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Divisions Gone! Big MAC News


Kevin

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Major adjustments are coming to the men’s and women’s basketball tournament as well. The MAC will be eliminating all first-round home games. The top eight teams from the regular season will advance directly to Cleveland. They will also be eliminating the divisions for men’s and women’s basketball and will be playing 20 conference games instead of 18.

 

https://www.wtol.com/article/sports/major-changes-coming-to-mid-american-conference/512-0e4f0d45-546b-432f-89a1-67a5a6d8fe3c

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2 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

So this means that each team will play 9 teams twice and 2 teams once (1H and 1A). 

yeah, but that's better than the 7 + 4 that it was during the 18 game stretch, but the 4 of them being in the MAC West.

removing the divisions and playing everyone but two teams is nice

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39 minutes ago, Kevin said:

yeah, but that's better than the 7 + 4 that it was during the 18 game stretch, but the 4 of them being in the MAC West.

removing the divisions and playing everyone but two teams is nice

Yeah, I’m all for this change. 

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49 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

Playing two more MAC games would have made the MAC one of only three conferences with complete double round robins.

It still would leave open slots for nine games OOC.

I agree with others that said they should just play 22 conference games.

Id rather more OOC games. More variety. 

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1 hour ago, Gxtrex said:

Id rather more OOC games. More variety. 

Not starting an argument here but the reality is, even before coronavirus, the power conferences were moving to 20+ conference games. Add in conference vs conference battles like the ACC/Big Ten challenge, and non conference tournaments like the Maui invitational, the writing was on the wall. As a result of this, the number of non conference games for mid majors was dwindling. So yes, while I agree, we want variety and more importantly chances to boost our resume, the reality is power conferences don’t want that for mid majors. They want more opportunities for their teams to make the big dance. So for us, I rather play the worst team in the MAC West a second time than have Nazareth on our schedule. The MAC has always been playing catch up, I’ve said for a few years now that they should’ve engaged in a conference v conference battle. But nope. Now they are trying to be forward thinking. In doing so I still think they got it wrong. It should be a full round robin. But hey at least they are doing something and not getting completely left behind in the dust of coronavirus and major conference greed.

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So we currently have 3 OOC games.  If we play Canisius and Niagara (assuming we don't schedule St. Bonaventure as they are in same tournament)...that would leave four other games - two P5 games, and the two remaining games are the caliber of Harvard and William and Mary, enough there to enjoy.   The strength of schedule would be a little better than last year.  Sorry realized missing a couple of games given 20 conference...hope the point is same.

Edited by DocCas86
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2 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

So we currently have 3 OOC games.  If we play Canisius and Niagara (assuming we don't schedule St. Bonaventure as they are in same tournament)...that would leave four other games - two P5 games, and the two remaining games are the caliber of Harvard and William and Mary, enough there to enjoy.   The strength of schedule would be a little better than last year.  Sorry realized missing a couple of games given 20 conference...hope the point is same.

If you are counting the 3 out of conference games as the games in the Paradise Jam, they do not count as three games.  I believe they only count as two games for scheduling purposes.  Also my guess is the chance of UB going to St. Thomas is slim to none.  I do not see any schools leaving the contiguous 48 states for any similar events.

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2 hours ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Not starting an argument here but the reality is, even before coronavirus, the power conferences were moving to 20+ conference games. Add in conference vs conference battles like the ACC/Big Ten challenge, and non conference tournaments like the Maui invitational, the writing was on the wall. As a result of this, the number of non conference games for mid majors was dwindling. So yes, while I agree, we want variety and more importantly chances to boost our resume, the reality is power conferences don’t want that for mid majors. They want more opportunities for their teams to make the big dance. So for us, I rather play the worst team in the MAC West a second time than have Nazareth on our schedule. The MAC has always been playing catch up, I’ve said for a few years now that they should’ve engaged in a conference v conference battle. But nope. Now they are trying to be forward thinking. In doing so I still think they got it wrong. It should be a full round robin. But hey at least they are doing something and not getting completely left behind in the dust of coronavirus and major conference greed.

I think I saw mention that Ohio State has six games to schedule this year because all the others were scheduled for them in the different ways you mentioned. 
 

very few games out there to be had.  Which is why we play Nazareth and other no name teams. 
 

the reality is that if any MAC team can get a big game against a big name school or into a top tournament then all the other schools in the Mac would be happy to move the schedule around to accommodate those rare games. 
 

But instead of playing a few more MaC games we are all trying to fill our schedules and have no decent teams to play. 

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1 minute ago, BrooklynBull said:

If you are counting the 3 out of conference games as the games in the Paradise Jam, they do not count as three games.  I believe they only count as two games for scheduling purposes.  Also my guess is the chance of UB going to St. Thomas is slim to none.  I do not see any schools leaving the contiguous 48 states for any similar events.

Teams can play 31 games with three coming in the tournament.  
 

there is no way we don’t schedule Bonas. We need that game. Can’t put off getting them at home one more year and there is no guarantee we meet them in the tournament.  
 

The tournament might not be played in STVI but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.  In 2017 the hurricane made it so it couldn’t be played and it was moved to Liberty university who was one of the teams in the tournament and offered to host.  
 

With Bonas joining us there are two local teams in the tournament so maybe we can get to host it or some local arena will get to host it since between the two of us we could sell some tickets.  Could work out better for us. 

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Scheduling is not going to be easy this year and if fans are not allowed then the guarantees from the bigger schools won't be nearly as large.  The issue is as mid-majors look to cut budgets it is less likely that we will be able to spend money on bringing opponents into Alumni.

But as a team that should be pretty good again next year, schools might not want to buy us as it is not a "guaranteed win".

