(02-23-2018 03:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  It seems to me that the Southland should have pleaded with Tulsa, Wichita St, and NMSU to join them in order to stay DI-A. 5 of the 9 would meet the standards and they'd be safe and the ones who were just shy would have a couple seasons to get where they needed to be. Once they got up to standards NMSU could have left for the PCAA and UNT or someone could have taken their place.

Tulsa and NMSU would have worked geographically in the Southland as well.

I wonder if that was ever considered.

(02-23-2018 03:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  It seems to me that the Southland should have pleaded with Tulsa, Wichita St, and NMSU to join them in order to stay DI-A. 5 of the 9 would meet the standards and they'd be safe and the ones who were just shy would have a couple seasons to get where they needed to be. Once they got up to standards NMSU could have left for the PCAA and UNT or someone could have taken their place.

Tulsa and NMSU would have worked geographically in the Southland as well.

I wonder if that was ever considered.

I think it would have been a pretty great set up, especially if/when UNT joined:

Wich St-Tulsa rivalry
UNT-UTA crosstown rivalry
Then you have a nice cluster of LA schools and nearby Lamar and Ark St. Maybe West Texas A&M gets to join the club too?

(02-23-2018 03:42 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  It seems to me that the Southland should have pleaded with Tulsa, Wichita St, and NMSU to join them in order to stay DI-A. 5 of the 9 would meet the standards and they'd be safe and the ones who were just shy would have a couple seasons to get where they needed to be. Once they got up to standards NMSU could have left for the PCAA and UNT or someone could have taken their place.

Tulsa and NMSU would have worked geographically in the Southland as well.

I wonder if that was ever considered.

I think it would have been a pretty great set up, especially if/when UNT joined:

Wich St-Tulsa rivalry
UNT-UTA crosstown rivalry
Then you have a nice cluster of LA schools and nearby Lamar and Ark St. Maybe West Texas A&M gets to join the club too?

The answer my friends was blowin in the thread.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-747066-post-123...id12322691

(02-23-2018 04:33 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:42 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  It seems to me that the Southland should have pleaded with Tulsa, Wichita St, and NMSU to join them in order to stay DI-A. 5 of the 9 would meet the standards and they'd be safe and the ones who were just shy would have a couple seasons to get where they needed to be. Once they got up to standards NMSU could have left for the PCAA and UNT or someone could have taken their place.

Tulsa and NMSU would have worked geographically in the Southland as well.

I wonder if that was ever considered.

I think it would have been a pretty great set up, especially if/when UNT joined:

Wich St-Tulsa rivalry
UNT-UTA crosstown rivalry
Then you have a nice cluster of LA schools and nearby Lamar and Ark St. Maybe West Texas A&M gets to join the club too?

The answer my friends was blowin in the thread.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-747066-post-123...id12322691

Yes, it was interesting that they almost put together a new conference. Do you have a source for that info?

(02-23-2018 05:08 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 04:33 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:42 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  It seems to me that the Southland should have pleaded with Tulsa, Wichita St, and NMSU to join them in order to stay DI-A. 5 of the 9 would meet the standards and they'd be safe and the ones who were just shy would have a couple seasons to get where they needed to be. Once they got up to standards NMSU could have left for the PCAA and UNT or someone could have taken their place.

Tulsa and NMSU would have worked geographically in the Southland as well.

I wonder if that was ever considered.

I think it would have been a pretty great set up, especially if/when UNT joined:

Wich St-Tulsa rivalry
UNT-UTA crosstown rivalry
Then you have a nice cluster of LA schools and nearby Lamar and Ark St. Maybe West Texas A&M gets to join the club too?

The answer my friends was blowin in the thread.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-747066-post-123...id12322691

Yes, it was interesting that they almost put together a new conference. Do you have a source for that info?

Former AState AD and head football coach Larry Lacewell.

If all the conferences on the bubble go under, as in my hypothetical above, I was thinking that NMSU, Tulsa, and Wichita State could have joined with Fresno State, Pacific, UNLV, and Utah State. Maybe SW Louisiana, McNeese State, and even Southern Miss would have been interested too. Pretty spread out conference though.

