kreed5120

I don't think it materially impacts it to be honest. Any additional revenue that was potentially lost would virtually be offset by the fact we would now have one less mouth to feed. Not just from the TV revenue, but league revenue as a whole. NCAA tournament credit, league sponsorships, CFP payout pool, etc.

You asked where the articles are about the impact this has on the alumni, players, fans. I'm simply stating all are okay with these changes so why would those articles exist? I'm actually happy they're gone. I'm a bigger MAC basketball fan than MAC football. This is addition by subtraction.

What NIU fans have you seen that are saddened or upset for leaving the MAC? I haven't seen that sentiment anywhere whether that be their forum, reddit, X, journalism. They seem to all be happy with the move. I don't really care to get into the discussion of whether or not it's the best move for them because frankly I don't care. I'm simply stating there aren't these saddened NIU fans, alumni, players that you claim there to be. This isn't a situation where Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12 or USC and Oregon left the PAC-12. NIU fans are on board with this change. Edit: The only people that I've seen upset about it are fans of other MAC fan bases. People like you.

Maybe in 5 or 10 years that piece you're hoping for will be written. Right now everyone seems on board with the move. To me NIU kind of always was like that relative that never quite fit in with the family. I'm not bothered by their loss like I would be a Toledo, Ohio, Miami etc.

When I looked at NET rankings a week or so ago NIU was #360. I'm not sure where they're at now, nor care.

Hey, vinyls are making a comeback

Fans and alumni I've seen various places on the internet seem thrilled. This isn't a situation like UMass where the basketball fans are pissed because they got demoted that way football could be given a lifeline. Football is the only sport that matters to NIU. They will likely take their other sports to the Horizon, which will be even less travel for them compared to what they were doing in the MAC before. All of this is probably why NIU jumped at the invitation while Toledo has appeared to ignore it. Toledo cares about sports like basketball. Also, Toledo is centrally located in the MAC and has natural rivalries they don't want to lose. Edit: As someone who is more invested in MAC hoops, I'm thrilled by this move. Addition by subtraction.

I'm actually surprised it's that soon. I would have assumed they would have refinanced and extended to reduce the annual payments.

The portal is one of those things where you can like it or hate it, but if you try to fight it and not adapt you're going to get left behind.

I think it's way too early to crown a MAC regular season champion. All the teams are very flawed and will have head scratching losses. I wouldn't be surprised if 11-7 wins the MAC this year.

The issue is whatever the MAC does people will complain. They did away with the double bye because they felt it was too overpowered and made the tournament predictable and unexciting. I don't remember the exact stats and don't feel to look it up, but they weren't wrong. Now that the NIT bid was taken away, I feel they need to revisit this again. At least offer a single bye. The MAC regular season champion not having a postseason is criminal. Perhaps the MAC can pay for them to compete in one of the pay to play tournaments. The MAC's bigger problem is many schools just have given up caring about basketball all together and spend every spare dime on football or in several circumstances hockey.

Even Saturday home games in September and October are poorly attended. In general live attendance at sporting events is down compared to decades past. More people prefer to watch from the comfort of their own home. I don't see that trend reversing. If your goal is to take the next step, programs like Toledo or Ohio aren't who you should try to compare yourself to. I'm not exactly sure what renovations you have in mind for the JAR or the cost associated with them. Either way a renovated JAR won't be a premier arena in the MAC and definitely won't be at the elite mid-major level. You can put lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day it's still going to be a pig. Maybe revisit the arena decision once Infocision is fully paid off. Perhaps by then the University debt load would be more manageable.

The team that earns the extra credits does get extra. I read it too long ago to remember all the details. I think extra credits earned are split into 3 shares. 1 share is equally divided between all teams. 1 share is given directly to the team that earned that share. 1 share is given to the league office to help cover league expenses and pay incentives.

The MAC does have financial incentives for winning the regular season title. I don't remember the exact dollar figure, but obviously it isn't enough to move the needle. Before covid the MAC set up a plan to reward schools that perform well in basketball. The payout is funded by additional credits the MAC earns by winning games in the tournament. The more credits that are accumulated, the bigger the payouts become. The problem is the MAC isn't sending multiple teams to the tournament or advancing enough for that pot of money to grow sizable.

Especially since they took away the NIT bids for regular season winners.

This guy MACtions.

It looks like it will be a long season for everyone in he MAC. No team particularly stands out. Whoever wins the regular season would probably have been the 4th or 5th best MAC team in years past.

And how was the attendance under Bowden? The stadium was still sitting half empty most games. This idea of a new arena magically making the community buy into the program is a farce. At best it might provide a slight attendance boost the first 2-3 seasons until the new smell wears off. Like I said, you can look around D1 basketball. There are quite a few mid-majors that have recently built or renovated arenas and Akron is still running circles around them in regards to success. It's not the magical driver to success that you think it is. I think what you're overlooking is the costs it takes to fund a new basketball arena. The proposals pre-covid were around $75 million I believe for the city partner project. That same arena would probably be close to $100 million, if not more, now post inflation. Where are we going to magically find money to both pay for an arena plus stay competitive in NIL? You're operating under the impression that we have an infinite amount of resources both as a university and as a booster base. It's not realistic that we can compete on both grounds. We need to focus on what allows us to maximize our dollars, which would be coaching and NIL. We have the coaching so NIL should be the next focus.

It's not really an oversimplification. Our football program has one of the nicest stadiums in all of the G5 yet we've been a bottom 10 program since it was built. Imagine how much further ahead our football program would be today if we were playing in a mid-tier MAC stadium, but had $4 million in NIL to spend each season. There are lots of mid-majors that have relatively new arenas and the program is still hot garbage. Build it and they will come is only true in Hollywood movies. I would say St. Mary's basketball would be the next step program that we would all love to see Akron become. At least those with realistic expectations. Have you seen their arena? They play in what looks like a high school gym. The reality is boosters will get much more bang for the buck spending 2 million per year in NIL for 30 years than donating $60 million for a new arena as that's what recruits are going to care much more about. If you have a program that's flush with cash then fine do both, but schools like Akron have a finite amount of resources.

There was an interview over the summer with Bud. He said he was helping getting the football NIL setup. That would have been after the 2024 recruiting cycle. The question is what will be on hand for 2025.

I think you misspelled needing a war chest of ~$3 million annually for NIL. Players aren't going to care if us poor folks have to sit on wooden bleachers. They're going to care if their $250k NIL check clears. The amenities players care about about, like locker rooms and practice facilities, are new.

It very well could be true. The account also only has a handful of followers so I'm also not sure it should be taken as gospel.

From the sounds of former interviews he already is spending the bulk of his time being the volunteer GM for the basketball program. Personally, I think his time and effort is better spent on his passion project over running an entire D1 athletic program, which he has little to no experience doing.

Depending on the program, there is anywhere between 500k-15 million reasons why.

I felt our best performance of the season was our game 1 loss to Arkansas State. We got dog walked our previous 3 losses and this game we choked away a 15 point lead. Fortunately for us the MAC is dog crap. Unfortunately for us even if we win the MAC, whatever 2 seed we face in the tournament will physically dominate us.