I think there is a good chance the Paradise Jam doesn't happen this year...maybe it gets moved to the US, but that's no guarantee.  I know it doesn't sound very exciting, but I could see a situation where we might play St. Bomaventure and Canisius twice this year home and away.  I think it helps a lot from a money standpoint and it gets each team games.  I know its not super attractive, but it might need to happen for one year.

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1 hour ago, dutchcountry7 said:

I think I saw mention that Ohio State has six games to schedule this year because all the others were scheduled for them in the different ways you mentioned. 
 

very few games out there to be had.  Which is why we play Nazareth and other no name teams. 
 

the reality is that if any MAC team can get a big game against a big name school or into a top tournament then all the other schools in the Mac would be happy to move the schedule around to accommodate those rare games. 
 

But instead of playing a few more MaC games we are all trying to fill our schedules and have no decent teams to play. 

To which I agree. And feel the MAC has dropped the ball by not having foresight. Not creating league v league series. Allowing its teams to schedule the Nazareth types rather than other mid majors (CMU playing 4 of those types of games) The MAC years ago dropped the ball and is now trying to catching and get ahead.

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2 hours ago, BullBoy said:

I know it doesn't sound very exciting, but I could see a situation where we might play St. Bomaventure and Canisius twice this year home and away.  I think it helps a lot from a money standpoint and it gets each team games.  I know its not super attractive, but it might need to happen for one year.

I don’t see what that wouldn’t be appealing most years.  
 

It would be great to play those two twice a year—especially if we could play early in the year and then late in the year when MAC games typically happen. 
 

 

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5 hours ago, Erie County said:

A power 5 take here though. 

I guess it matters for the top-10 mid major teams, but for the 200+ others, more conference games is better 

Disagree.  Not a Power 5 take.  If the Mid-Majors play more games in the regular season it just means more in conference losses as opposed to non-conference losses against Power 5 teams.  They are just beating themselves up a little more and not helping their NET rankings at all.

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8 hours ago, Erie County said:

For the top 10-15 as stated, but once again, for the rest, it doesn't matter.

Scheduling matters for P5 and the bubble teams. 

Otherwise I'd like the conference scheduling to be as even as possible. 

Most importantly, the comment was in reference do this conference. Why does it even matter for the MAC? Let me know when there is at-large team.

This is the sat truth.

The MAC isn't a major conference and even in the rare occasions when there is an at-large contender it isn't a multi-bid league.  It doesn't really matter what OOC games because there aren't a handful of at-large contenders in conference on any given year.  We aren't the American, A10, MWC, or even the Southern Conference or CUSA.

Playing a fully balanced schedule is the best thing for the conference and we need better home games if students and fans are going to care. 

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2 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

This is the sat truth.

The MAC isn't a major conference and even in the rare occasions when there is an at-large contender it isn't a multi-bid league.  It doesn't really matter what OOC games because there aren't a handful of at-large contenders in conference on any given year.  We aren't the American, A10, MWC, or even the Southern Conference or CUSA.

Playing a fully balanced schedule is the best thing for the conference and we need better home games if students and fans are going to care. 

Why shouldn't C-USA, Sun Belt, Mountain West and MAC create an alliance? They can set a rotation of OOC games each year, and could even hold a playoff between th 4 conference champs. You'd lose the big payday games you get from the big elite schools but maybe you make it back creating compelling TV events like a mid-major playoff that benefits all the schools?

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52 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

Why shouldn't C-USA, Sun Belt, Mountain West and MAC create an alliance? They can set a rotation of OOC games each year, and could even hold a playoff between th 4 conference champs. You'd lose the big payday games you get from the big elite schools but maybe you make it back creating compelling TV events like a mid-major playoff that benefits all the schools?

Losing payday games is no small consequence. Also, what happens in the year that UB plays a long MAC season mixed in with bottom-tier Sun Belt and Mountain West teams? At-Large only with a peak of a 13 seed as MAC champ?

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1 hour ago, promotherobot said:

Why shouldn't C-USA, Sun Belt, Mountain West and MAC create an alliance? They can set a rotation of OOC games each year, and could even hold a playoff between th 4 conference champs. You'd lose the big payday games you get from the big elite schools but maybe you make it back creating compelling TV events like a mid-major playoff that benefits all the schools?

Exactly when would this be played? The Sunday and Monday of selection weekend?

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4 hours ago, promotherobot said:

Why shouldn't C-USA, Sun Belt, Mountain West and MAC create an alliance? They can set a rotation of OOC games each year, and could even hold a playoff between th 4 conference champs. You'd lose the big payday games you get from the big elite schools but maybe you make it back creating compelling TV events like a mid-major playoff that benefits all the schools?

They should play each other but they don't have the budget to do conference challenges

The issue is that most of those conferences only have between one and three teams that are going to benefit from the games.

Yes, Buffalo playing MTSU would be big.  But does it make sense for San Jose State and Eastern Michigan to play?  Neither team is getting an at-large.  It is expensive to fly.

That's why I was pushing for Oats to sign home/home deals with programs like Buffalo.  Good teams year after year that are always playing for their conference title.  But he wouldn't sign any deal that had Buffalo playing the first game in the series on the road.  We now know that is because he wasn't going to be around for the home game in the deal.

Edit:

And the mini tournament wouldn't work.  You have a limited number of games to play.  You would have to have every team schedule two fewer games so that they could play in a two game tournament.  But only four teams would play in the tournament.  So everyone gives up games and even less home games.  Not going to happen.

No one is tuning in to watch that tournament when it is the week of big rivalry games in major conferences.

Edited by dutchcountry7
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