The qualified MAC schools (CMU, Toledo, and possibly Miami and WMU) are probably SOL though. Maybe they could have hooked up with the MVC and Southland survivors, but I suspect the travel would be too great an expense. So they either go indy or, perhaps more likely, go down with the rest of the MAC to I-AA.

(02-23-2018 05:10 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 05:08 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 04:33 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:42 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Tulsa and NMSU would have worked geographically in the Southland as well.

I wonder if that was ever considered.

I think it would have been a pretty great set up, especially if/when UNT joined:

Wich St-Tulsa rivalry
UNT-UTA crosstown rivalry
Then you have a nice cluster of LA schools and nearby Lamar and Ark St. Maybe West Texas A&M gets to join the club too?

The answer my friends was blowin in the thread.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-747066-post-123...id12322691

Yes, it was interesting that they almost put together a new conference. Do you have a source for that info?

Former AState AD and head football coach Larry Lacewell.

I just meant like an article or something.

(09-02-2015 09:06 PM)chess Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 10:23 AM)AppfanInCAAland Wrote:  Of the ones sent down in '82, I believe only App State, Marshall, La Tech, North Texas, ULM (then Northeast Louisiana) and Arkansas State came back. All but App did it pretty quickly (within a decade or so) while it took App 22 years. Actually, App met the qualifications in '82 but chose to stay with the SoCon rather than follow their arch-rival ECU into the I-A independent wasteland.

Everyone else to move up to FBS since '82 either didn't have a team in '82 or were never I-A before '82.

I've heard the MAC was saved by the Big Ten because they wanted to count MAC wins towards bowl eligibility. The Southland, MVC, and SoCon had no such benefactor plus many if their schools were happy for the downgrade. Some standings still list Richmond and William & Mary as I-A independents in '83. I believe they were involved in a lawsuit of some sort before accepting their fate.

That independent wasteland included teams like Boston College, Syracuse, Temple, Rutgers, Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Navy, South Carolina, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Florida State.

No Chess, that implies low minors back then like BC, Rutgers, Temple, Louisville, Miami and a few others on your list were “major” like they are regarded today. Rutgers played schedules that were filled with present day D-1aa teams. Florida St was getting blown out by San Diego St. Louisville was so bad in the 80’s they were going to drop the sport. Virginia Tech was very different back then. Like a Western Kentucky of today. Decent newbie, but not acceptable to the country club. And their opponents were schools drake, Lamar and McNeese st. Don’t even get me started on Miami....Different era.

(02-23-2018 06:07 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 09:06 PM)chess Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 10:23 AM)AppfanInCAAland Wrote:  Of the ones sent down in '82, I believe only App State, Marshall, La Tech, North Texas, ULM (then Northeast Louisiana) and Arkansas State came back. All but App did it pretty quickly (within a decade or so) while it took App 22 years. Actually, App met the qualifications in '82 but chose to stay with the SoCon rather than follow their arch-rival ECU into the I-A independent wasteland.

Everyone else to move up to FBS since '82 either didn't have a team in '82 or were never I-A before '82.

I've heard the MAC was saved by the Big Ten because they wanted to count MAC wins towards bowl eligibility. The Southland, MVC, and SoCon had no such benefactor plus many if their schools were happy for the downgrade. Some standings still list Richmond and William & Mary as I-A independents in '83. I believe they were involved in a lawsuit of some sort before accepting their fate.

That independent wasteland included teams like Boston College, Syracuse, Temple, Rutgers, Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Navy, South Carolina, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Florida State.

No Chess, that implies low minors back then like BC, Rutgers, Temple, Louisville, Miami and a few others on your list were “major” like they are regarded today. Rutgers played schedules that were filled with present day D-1aa teams. Florida St was getting blown out by San Diego St. Louisville was so bad in the 80’s they were going to drop the sport. Virginia Tech was very different back then. Like a Western Kentucky of today. Decent newbie, but not acceptable to the country club. And their opponents were schools drake, Lamar and McNeese st. Don’t even get me started on Miami....Different era.

