We've talked about Eastern Michigan getting kicked out of the MAC, but I didn't know the details. This article on reddit offers a lot more detail, and while it doesn't cite sources, I get the sense it is pretty accurate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/5j...4_the_mac/

I had no idea the move was driven by the conference's struggles to meet Division I-A attendance requirements. It sounds as if this bruhaha was fairly public at the time.

Looks like WMU was the only friend EMU had in 1984, lol.

I never knew about all this. But then I didn't start paying attention to the MAC until the 90s when I entered college.

I recall the whole attendance-threshold storyline resurfaced (mainly on message boards) in the 2000s, with the clear as mud "15K average over two seasons" stipulation, and the tickets sold vs. butts in seats arguments, and Pepsi giveaways, and so on. Blech.

(03-14-2024 09:18 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  Looks like WMU was the only friend EMU had in 1984, lol.

I never knew about all this. But then I didn't start paying attention to the MAC until the 90s when I entered college.

I recall the whole attendance-threshold storyline resurfaced (mainly on message boards) in the 2000s, with the clear as mud "15K average over two seasons" stipulation, and the tickets sold vs. butts in seats arguments, and Pepsi giveaways, and so on. Blech.

Yep, & Creighton turning the football program around pretty much has killed any talk about kicking Eastern out. I rarely hear that talk now, but it was frequent conversation back when they were really bad (which has been most of their history)

A couple years later they won the league and beat San Jose State in the California Bowl.

Edit: This is covered pretty clearly in the article which I will now read in full.

Dear Bronco'14,
Most of our history has not been bad. Certain periods yes, but not most.