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Topic: MAC D1 Status?
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bobcat28
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Posted: 4/22/2020 7:00 PM
I see there is another thread similar to this already..
Last Edited: 4/22/2020 7:03:13 PM by bobcat28
Buckeye to Bobcat
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Posted: 4/22/2020 8:30 PM
Said it before and will say it again, going FCS makes more sense than staying FBS. Remember talking with someone who said our TV contract is the reason why we're still up, but that point is becoming more moot by the second. Yeah, we get a million off of it, but we save over 1.2 in scholarships alone at minimum if we went FCS.......
Alan Swank
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Posted: 4/22/2020 9:03 PM
Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:expand_more
Said it before and will say it again, going FCS makes more sense than staying FBS. Remember talking with someone who said our TV contract is the reason why we're still up, but that point is becoming more moot by the second. Yeah, we get a million off of it, but we save over 1.2 in scholarships alone at minimum if we went FCS.......
Agreed. Playing in a division where you have no chance of qualifying for the championship tournament much less winning it makes no sense at all.
Buckeye to Bobcat
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Posted: 4/23/2020 10:35 AM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
Said it before and will say it again, going FCS makes more sense than staying FBS. Remember talking with someone who said our TV contract is the reason why we're still up, but that point is becoming more moot by the second. Yeah, we get a million off of it, but we save over 1.2 in scholarships alone at minimum if we went FCS.......
Agreed. Playing in a division where you have no chance of qualifying for the championship tournament much less winning it makes no sense at all.
Could careless about the championship (though it would be awesome to go into the FCS playoffs). Then again, I think we would be in for a rude awakening among some of the FCS schools.....
Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
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Posted: 4/23/2020 11:07 AM
I've been a proponent of dropping to FCS in the past, but somebody here (forget who unfortunately) made a really compelling case that travel would be too big of an issue. I forget the details, but recall that it was related to restrictions on plane travel in FCS. But it was a while ago.

Anybody recall?
OU_Country
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Posted: 4/23/2020 11:58 AM
I'm sure there are good and legitimate arguments for both staying put, and dropping to FCS. In the long run, I think it's a matter of dollars. And no matter how you slice it, 2020-21 is going to be a tough year financially for all MAC schools and their corresponding Athletic Departments. If dropping to FCS saves money, it's more likely to happen now than ever.
SBH
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Posted: 4/23/2020 2:58 PM
Football's payday games cover significant portions of overall athletic budgets. Will these payouts be affected by a drop to FCS? If so, probably wouldn't happen.

Kent, for example, has three big paydays this fall. Without them, they'd have to drop multiple sports.

Additionally, every MAC member would have to agree to drop to FCS. I can't see NIU, Buffalo, Ohio, Toledo and Miami joining in.
Last Edited: 4/23/2020 3:00:07 PM by SBH
Alan Swank
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Posted: 4/23/2020 3:14 PM
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 4/23/2020 4:34 PM
Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame wrote:expand_more
I've been a proponent of dropping to FCS in the past, but somebody here (forget who unfortunately) made a really compelling case that travel would be too big of an issue. I forget the details, but recall that it was related to restrictions on plane travel in FCS. But it was a while ago.

Anybody recall?
What league would you join? One with YSU? Travel cost would greatly increase.
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Posted: 4/23/2020 6:20 PM
Maybe it's time to trade that 1AA home game for an additional money game at a "P" team, at least for a few years. It would mean giving up an almost sure win, but it might be more attractive to recruits if we could play another game at a "P" team every year (and maybe pull off an upset once in a while) instead of having Gardner-Webb, Fordham, LIU and Morgan St over the next few years.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

bobcat28
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Posted: 4/23/2020 6:35 PM
I deleted my initial post, but the idea was that higher ed is going to face significant financial difficulties in the next few years. Small schools are not going to last, and because mac schools are primarily student fee funded this could be the beginning of the end for the mac and d1.
SBH
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Posted: 4/23/2020 7:40 PM
Akron's president announced today that their athletic program will be "much smaller and leaner," beginning with a 20% budget cut in FY 21.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 4/23/2020 8:02 PM
SBH wrote:expand_more
Akron's president announced today that their athletic program will be "much smaller and leaner," beginning with a 20% budget cut in FY 21.
Ours has already been notified of similar cuts. No sport cuts but significant cuts
Alan Swank
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Posted: 4/23/2020 9:17 PM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Akron's president announced today that their athletic program will be "much smaller and leaner," beginning with a 20% budget cut in FY 21.
Ours has already been notified of similar cuts. No sport cuts but significant cuts
With Arkley gone and the ANews reporter headed to Cleveland, we'll probably hear about those cuts on here first.
RSBobcat
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Posted: 4/23/2020 9:25 PM
The P5 of D1 are gonna get hurt also. The entire landscape likely changes. Especially for the bottom programs of the P5 conferences - across all sports programs - Men & Women....
RS Bobcat
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Posted: 4/23/2020 10:31 PM
I have a feeling the MAC and other non-P5 schools get hit the most. In a weird sort of way I heard from a fair amount of the Higher Ed spectrum this week and although sports certainly wasn't the focus of our conversation, it did play a part. An administrator from a MAC school told me certain schools are staring at problems they tried to put off for years; athletics can't escape some serious pruning. I heard the same from a Division III school. Yet, an Ohio 5 school administrator told me they aren't facing a single cutback. As a matter of some of their school's elite families were giving their room and board refunds to the university to help those students who are stuck.