That's true for many of them.

But West Virginia, Pitt, Notre Dame, and Penn State were legitimate powerhouses in the late 70s/early 80s. Georgia Tech and Syracuse were both in a down period but were still considered powerhouse programs based on their success in the 60s/early 70s.

Hell, Penn State won the national title in 1982, the year this stuff came out.

(02-23-2018 06:42 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 06:07 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 09:06 PM)chess Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 10:23 AM)AppfanInCAAland Wrote:  Of the ones sent down in '82, I believe only App State, Marshall, La Tech, North Texas, ULM (then Northeast Louisiana) and Arkansas State came back. All but App did it pretty quickly (within a decade or so) while it took App 22 years. Actually, App met the qualifications in '82 but chose to stay with the SoCon rather than follow their arch-rival ECU into the I-A independent wasteland.

Everyone else to move up to FBS since '82 either didn't have a team in '82 or were never I-A before '82.

I've heard the MAC was saved by the Big Ten because they wanted to count MAC wins towards bowl eligibility. The Southland, MVC, and SoCon had no such benefactor plus many if their schools were happy for the downgrade. Some standings still list Richmond and William & Mary as I-A independents in '83. I believe they were involved in a lawsuit of some sort before accepting their fate.

That independent wasteland included teams like Boston College, Syracuse, Temple, Rutgers, Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Navy, South Carolina, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Florida State.

No Chess, that implies low minors back then like BC, Rutgers, Temple, Louisville, Miami and a few others on your list were “major” like they are regarded today. Rutgers played schedules that were filled with present day D-1aa teams. Florida St was getting blown out by San Diego St. Louisville was so bad in the 80’s they were going to drop the sport. Virginia Tech was very different back then. Like a Western Kentucky of today. Decent newbie, but not acceptable to the country club. And their opponents were schools drake, Lamar and McNeese st. Don’t even get me started on Miami....Different era.

That's true for many of them.

But West Virginia, Pitt, Notre Dame, and Penn State were legitimate powerhouses in the late 70s/early 80s. Georgia Tech and Syracuse were both in a down period but were still considered powerhouse programs based on their success in the 60s/early 70s.

Hell, Penn State won the national title in 1982, the year this stuff came out.

Technically the idea to downgrade everyone not in the SEC, B10, B8, SWC, PAC, WAC and a couple Indys started in 1978. Florida St and Miami got hot at the perfect time.

The unfortunate thing for all of the schools relegated and those who saw their conferences torn apart is that a few short years later in 1984 it all became a moot point. The motivation behind kicking all of those programs down a notch was to avoid giving tv money from the NCAA contract to them. Once Georgia and Oklahoma won their court case and the conferences had the power to deal directly with the networks it didn't matter any more who was D1.

(02-23-2018 04:33 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:42 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:20 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(02-23-2018 03:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  It seems to me that the Southland should have pleaded with Tulsa, Wichita St, and NMSU to join them in order to stay DI-A. 5 of the 9 would meet the standards and they'd be safe and the ones who were just shy would have a couple seasons to get where they needed to be. Once they got up to standards NMSU could have left for the PCAA and UNT or someone could have taken their place.

Tulsa and NMSU would have worked geographically in the Southland as well.

I wonder if that was ever considered.

I think it would have been a pretty great set up, especially if/when UNT joined:

Wich St-Tulsa rivalry
UNT-UTA crosstown rivalry
Then you have a nice cluster of LA schools and nearby Lamar and Ark St. Maybe West Texas A&M gets to join the club too?

The answer my friends was blowin in the thread.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-747066-post-123...id12322691

I saw that. I also saw where I conference could qualify as long as more than 50% of the members met the requirements--a 6 or 7 member league would just need 4 qualifiers; an 8-9 member league would need 5. If Southern Miss was willing to be involved that's another school that could have kept them afloat if NMSU was out.

Tulsa, Wichita St, USM, McNeese, and ULL could have potentially formed that league with most or all of the Southland schools who were fighting to maintain their status and given UNT, Ark St, LA Tech some time to get their houses in order.

