Very interesting tidbit from MAC insider

[egregiousbob]

I know someone who works for the MAC. This person told me that during the most recent meeting of MAC presidents, the leader of one school petitioned the group for approval to either drop football entirely or move their football program to an FCS league while remaining a MAC member for other sports. They were turned down. Although my friend would not divulge the university in question, the hints I was given (urban school, financial pressure) sure point to UA.

 

 

[ZippyRulz]

😲

[kreed5120]

Assuming this was true, I would think that wouldn't roll out Kent. Financially their situation isn't as dire as Akron, but they're still facing budgets deficits. Their president or maybe athletic director a few years back said they were going to prioritize basketball over football. They've pretty much been at the bottom of the MAC in spending and have played 3 paycheck games a year much longer than Akron ever did. Also, they don't play in a city, but they're in close proximity to both Akron and Cleveland.

Edited 16 hours ago by kreed5120

[GP1]

1 hour ago, egregiousbob said:

I know someone who works for the MAC. This person told me that during the most recent meeting of MAC presidents, the leader of one school petitioned the group for approval to either drop football entirely or move their football program to an FCS league while remaining a MAC member for other sports. They were turned down. Although my friend would not divulge the university in question, the hints I was given (urban school, financial pressure) sure point to UA.

 

 

Interesting, but I find the story a bit too formal and facts too convenient to be true. I also think this would have made it into the media via leaking. Could also be Buffalo or EMU. 

 

If it is true and Akron, it wouldn't be the first time we made a decision to change divisions without a clue where it would go or what it would do. It would be typical of the Nihilism the country is being drug through. So, it isn't completely out of the world of reality. 

 

I would have two questions. First, what is our current President's opinion of competing in the MAC for football long term?  Second, was the meeting in question during his tenure? 

 

Bonus question.....  If a formal petition was issued, where is it? If I'm not not mistaken, every MAC school is a public institution. A FOIA request could uncover the existence of this document sourced from almost every school. 

 

Bonus question #2....  If true, why aren't our competitors burying us with this information? I know I would. 

[UA1996MAENG]

It seems very likely that this is about UA; Toledo is succesful in football, and Buffalo is in no real finaical danger with the largest enrollment in the MAC.  I think we'll see a lot of these situations (dropping football outright or dropping down a division) over the next five years.  Sadly, the money is just not available to run a D1 program even on the G5 level. It might be the lesser of two evils to bow out instead of enduring years of very visible and costly failure in a system rigged for the success of larger and wealthier universities.  College football as it is today cares only about the Power Conferences, and even within the "Power 4" there are/will be a large number of rich "also-rans".  Northwestern is as far away from Ohio State as Kent is to, let's say, even mediocre Cincinnati.

[zippy5]

No one's been able to tell me yet how FCS saves us money over the current landscape of multi million dollar buy games.

[egregiousbob]

1 hour ago, GP1 said:

Interesting, but I find the story a bit too formal and facts too convenient to be true. I also think this would have made it into the media via leaking. Could also be Buffalo or EMU. 

 

If it is true and Akron, it wouldn't be the first time we made a decision to change divisions without a clue where it would go or what it would do. It would be typical of the Nihilism the country is being drug through. So, it isn't completely out of the world of reality. 

 

I would have two questions. First, what is our current President's opinion of competing in the MAC for football long term?  Second, was the meeting in question during his tenure? 

 

Bonus question.....  If a formal petition was issued, where is it? If I'm not not mistaken, every MAC school is a public institution. A FOIA request could uncover the existence of this document sourced from almost every school. 

 

Bonus question #2....  If true, why aren't our competitors burying us with this information? I know I would. 

The MAC Council of Presidents is not a public institution. Members are sworn to secrecy on all discussions. 

[LZIp]

6 minutes ago, egregiousbob said:

The MAC Council of Presidents is not a public institution. Members are sworn to secrecy on all discussions. 

But you have the leak? Are MAC employees who may have the privilege to attend the discussion not bound by this?

