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Temple to join MAC in '07; minimum attendance concerns

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BB73

BB73

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Temple football to join MAC in '07

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Temple's football program has found a home, accepting an offer to join the Mid-American Conference, a school athletic department source said Monday.

The source, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, confirmed the Owls will join the MAC as a full member in football in 2007. An official announcement is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Owls were kicked out of the Big East after 13 years for failing to meet minimum requirements for membership, most notably in attendance, facilities and fielding a competitive team.

The football team will play the next two seasons as an independent, though the Owls will likely add more MAC teams to their schedule for those two seasons. Temple is to play MAC teams Toledo, Bowling Green and Miami (Ohio) in 2005.

The rest of Temple's athletic teams will remain in the Atlantic 10, where Temple has been since 1982. No other A-10 school plays Division I-A football.

Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw was unavailable for comment. A telephone message left for MAC commissioner Rick Chryst wasn't immediately returned.

The Owls were overmatched in the Big East and haven't had a winning record since going 7-4 under Jerry Berndt in 1990. They went 2-9 last season and are 19-60 in seven seasons under coach Bobby Wallace.

Though Wallace said during the season the Owls would be a perfect fit for the MAC, the Owls lost to two of those mid-major teams in 2004: 45-17 at Toledo and 70-16 against Bowling Green.
 
Losers...they'll be a drag on the MAC.

The MAC is an underrated conference - They should have kept Marshall, kicked out Buffalo, added Louisville - then they could have taken over the Big East's automatic BCS bid.

Yeah I know - I'm dreaming.

Go Zips!
 
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Don't like that move by the MAC, some of those schools play damn good football, they don't need the Big Leasts castaways.. I agree with Scarlet Arrow, they should have made a bigger push when conferences were re-alligning, had they gotten at least one of the combo of louisville and marshall they could have even considered pushing for Notre Dame.. I know half of you think I'm stupid now..

but think about it. Notre Dumb doesn't want to join the Big Ten and become another Penn St., if the MAC pulled a BCS bid, which they certainly would have with Notre Damn then the homers could have run the conference like a Miami or FSU did.. If they wanted a return to glory that would be a quick way to do.. Besides, I am sure the MAC would be a lot more generous to them as far as TV rights and Percentages of the cash go than would the Big Ten.
 
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As a MAC alum I hate this move for every reason. Football only??? A 13 team conference? A team that met 2 MAC teams and got blown out in both games last year? The only way I can even stomach this is if we got them in Basketball. But we didn't.

The MAC can be so much better, but why do they have to think like they are a struggling conference and make such stupid moves.
 
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I guess this makes sense for Temple...maybe? I don't understand at all why the MAC would want this, unless like Piney said, they got basketball too. Another below average football team to drag down what Miami, BG, and other have accomplished over the past few years.
 
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I feel bad for Temple football, personally, and I wish they could have been better in the Big East. They did pull a couple of huge upsets on Va Tech in their heyday, and they've sent some players to the NFL.


I don't want to be a downer, but there are still some crappy teams in the MAC. Sure, some of the Ohio schools (BGSU, Akron, Toledo, Miami) have been really good lately, as has No Ill. But, there are still the Michigan Schools, who are terrible, Ball State, Ohio, Kent etc. Most of these teams got blown out in conference play too. A lot of these teams have a run of a couple of good seasons and then go back to being mediocre or worse (witness Western Michigan). Given the loss of teams, I think the move makes sense for both sides, and I hope it works out for Temple. Hopefully, they can grow with the conference, and it will be good for both sides.
 
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remember teh MAC is having trouble with the attendence requirement... if Temple has folks going to games this could actually help the MAC stay Div. 1A.

Also, I believe I read, they will be a full member in two years. They cannot compete for the MAC title until they are a full member...
 
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usatoday

NCAA warns schools to fill seats or drop from I-A ranks
Updated 10/21/2006 3:49 PM ET

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TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
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Bowling Green
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Louisiana-Monroe
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Ball State
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Temple
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New Mexico State
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San Jose State
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Utah State
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Akron
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Rice
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Buffalo
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Kent State
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Eastern Michigan

By David Woods, The Indianapolis Star

A bed race, parade, tailgate party and Bo Diddley concert will be featured in Ball State University's homecoming celebration.

University leaders have one plea to students and alumni, though: Don't forget to go to the football game.