In the long term this league would be a better route for NMSU. The Big West suffered a bit of a crisis in 1992 and was down to just San Jose St, Pacific, Utah St, UNLV, and NMSU until Nevada and the 4 affiliates (3 of which are in this hypothetical Southland) kept them going until their next crisis where Idaho, Boise, and UNT (also in this hypothetical Southland) kept them afloat.

(09-02-2015 10:21 AM)LUSportsFan Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 08:41 AM)orangefan Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 11:37 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Its funny though looking at the schools that were reclassified, most of them have made their way back to 1A FBS level. Ashame that end result of all this was getting rid of the IVY's at the 1A level. They could have really provided a boost in the Northeast during the BCS and now the Playoff era.

I haven't counted, but I don't believe that "most" have made it back to FBS. From the SoCon only Marshall and App.St. have returned. From the Southland, La.Tech, ULL, and Ark. St. have returned. No Ivies or independents have returned. I don't believe the MAC schools were ever actually forced to move down since they were somehow able to qualify as a conference rather than on an individual school basis.

With respect to the Ivies, I believe the reclassification actually helped Eastern football. There were 20 D1 schools in the Northeast prior to reclassification, and really only 5 or so were committed to playing at a national level.

The Ivy League itself was committed to playing nonscholarship ball with academic entrance requirements far higher than applicable in any other conference. They were not competitive nationally and, as a result, had lost significant fan interest. I also believe the major conferences were tired of sharing NCAA TV money with the Ivies, which brought nothing to the table for the national TV package. This is why they wrote the rules to kick the Ivies out. 1-AA was created as a soft landing place so the Ivies and others would still officially be D1.

The reclassification forced those borderline schools that wanted to play 1-A to raise their game. Rutgers and Temple, in particular, dramatically increase their commitment to competing. BC, although not borderline, also substantially increased its commitment. Rutgers and Temple had previously played Ivy level schedules against Princeton, Colgate and others. BC annually played Holy Cross, Villanova and UMass. Those rivalries were replaced by games against each other and the stronger Eastern Independents, i.e., Penn St., Pitt, Syracuse, and WVU.

Penn St. even tried to organize a 1-A Eastern football conference, but failed largely because of Syracuse, BC and Pitt's preference to play in the Big East for basketball. This ultimately led to Penn State joining the B1G, which in turn prompted the formation of the Big East Football Conference.

Interesting topic and one that brings back bad memories.

For the Southland, ULL, Arkansas State, and Louisiana Tech represented 50% of the conference membership at the time of the force down. ULL met the requirements to stay at D-1A and chose to stay at that level. The Cajuns were forced out of the conference because of conference rules. Another member, McNeese State, could have remained at D-1A having met the attendance requirements, but chose to move down with the conference. Louisiana Tech was very close to meeting the requirements, but had a bad season in 1979. Other programs were close, but no cigar also.

For the Southland, the reclassification was one of the causes of instability. Subsequent changes in membership weakened a pretty good basketball conference also. Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, and Lamar left the conference in 1987 to join ULL, New Orleans, and UTPA (now UTRGV) to form the American South Conference. ULL, Louisiana Tech, and Lamar all had made Sweet 16 appearances in the men's tournament. Louisiana Tech was a basketball power in Women's basketball.

On the football side, Texas-Arlington dropped football after the 1985 season. Lamar dropped football in 1989 after four seasons as a D-IAA independent.

The interesting thing is that using today's rolling 15,000 average, that conference would have qualified. I haven't researched it, but I would venture a guess that would hold true for the other conferences forced down.

In the Southland, UNT, ULM, La Tech and Arkansas St. moved back up. ULL never moved down. UTA and Lamar dropped football. Only McNeese stayed in I-AA.

(02-23-2018 07:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 10:21 AM)LUSportsFan Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 08:41 AM)orangefan Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 11:37 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Its funny though looking at the schools that were reclassified, most of them have made their way back to 1A FBS level. Ashame that end result of all this was getting rid of the IVY's at the 1A level. They could have really provided a boost in the Northeast during the BCS and now the Playoff era.

