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Interesting connection between the two schools (that was probably mentioned the last time they played)...Stan Sheriff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Sheriff

He was the UNI head football coach...

Wow, yeah. Around here those would be considered HS or DIII gyms.

Quincy (IL) HS's Blue Devil Gym (3,900 capacity) about an hour from Macomb would pretty much put them all to shame except Chicago...

Even with UTRGV, it still looks like a pretty compact conference. I don't think any other conference would be better for you guys at this point. OVC is too far north, UAC is spread all over the place...

While I agree that 16 is ideal, this isn't talking about adding more spots for the tournament (like, going to 32 or something). This is just talking about taking the same number of teams, but seeding...

I was wondering if they might see the MAC reach out to another decently large public school in CAA football...Albany, New Hampshire, Stony Brook...someone along those lines.
All of them would be...

I'm doing fine. Our new HC looks promising and seems like he has a bit more of a handle on what it takes to run a DI football program. If our basketball programs are any indication, moving to the OVC...

I don't think the OVC would be interested unless they get REALLY desperate for football members. WIU is currently the furthest north and, other than Little Rock (doesn't have football), the furthest...

As to be expected with a mostly new coaching staff, we have a number of transfers coming in as well. Here's the ones with DI experience:

Thomas Brunner | Defensive End | 6-3 | 248 | Senior |...

Which, honestly, would have been my preferred scenario in the first place...MVFC for football, OVC for all other sports...but the OVC wasn't going to go for that in their current situation.

You could maybe do something like that with a limited group, like a 2-division conference (as was proposed by some for a replacement to the PAC12 and MWC), but with much OOC scheduling getting put...

Maybe I'm just confused about what you're saying. Summit League doesn't sponsor football, so you wouldn't be adding SHU and Merrimack as FB affiliates.

I think the CAA Football splitting up and...

Another small benefit...they play the majority of their home games at the Titans (NFL) stadium and presumably have some level of access to locker rooms there for the games. They've also signed an...

You'd have to have a busload of joint replacement surgeons on standby ready to go at a moment's notice.

Yup, basketball has really started to turn things around. Obviously turning a football program around takes a bit longer, but I'm hopeful we'll see a couple of wins next year...I'm liking what I'm...

Yup...position coaches at many schools at the P5 level now pay 2-3 times what a HC position at a FCS or low G5 team pays. Already hit us...I guess we'd have been "mid-level FCS" at that point...in...

Pretty much, yeah. We thought maybe we had an outside chance at being selected due to SOS, although until then, no 6-5 team had ever received an at-large bid. Adding to that, we were not in a...

We've had at least a couple of instances of 6. Can't find a 7-game stretch, at least not in the last couple of decades.

In 2015/16 we had:
@ North Dakota State
@ Indiana State
vs South Dakota...

I think a few teams might notice one less easy win on the schedule.

I know...that's going to be fun to watch, but I really wish we could have seen this year's SDSU vs Oklahoma State. Next year's SDSU is still going to be really good, but it'll be hard to continue to...

A blowout. It'd look like a blowout.

Just about anyone outside the top 25, I think SDSU wins.
Anyone in the 15-25 range, it's a close game, could go either way.
9-15, SDSU loses, but it's...

Obviously, take it with a grain of salt, but according to Massey's system, SDSU would be favored against most of the teams outside the top 20 of the FBS: https://masseyratings.com/cf2023/ratings

From a WIU perspective, we consider Illinois State a "mild" rivalry...mostly just because of history. ILSU has an actual rivalry series/trophy with EIU though.
Used to be WIU and EIU were fairly big...

That's probably what we would have gone with, except it's about time to replace the turf anyway, plus we need to change up the big logo in the middle too.

Minor upgrade, but WIU is supposed to be replacing their turf after spring football this coming year. Our current turf is around 10-11 years old (I think 10 years is the standard "lifespan"), plus we...

Sounds pretty impressive...assuming we can get the players to make it work.