MAC going to 9 conference games in 2028

[exit322]

https://getsomemaction.com/news/2026/9/14/mac-to-move-to-nine-game-conference-football-schedule-beginning-in-2028.aspx

 

I guess it was inevitable with the buy games dwindling.

[Zips1991]

3 minutes ago, exit322 said:

https://getsomemaction.com/news/2026/9/14/mac-to-move-to-nine-game-conference-football-schedule-beginning-in-2028.aspx

 

I guess it was inevitable with the buy games dwindling.

I'm 100% in support of this. I know we might miss out on some money because of it, but it means a greater number of competitive games (in theory) and a better chance at a bowl game. I wish it was happening this year or next year 😆

[kreed5120]

I saw this and was about to post. I'm not sure I'm a fan of this. Programs like Akron really need to schedule 2 P5 games a year to keep the lights on. Add on the 1 FCS game and that really doesn't give us an opportunity to play any of the other G6 schools. 

 

The only positive I can maybe see, especially if other G6 conferences follow suit, is this could make those game guarantees go up in value since it creates more scarcity.

[exit322]

1 minute ago, Zips1991 said:

I'm 100% in support of this. I know we might miss out on some money because of it, but it means a greater number of competitive games (in theory) and a better chance at a bowl game. I wish it was happening this year or next year 😆

 

If we could pick and choose the extra team with...it'd probably help home attendance.  Which means it'll be one of the Ball-Sac

[exit322]

2 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

I saw this and was about to post. I'm not sure I'm a fan of this. Programs like Akron really need to schedule 2 P5 games a year to keep the lights on. Add on the 1 FCS game and that really doesn't give us an opportunity to play any of the other G6 schools. 

 

The only positive I can maybe see, especially if other G6 conferences follow suit, is this could make those game guarantees go up in value since it creates more scarcity.

 

I do agree with you...I don't think it's necessarily going to help the finances.  Especially for teams that have some longer-standing OOC G6 games (not sure how many of those there are, of course).

[ZippyRulz]

Maybe the FCS game goes by the wayside.

 

[kreed5120]

5 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

Maybe the FCS game goes by the wayside.

 

 

Even B1G and SEC still schedule FCS schools to pad win totals. MAC teams aren't going to eliminate those games as coaches need those wins to help inflate their records.

[GP1]

4 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

Maybe the FCS game goes by the wayside.

 

Yes!

 

Schedule a G5 team and play D1 football. Right now, our only choice seems to be starting every year 1-3. I've had enough of that. 

 

I'd take my chances starting the year 1-2. An 0-3 start isn't even that bad because if we would just get good, that extra win making us 1-3 could come from the MAC. I see way more upside than downside. 

[exit322]

23 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Even B1G and SEC still schedule FCS schools to pad win totals. MAC teams aren't going to eliminate those games as coaches need those wins to help inflate their records.

 

Might be more to get a cheaper home game since it's gonna be a beating either way.

 

Robert Morris did bring a decent group of people, so as long as you keep with more local teams it could bring a little value.

 

I'm not sure a G6 home-and-home is much better than doing the FCS thing, just because there aren't many G6 schools around here that local fans would care that much about seeing.

[LZIp]

Shouldn’t the Info be paid off relatively soon? Thought I recalled reading 20yr financing at some point. If so, I think that’d help quite a bit with cash flow and reduce the need for 2 buy games annually. Not really sure how I feel about the change, but guess it does theoretically increase bowl eligibility chance. To me, perfect OOC would be FCS game, buy game against mid/low tier p4, another G6 school.

Edited 13 hours ago by LZIp

[kreed5120]

4 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

Might be more to get a cheaper home game since it's gonna be a beating either way.

 

Robert Morris did bring a decent group of people, so as long as you keep with more local teams it could bring a little value.

 

I'm not sure a G6 home-and-home is much better than doing the FCS thing, just because there aren't many G6 schools around here that local fans would care that much about seeing.

 

Not to mention Akron's most successful promotion perhaps ever (ACME Zips maybe only exception) was the OC for a drive promotion. No way Akron is going to do that type of promotion against a UNLV, Marshall, Jacksonville St, etc.

 

Joe only agreed to it against RMU because he saw the financial upside it could bring to the program and knew even if the first drive didn't go anywhere that Akron should be able to win comfortably. That's not the case against other G6 programs.

[kreed5120]

8 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Shouldn’t the Info be paid off relatively soon? Thought I recalled reading 20yr financing at some point. If so, I think that’d help quite a bit with cash flow and reduce the need for 2 buy games annually. To me, perfect OOC would be FCS game, buy game against mid/low tier p4, another G6 school.

 

20 years was the stadium naming rights deal. The initial bonds were 30 years, but I believe we issued new ones when the rates went down. I think we will be paying on Infocision until around 2045.