I haven't counted, but I don't believe that "most" have made it back to FBS. From the SoCon only Marshall and App.St. have returned. From the Southland, La.Tech, ULL, and Ark. St. have returned. No Ivies or independents have returned. I don't believe the MAC schools were ever actually forced to move down since they were somehow able to qualify as a conference rather than on an individual school basis.

With respect to the Ivies, I believe the reclassification actually helped Eastern football. There were 20 D1 schools in the Northeast prior to reclassification, and really only 5 or so were committed to playing at a national level.

The Ivy League itself was committed to playing nonscholarship ball with academic entrance requirements far higher than applicable in any other conference. They were not competitive nationally and, as a result, had lost significant fan interest. I also believe the major conferences were tired of sharing NCAA TV money with the Ivies, which brought nothing to the table for the national TV package. This is why they wrote the rules to kick the Ivies out. 1-AA was created as a soft landing place so the Ivies and others would still officially be D1.

The reclassification forced those borderline schools that wanted to play 1-A to raise their game. Rutgers and Temple, in particular, dramatically increase their commitment to competing. BC, although not borderline, also substantially increased its commitment. Rutgers and Temple had previously played Ivy level schedules against Princeton, Colgate and others. BC annually played Holy Cross, Villanova and UMass. Those rivalries were replaced by games against each other and the stronger Eastern Independents, i.e., Penn St., Pitt, Syracuse, and WVU.

Penn St. even tried to organize a 1-A Eastern football conference, but failed largely because of Syracuse, BC and Pitt's preference to play in the Big East for basketball. This ultimately led to Penn State joining the B1G, which in turn prompted the formation of the Big East Football Conference.

Interesting topic and one that brings back bad memories.

For the Southland, ULL, Arkansas State, and Louisiana Tech represented 50% of the conference membership at the time of the force down. ULL met the requirements to stay at D-1A and chose to stay at that level. The Cajuns were forced out of the conference because of conference rules. Another member, McNeese State, could have remained at D-1A having met the attendance requirements, but chose to move down with the conference. Louisiana Tech was very close to meeting the requirements, but had a bad season in 1979. Other programs were close, but no cigar also.

For the Southland, the reclassification was one of the causes of instability. Subsequent changes in membership weakened a pretty good basketball conference also. Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, and Lamar left the conference in 1987 to join ULL, New Orleans, and UTPA (now UTRGV) to form the American South Conference. ULL, Louisiana Tech, and Lamar all had made Sweet 16 appearances in the men's tournament. Louisiana Tech was a basketball power in Women's basketball.

On the football side, Texas-Arlington dropped football after the 1985 season. Lamar dropped football in 1989 after four seasons as a D-IAA independent.

The interesting thing is that using today's rolling 15,000 average, that conference would have qualified. I haven't researched it, but I would venture a guess that would hold true for the other conferences forced down.

In the Southland, UNT, ULM, La Tech and Arkansas St. moved back up. ULL never moved down. UTA and Lamar dropped football. Only McNeese stayed in I-AA.

It's a real shame that by the time that Ark St, LA Tech, UNT, and ULM were able to crawl their way back that there wasn't enough there to have a conference--Tulsa, NMSU, and USM were doing other things, McNeese didn't come back, West Texas plummeted to D2, and UTA, Lamar, and Wichita St all gave up.

(09-02-2015 10:56 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 11:37 PM)solohawks Wrote:  http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/NCAANewsArchive/...820215.pdf

Check out this link about the 1982 forced reclassification that nabbed the Ivy League, the Socon, the Soutland, and the MVC

It very clearly lays out the 4 requirements to be 1-A, and you must meet one of the following

1. Have 17K average home attendance every year for the past 4 years

2. Have 17K average home attendance in 1 of the past 4 years AND play in a 30K stadium

3. Have 20K average home AND away attendance for the past 4 years if your stadium is less than 30K OR 1 in the past 4 years if your stadium is 30K or greater

4. Play in a minimum of a 6 team conference where at least half the members meet 1-a classification guidelines

The Big West stayed alive due to rule #4 and that explains how they ended up being a mismash in the late 80's and early 90's of wayward football programs.