One of the administrator's I mentioned, said they they heard from a colleague that the Power 5 schools are looking at this as a further way to distance themselves athletically from any upstart non-Power 5 schools intent on trying to make a statement. Finally one administrator jokingly told me that if Harvard would part with 10% of it's 40 billion dollar endowment, it could go a very long way in helping many small colleges and universities, along with some MAC schools in this state.
Last Edited: 4/23/2020 10:32:41 PM by cbus cat fan
Jeff McKinney
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Posted: 4/23/2020 11:40 PM
It might make more sense to drop football to Div II rather than FCS. But keep our other sports in Div I. Can you do that? I read that currently you can do that under special circumstances. I could see the NCAA changing their rules to allow it. I don't think Ohio could go Div 2 unless several other MAC schools did it

I like FCS but I question whether the financial savings would be enough.

Competing to get in either FCS or Div II playoffs would be awesome.
Last Edited: 4/23/2020 11:53:50 PM by Jeff McKinney
BryanHall
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Posted: 4/24/2020 7:49 AM
I think that long term the MAC will become an FCS conference--maybe a few teams will depart, maybe not. The MAC is already a second class citizen in FBS and that situation will not get any better. The only thing that would make me consider staying longer is the impact of the TV contract. While it may be a wash overall financially, I can't help but think that this doesn't take into consideration the advertising benefits it gives the university.
SBH
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Posted: 4/24/2020 8:46 AM
Alan Swank wrote:expand_more
Akron's president announced today that their athletic program will be "much smaller and leaner," beginning with a 20% budget cut in FY 21.
Ours has already been notified of similar cuts. No sport cuts but significant cuts
With Arkley gone and the ANews reporter headed to Cleveland, we'll probably hear about those cuts on here first.
There's an ANews reporter headed to CLE? Why, there are no journalism jobs here. Nothing left of the PD staff (4 people) and Cleveland.com is just a sweatshop that also is cutting people.
Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
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Posted: 4/24/2020 11:21 AM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
I've been a proponent of dropping to FCS in the past, but somebody here (forget who unfortunately) made a really compelling case that travel would be too big of an issue. I forget the details, but recall that it was related to restrictions on plane travel in FCS. But it was a while ago.

Anybody recall?
What league would you join? One with YSU? Travel cost would greatly increase.
At that point, my 'dream' scenario was that we'd join the Colonial. Putting aside, of course, that Ohio was not a colony, I feel like the schools in that conference match what we are well. Few are their states flagship schools, and those that are (Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine) are much smaller. It's also a really strong conference for football. But as you and somebody else a long time ago pointed out, the travel expenses would likely be a lot higher. Getting to Maine ain't easy, even if it only happens every other year.
Bobcat1996
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Posted: 4/24/2020 11:38 AM
First of all only a select few have a shot at winning the Football National championship. I am not talking about I-AA. Does anyone actually think Rutgers, Vandy, Indiana, Missouri, Duke and plenty of others can compete with the likes of LSU, Bama, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson? The rich get richer in football and no matter what people say, only a few of these schools actually have a chance to win a national title. This isn't basketball where Butler can get to the title game or baseball where Coastal Carolina can win it all. This is basically semi pro football where only the elite have a shot at winning. Those schools put tons of money in the program and no way can other schools without the resources actually compete. No matter how good Duke or Rutgers is in football, they will not win a football championship.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 4/24/2020 12:44 PM
Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame wrote:expand_more
I've been a proponent of dropping to FCS in the past, but somebody here (forget who unfortunately) made a really compelling case that travel would be too big of an issue. I forget the details, but recall that it was related to restrictions on plane travel in FCS. But it was a while ago.

Anybody recall?
What league would you join? One with YSU? Travel cost would greatly increase.
At that point, my 'dream' scenario was that we'd join the Colonial. Putting aside, of course, that Ohio was not a colony, I feel like the schools in that conference match what we are well. Few are their states flagship schools, and those that are (Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine) are much smaller. It's also a really strong conference for football. But as you and somebody else a long time ago pointed out, the travel expenses would likely be a lot higher. Getting to Maine ain't easy, even if it only happens every other year.
You lose the savings on scholarship with the travel associated to that league.
Bobcat1996
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Posted: 4/24/2020 2:13 PM
Billy is correct as dropping to FCS/I-AA and playing in the Colonial equates to way more travel expenses. Richmond, Elon, New Hampshire, Albany, Maine, Delaware and Stony Brook are some of the Colonial Schools. The Missouri Valley has ND State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri State and SD State among that league. Youngtown is the only school in that league located in Ohio. Youngstown State is scheduled to play at Akron in early September. Last season YSU was paid $500,000 for playing West Virginia. I doubt Akron matches that figure. The larger schools normally don't pay FCS schools the same as they do MAC, Sun Belt, CUSA or MWC teams. Akron is scheduled to play at Auburn and at Ohio State in 2021. Guessing both of those paydays should be over a million. Some schools were struggling with budgets before Covid-19 and now this pandemic makes things much worse.
SBH
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Posted: 4/24/2020 2:58 PM
I know one easy way to cut our football budget: Quit housing our team in a local hotel prior to home games. That's like 20-30K per game right there.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 4/24/2020 6:45 PM
SBH wrote:expand_more
I know one easy way to cut our football budget: Quit housing our team in a local hotel prior to home games. That's like 20-30K per game right there.
I imagine that is on the chopping block as well as flying to Buffalo, Western and Central.
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