 

Edit: Speaking of which Akron is going to need to find a new stadium sponsor soon. Between Infocision and Summa, they're paying a combined $750K per year. In 2028 that goes away. The same year we go to 9 conference games. We definitely won't be in a position to play only 1 P5 game without a stadium sponsor.

Edited 13 hours ago by kreed5120

[exit322]

13 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Not to mention Akron's most successful promotion perhaps ever (ACME Zips maybe only exception) was the OC for a drive promotion. No way Akron is going to do that type of promotion against a UNLV, Marshall, Jacksonville St, etc.

 

Joe only agreed to it against RMU because he saw the financial upside it could bring to the program and knew even if the first drive didn't go anywhere that Akron should be able to win comfortably. That's not the case against other G6 programs.

 

This was probably more successful, just because weren't the ACME Zips game tickets free or super cheap or something?  I'm a little younger than the heyday of that promotion.

[kreed5120]

Just now, exit322 said:

 

This was probably more successful, just because weren't the ACME Zips game tickets free or super cheap or something?  I'm a little younger than the heyday of that promotion.

 

It was before my time as well. I only listed it as a possibility one could argue because it filled the stadium. I don't really disagree with you.

[exit322]

2 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

It was before my time as well. I only listed it as a possibility one could argue because it filled the stadium. I don't really disagree with you.

 

Right.  But then looking at some of those years...you show a 25,000+ crowd for Game 1, then a 6,000 attendance average the rest of the way.  This promotion combined with the gameday ops will increase attendance...not immediately, it's not like we're gonna get 27,000 for a noon game with UNLV two weeks after doing this for the first time, but this sort of stuff moves the trendline the right way for once.

 

Now to get rid of the midweek crap.

[ZippyRulz]

Alternatively we could keep the FCS game but would then have to go to 1 payday game or else drop the OOC G6 game, either of which will be harder financially since we have to pay out for the FCS home game.

 

[Zips1991]

3 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

Alternatively we could keep the FCS game but would then have to go to 1 payday game or else drop the OOC G6 game, either of which will be harder financially since we have to pay out for the FCS home game.

 

I think the most likely route, as long as the University remains in financial trouble, is that we play two money games and one FCS game. And the G6 games become less likely. It takes away any real "measuring stick" games in the non-conference, but keeps the money coming in as well as the FCS wins for bowl eligibility.

[kreed5120]

Instead of the playoffs continuously expanding I wish they would have just expanded the regular season to 13 games. Under that scenario all conferences could have expanded to 9 games, but also preserved 4 OOC games.

[exit322]

5 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

Instead of the playoffs continuously expanding I wish they would have just expanded the regular season to 13 games. Under that scenario all conferences could have expanded to 9 games, but also preserved 4 OOC games.

 

Could be why the MAC jumped to 9, honestly.

[kreed5120]

36 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

Could be why the MAC jumped to 9, honestly.

 

I don't think the MAC is that proactive. Besides I think if the NCAA was talking about expanding regular season games those sort of conversations would leak long before any conference made a formal announcement regarding modifying their regular season.

 

My guess is the MAC and ESPN are in negotiation for the next TV deal and ESPN wanting additional inventory probably offered the MAC X-number of dollars additional if they expanded to 9 games and MAC ADs decided they were good with it.

[exit322]

6 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I don't think the MAC is that proactive. Besides I think if the NCAA was talking about expanding regular season games those sort of conversations would leak long before any conference made a formal announcement regarding modifying their regular season.

 

My guess is the MAC and ESPN are in negotiation for the next TV deal and ESPN wanting additional inventory probably offered the MAC X-number of dollars additional if they expanded to 9 games and MAC ADs decided they were good with it.

 

As long as it gets rid of the midweek games

[kreed5120]

16 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

As long as it gets rid of the midweek games

I can't see that happening. Those midweek games probably drive 80% of the TV deal value.

[csims0917]

Im also curious how they'll balance home and away. Will their be an A pod and B pod? Might have to bring back divisions sort of

[Zips1991]

5 minutes ago, csims0917 said:

Im also curious how they'll balance home and away. Will their be an A pod and B pod? Might have to bring back divisions sort of

I was wondering the same. I assume it will be alternating 4 and 5 home conference games each year. Which means, if we're going to keep two money games per year, we'll only have 5 home games every other year. But we've had other years where there was only 5 home games so it's not unheard of.

[exit322]

1 hour ago, Zips1991 said:

But we've had other years where there was only 5 home games so it's not unheard of.

 

Including the next two

 

2027 - at Arizona State, Rutgers, UNLV - hosting Maine

2028 - Lafayette, at Wyoming, at West Virginia, at Vanderbilt

 

2029 and 2030 right now Akron has four OOC games scheduled but the James Madison home-and-home is almost assuredly going away.