Ball State, which meets Western Michigan on Saturday, is among the schools keeping a close watch on the turnstile count as well as on the scoreboard.

To remain in Division I-A ? college football's top level ? the NCAA has mandated that a school must average 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for home games once in a rolling two-year period.

According to NCAA figures, Ball State was one of 12 schools that fell below that threshold in 2005. Six of the schools are in the Mid-American Conference. Ball State's average home attendance was 12,953.

More fans are showing up this year ? though not enough to meet the threshold ? and first-year athletic director Tom Collins said Ball State "will do what we have to do" to preserve I-A membership. He said the university is trying to re-engage alumni and reach out to students and the Muncie, Ind. community.

Attendance this year has been hurt by foul weather on game days. Ticket manager Rob Richards said he is hoping for a crowd of 18,000 Saturday, depending on how many students attend.

A $13.7 million renovation of Scheumann Stadium, which is to feature amenities such as club seating and suites, is scheduled for completion before next season. Collins said Ball State intends to introduce different ticket prices, depending on seat location.

"Winning helps in getting those people out there," Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. "And that's our job, to put something on the field that people want to come see."

The Cardinals are 2-5 this season, 2-2 in the MAC. They haven't had a winning season since 1996. They haven't averaged 15,000 fans since 2001.
Ball State has averaged 14,138 spectators for four home games this season, including 23,813 for the Sept. 9 visit by Indiana University, the first Big Ten team ever to play at Ball State.

An informal agreement between the Big Ten and the MAC, brought about by addition of a 12th regular-season game, is allowing more Big Ten teams to visit MAC opponents. In 2007, Iowa will play Northern Illinois at Chicago's Soldier Field, Indiana will play at Akron and Purdue at Toledo.

"I certainly think the 12th game has given us opportunities to get games and to have opportunities we would not have had in an 11-game season," Bob Gennarelli, deputy commissioner of the MAC, said.

Yet sharing the region with the Big Ten has disadvantages, too. With so many Big Ten games available, either on television or a short drive from MAC cities, the smaller league suffers.

Eastern Michigan had the smallest average home attendance, 5,219, in I-A last year. Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Genyk said his school tries to schedule games so as not to coincide with those of nearby Michigan. He said Eastern Michigan wants to attract families who can't afford a Michigan game.

Ironically, MAC schools' I-A status is imperiled at a time the league has risen to unprecedented prominence.

To achieve more TV exposure, there will be at least one MAC game on every day of the week except Monday this season. The league, which once was guaranteed a single bowl game, now has three bowl tie-ins. On a recent Sunday, five NFL starting quarterbacks were from the MAC.
Hoke said the 13-0 season in 1999 by Marshall, then a MAC member, elevated the conference's profile. Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak credited spending to improve facilities as one factor in strengthening the league.
Schools that don't meet the minimum this year will receive a letter of non-compliance. That starts a 10-year period during which they must meet the requirement or be banned from bowl games. The attendance minimum would have to be met the next year or a school would lose I-A football status.
 
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MAC teams in bold.

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Bowling Green
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Louisiana-Monroe
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Ball State
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Temple
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New Mexico State
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San Jose State
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Utah State
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Akron
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Rice
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Buffalo
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Kent State
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Eastern Michigan

This conference is so fucked. I doubt it exists in 10 years, and if it does it will look VERY different.

Akron won the MAC last year, and they are still ont he bubble for attendance. Terrible.

Meanwhile, NIU had 28,000 for Temple yesterday. Considering Huskie Stadium only holds 27,500, it was really good.
 
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THEWOOD;640747; said:
Another thing is that its not like these schools are known for their academics. The basketball teams sucks aswell.
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Kent and Temple have pretty good basketball programs, and Akron and Buffalo have been decent the last few years in basketball. However, that doesn't affect this at all.

If the MAC loses Eastern, Kent, Buffalo, Akron, Temple, Ball State, and Bowling Green for football, this is what would be left.

NIU
Toledo
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Miami
Ohio


NIU is the class of the MAC attendance wise, and Western and Central are both programs on the rise. Ohio seems like it is on the rise also. Now Miami is going to end up averagining less then 15,000 this year, so we'll see what comes of that. Kent is having a GREAT year, so hopefully they will draw more fans.

Toledo is firmly fine at this point, but if they suck again next year we will see what happens.

If the MAC goes under as a football conference, I could see a couple of MAC teams joining the Big East for football only.
 
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