (it's not just mileage or # of flights), even though you refuse to believe it. If the AAC/Belt pick anyone else, it's very likely to be someone like FIU or WKU, and causing us to pick up more FCS garbage and stranding us more on an island. Then, we watch the program slowly bleed to death.
It's survivable for a couple of years. Then the money runs out and and then what? Keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that something somewhere pops up in 3 years is not a workable plan.
That’s the difference in opinion. I feel we cannot afford to stay in this lousy cusa and maybe independent league. We need stability and structure for our middle of the road program to progress. If it was 09 I would push all in with you. But it’s not, the pipe dream is over. It’s 2021, got to play the cards you got. No amount of pissing and moaning going to change it. Good news is if we dominate the Mac and win championships, and big if, get any alumni in Nashville to watch we will be unstoppable and will move up regardless of conference affiliation.
I made maps to calculate the square miles.
CUSA brand new version including us and WKU as of now covers 381k sq miles
MAC new version including us and WKU soon to be covers 66k sq miles
I'm open to other opinions and agree with the possible influx of $ etc. (I will admit I don't think it is worth the risk as long as Judy is in charge, but either way..). I just don't see how the MAC won't be cheaper in travel.
CUSA brand new version including us and WKU as of now covers 381k sq miles
MAC new version including us and WKU soon to be covers 66k sq miles
I'm open to other opinions and agree with the possible influx of $ etc. (I will admit I don't think it is worth the risk as long as Judy is in charge, but either way..). I just don't see how the MAC won't be cheaper in travel.
I'm starting to get a sense that MT and the MAC couldn't agree on the GOR. Which is why the announcement wasn't made today. But that wkcc said screw it, we're going anyway and signing it.
Which is also why C-USA went ahead and made the announcement today of the four additions. In other words, C-USA gave a deadline of Friday for who was going to be part of the vote for the incoming schools and wkcc wasn't allowed to vote, but MT was.
Anyone either hearing that or having the same hunch?
I can live with the new C-USA for a little while with wkcc. Without them not sure I would feel as strongly about it. Can't believe I said that as much as I despise that school to the north.
Which is also why C-USA went ahead and made the announcement today of the four additions. In other words, C-USA gave a deadline of Friday for who was going to be part of the vote for the incoming schools and wkcc wasn't allowed to vote, but MT was.
Anyone either hearing that or having the same hunch?
I can live with the new C-USA for a little while with wkcc. Without them not sure I would feel as strongly about it. Can't believe I said that as much as I despise that school to the north.
If it winds up that way I truly hope CM and McPhee (not to mention Judy) prove me wrong. That the money is distributed fairly and we use our share to truly build the department in many facets. That luck goes our way when the B12 takes Memphis (which I have no doubt they will once OU and TX are officially gone) and that we have proven to the world and the AAC that we are committed to athletics.
But at the same time there is a large part of me that doesn't want in the AAC aka CUSA version B.
I just think there are too many moving parts for ALL of that to go our way and Judy along with our admin, nor our trustees, have shown me that they can create and follow a vision like that.
Hell when Austin shared the render of MT helmets on Twitter that JT made for a rebrand, Phillip Tanner replied if it included new facilities, who does he give his credit card to. I mean the AD isn't even asking former players with NFL experience for $$ ?
That's why I've been MAC. If we don't go, I truly hope I'm proved wrong. I'll support my team no matter what. But I'm not gonna get my hopes up till I see it.
Don’t feel bad. There is a Jacksonville University in Florida. They play in FCS and are in the pioneer conference (non-football scholarships).
If that is indeed the case and WKU joins and we refused to not sign the GOR then I’m officially done and moving on.
Not to mention Jackson State University. Which until D21 started coaching there I honestly thought JSU was Jacksonville State.
I really hope we were just being nice but I'm sure we jacked this up. If WKU goes and we don't, no travel partner. We will literally be right there with FIU and all of us are scattered all over the country. Plus, we lose our rivel. Gotta hope we schedule them in OOC from now on which is a revenue loss leader for them and us. It will be a mess but that's par for the course. Judy will make everything better.
If WKU and MT stay in C-USA I’ll be upset. If WKU goes to the MAC and we don’t I’ll be a histrionically angry raving lunatic.
I mean, losing WKU as a travel partner and rival just gives this area another reason to not support us. It's insane if they let this happen. Why am I a fan of this sh!tshow?
Seriously. If WKU goes and we don't... that will be a VERY, VERY bad move. I think the assumption has been if we stay in CUSA that WKU would too. Who's our rival if we stay? Jacksonville State??? FIU?????
You know - after watching the Tuesday and Wednesday MAC games on ESPN this week, I really liked it. Playing on Saturdays can cause you to get lost in the shuffle a bit. Or there is a battle on Saturday at my house for the big tv to watch a bigger conference game. But when you are on during the week I really like that. And the games were exciting.
I’ve made the same case.
Playing at the same time as the 330 SEC game of the week and expecting to out draw them is stupid. And it’s going to get worse when the SEC absorbs 2 more marquee brands.
Finding that niche and filling that demand for non-prime time football is something that we need to exploit. Many businesses have become wildly successful by figuring out a way to zig when everyone else is zagging.
That game on "Stadium" today looked like it was shot with RING(tm) doorbell cameras.
There were small college games on ESPN+ today with better production value. Time to move to the MAC.
There were small college games on ESPN+ today with better production value. Time to move to the MAC.
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