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I wonder who the rating drivers are for CBSSN. The only time I watch is when the MAC is on lol.

Professional cornhole and hobby horse competitions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isthmian_League

They are one of the few MAC teams that I haven't seen play this year either. I'm not saying they aren't good players. Just that I don't think BG had to outbid other P5 or even high majors for them. They probably had some offers from mid-majors, but BG was likely the best they received. A lot of players in the portal either get overvalued or undervalued.

Demond Williams just days after signing a contract with Washington announced that he was going to enter the portal. Washington and the Big 10 stood their ground and were going to challenge him in court. He announced that he will return to Washington instead of leaving. I feel having enforceable contracts is a step in the right direction for college athletics. I know some here despise anything P4 related, but good on Washington and the Big 10 standing their ground. That should have trickle down effects to the G5 and other mid-majors in other sports. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/47554312/demond-williams-jr-transfer-stay-washington

I still feel college football is a bit like MLB baseball. OSU, Georgia, Alabama can still buy themselves into the playoffs most years, but other P4 still have their windows of opportunity. I doubt Indiana will be here in 10 years. At that point Cignetti would be 74 and likely retired. Indiana still managed to maximize their window of opportunity by pairing a terrific coach with renewed booster interest. When Indiana's run fades perhaps an Illinois or Minnesota emerges in its place using that same footprint Indiana established.

I got my money on Shammah

Has NIL and the transfer portal broken the monopoly in college football? Watching the playoffs and seeing OSU, Georgia and Alabama get removed from it by teams that 10 years ago were not in their same league makes me happy on some level. I was wrong about the rich getting richer in the NIL era in that there seems to be a limit as to how much you can buy. I was not wrong about the freedom of movement the TP offers leveling the playing field, I just didn't see what a huge influence it is. Players want to play because showcasing talent gets the biggest bag of all which is NFL money. Transferring is the best way to get on the field for high level talent. In the past, a team like Mississippi had close to the level of talent on their starting 22. Where they got destroyed was when they had to dip into their bench against an Alabama and there was a big drop off in talent. Before NIL, Alabama dipped into their bench on a miserably hot early September day in Tuscaloosa and pulled up another future NFL player. Today, that guy is playing on the starting team for their opponent.

It's all mostly just filler content lol. I'm more pointing out that they aren't going to plan their schedule around what would give MAC basketball the best ratings. They have a lot of other programing that is as equal or marginally better. The game would only attract 10s of thousands of fans (mostly degen gamblers) regardless when it's played. I understand not wanting to play during the semifinals that way you can watch both, but frankly someone has to.

Akron opens as -3.5 point favorites with an O/U of 165.5

He hasn't been there 40 years

72 Roo I do have to agree with you that being known for winning would be great, but if spun correctly and added with look at where this player ended up at after being with the zips after one or two seasons maybe we could get in some higher quality talent for a season or two and it could benefit both parties. We win more games and the players go on to make money at a bigger program... I am impressed with a team in the MAC going 5-7 we have a player at Texas Tech, a player offered by Oklahoma but decided on Iowa State, a player still deciding on possibly SEC schools, and another at Pitt, not to mention where Dall and Durham end up... That can still be spun for recruiting...

I would imagine they figured neither BG or Akron football would be playing in the Semifinal, and it would appear they were correct. 😉

R.I.P. A good guy and solid coach by all accounts.