 

And to be honest, I don’t see a real benefit for Akron to stay in the MAC if they aren’t there for football.

Edited 15 hours ago by LZIp

[kreed5120]

22 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

No one's been able to tell me yet how FCS saves us money over the current landscape of multi million dollar buy games.

 

I feel it's still TBD how much revenue sharing and direct institutional NIL support will impact the cost of college athletics. If the standard becomes G5 schools paying players $3 million, that means schools like Akron would have to play 2 paycheck games just to fund the players. A cost that doesn't currently exist today.

[kreed5120]

13 minutes ago, egregiousbob said:

The MAC Council of Presidents is not a public institution. Members are sworn to secrecy on all discussions. 

 

Obviously not that secretive if it's finding it's way to a MAC message board...

[GP1]

19 minutes ago, egregiousbob said:

The MAC Council of Presidents is not a public institution. Members are sworn to secrecy on all discussions. 

Who punishes them and what are the punishments?  A good tongue lashing?  General Amish level shunning? Being forced to run naked through a crowded bar?

[kreed5120]

10 minutes ago, LZIp said:

 

And to be honest, I don’t see a real benefit for Akron to stay in the MAC if they aren’t there for football.

 

The only benefit is it would allow us to keep travel costs down. Using the MVC as an example, it would be a step up in hoops, but I believe Valpo would be our closest conference mate. Per Google maps thats nearly a 5 hour bus ride away. We can get to nearly all the MAC schools in less time than that.

[kreed5120]

4 minutes ago, GP1 said:

Who punishes them and what are the punishments?  A good tongue lashing?  General Amish level shunning? Being forced to run naked through a crowded bar?

 

Kicked from the conference. Baseball was a required MAC sport as well, but Akron was granted permission to eliminate it.

[egregiousbob]

The only required sports for men are football (FBS) and basketball.  Baseball is not required.  

[kreed5120]

5 minutes ago, egregiousbob said:

The only required sports for men are football (FBS) and basketball.  Baseball is not required.  

Not anymore, but it was previously. By laws were amended after they decided to grant Akron permission.

Edited 14 hours ago by kreed5120

[GP1]

13 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

Not anymore, but it was previously. By laws were amended after they decided to grant Akron permission.

Did they get approval from the TV networks?

[lance99]

3 hours ago, egregiousbob said:

The only required sports for men are football (FBS) and basketball.  Baseball is not required.  

I believe Volleyball is also.

[ZippyRulz]

volleyball and basketball for women 🏐🏀

[ZippyRulz]

9 hours ago, LZIp said:

But you have the leak? Are MAC employees who may have the privilege to attend the discussion not bound by this?

 

And to be honest, I don’t see a real benefit for Akron to stay in the MAC if they aren’t there for football.

 

The petitioning school apparently did see the benefit of keeping their other sports in the MAC. Otherwise they could just find their new conference home and leave, dropping (down) their football program.

[GP1]

It would be odd if after decades of trying, Akron finally got a real D1 coach, turned around the program, had success and then dropped out of FBS. It would be the most Akron football thing ever. The only thing that would make it worse is if we joined the Big Ten. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

20 minutes ago, GP1 said:

It would be odd if after decades of trying, Akron finally got a real D1 coach, turned around the program, had success and then dropped out of FBS. It would be the most Akron football thing ever. The only thing that would make it worse is if we joined the Big Ten. 

 

You think joining the Big Ten would be a bad thing?

[GP1]

1 minute ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

You think joining the Big Ten would be a bad thing?

Yes. Akron is in no position to complete in a way that would benefit the athletes students alumni fans and general community around Akron. Short term it would feel cool for a lot of people, but the long term would be a disaster. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

5 minutes ago, GP1 said:

Yes. Akron is in no position to complete in a way that would benefit the athletes students alumni fans and general community around Akron. Short term it would feel cool for a lot of people, but the long term would be a disaster. 

 

Yeah... Passing on tens of millions in increased annual revenue doesn't benefit anyone you mentioned. 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94