The MAC did to as they did not take no for an answer and schools like NIU and Bowling Green fought the decision until the MAC met rule 4
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1982/...division-i

Its funny though looking at the schools that were reclassified, most of them have made their way back to 1A FBS level. Ashame that end result of all this was getting rid of the IVY's at the 1A level. They could have really provided a boost in the Northeast during the BCS and now the Playoff era.

Of the 4 in question per the article, I believe Southwest Louisiana and Western Michigan made it, but Miami and Cincinnati didn't. Meanwhile, McNeese made it in the Southland, but moved down and never moved back up. Arkansas St., La Tech, NW St. (now ULM) and North didn't make it but later moved back up.

Disagree with you Bullet on this one. Northwest State is still Northwest State. They have a very long and proud history. They compete with SFA for the Chief Caddo trophy (Natitchoches vs Nacogdoches) and they used to have a big rivalry with Louisiana Tech as well.

ULM used to be known as Northeast Louisiana . University. They also had a rivalry with Northwest State.

(09-02-2015 12:11 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 11:37 PM)solohawks Wrote:  The MAC did to as they did not take no for an answer and schools like NIU and Bowling Green fought the decision until the MAC met rule 4
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1982/...division-i

Woah. The great unsolved mystery about why half the MAC moved down for 1 season has been solved. Toledo, CMU made their numbers. Miami, WMU, NIU and BG came close with NIU and BG denied appeals.

Ohio, Ball State, Kent St and EMU were not anywhere close to the criteria to stay Division 1-A.

The MAC was also making 70k per school from its TV deal back in 1982. That is the same as 700k for the entire conference. This lack of salary history impacted the conference all the way up until present times.

The MAC was making 1.4 million per year prior to the new ESPN deal which is paying 10 million per year. In the deal prior to that (before 2008) the MAC was making only 590k from ESPN.

FWIW ... $70,000 in 1982 is equivalent to $185,000 today, or $1.85 million for the conference as a whole back then.

So it sounds like for over 30 years, from 1982 to 2014, the MAC actually saw its media value decline not increase.

(08-02-2019 06:18 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(09-02-2015 12:11 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 11:37 PM)solohawks Wrote:  The MAC did to as they did not take no for an answer and schools like NIU and Bowling Green fought the decision until the MAC met rule 4
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1982/...division-i

Woah. The great unsolved mystery about why half the MAC moved down for 1 season has been solved. Toledo, CMU made their numbers. Miami, WMU, NIU and BG came close with NIU and BG denied appeals.

Ohio, Ball State, Kent St and EMU were not anywhere close to the criteria to stay Division 1-A.

The MAC was also making 70k per school from its TV deal back in 1982. That is the same as 700k for the entire conference. This lack of salary history impacted the conference all the way up until present times.

The MAC was making 1.4 million per year prior to the new ESPN deal which is paying 10 million per year. In the deal prior to that (before 2008) the MAC was making only 590k from ESPN.

FWIW ... $70,000 in 1982 is equivalent to $185,000 today, or $1.85 million for the conference as a whole back then.

So it sounds like for over 30 years, from 1982 to 2014, the MAC actually saw its media value decline not increase.

I compared the TV money of recent years to NCAA contract money the early 80's which would be more equivalent to CFP money back then since the MAC didn't really appear on TV with it but picked up a check.

Turn around began with the first BCS contract in the mid 90's. The wilderness period was about 15 years.

(08-02-2019 02:06 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  Disagree with you Bullet on this one. Northwest State is still Northwest State. They have a very long and proud history. They compete with SFA for the Chief Caddo trophy (Natitchoches vs Nacogdoches) and they used to have a big rivalry with Louisiana Tech as well.

ULM used to be known as Northeast Louisiana . University. They also had a rivalry with Northwest State.

FWIW, it's Northwestern State.

And you are right, they do have a long and proud history, this will be their 111th season playing football.

BTW, if you've ever seen the Caddo trophy, it is a monster. About as big as Shaq, LOL.