The 2 time defending NCAA Division 2 champs is or are they going to D1AA. Any thought or comments. Great Fan Base I saw them here in Flo town when they won there first championship, and what is their enrollment figures?

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The Bear may be dead but he still hates Tennessee. Roll Damn Tide

^About 20,000 and growing.

They get students from all over the state, but most of them are from the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland metro area.

The fan following is also concetrated in that metro area.

In Michigan we have 15 public universities, each really serving a metro region and/or a specific region of the state.

U of Michigan: Flagship State U, with Medical School, Law School, Architecture school, among many other top notch national grad programs. ~39,000 in enrollment. Major research university. Students from all over Michigan and US and internationally, and fan following completely throughout the state.

MSU: Flagship State U and Land Grant U. Same as above only their med school concentrates on rural medicine, and it has the state's ag school and vet school. Major research university. Also contains a law school. ~45,000 in enrollmenmt from all over Michigan and US and internationally and fan following completely throughout the state.

Wayne State: Urban Grant/Metropolitan U serving the City of Detroit and metro Detroit. Major urban research university with a medical school and a law school. ~33,000 in enrollment. Many commuters students. Plays Div II Sports and Div. I Hockey. Fans are from Detroit primarily.

Western Michigan University: Historic Normal with an emerging research function. Has an engineering college like the other 3 bigger U's above. Students from all over Michigan, and some neighboring states. ~30,000 in enrollment and fan following concentrate in the southwest part of the state, the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek metro areas and some in the Grand Rapids area.

Central Michigan University: Historic Normal. Has some research functions. Students from all over Michigan. Has a special scholarship for students from the Upper Peninsula. ~28,000 in enrollment. Fan following concentrated around Mt. Pleasant, Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, Flint, and the Northern Lower thingyula.

Eastern Michigan University: Historic Normal. Students from all over Michigan, but mostly concentrated in eastern Michigan and a number of commuter students from Detroit and suburbs and some Ann Arborites that can't get into U of M. Some grad programs. ~24,000 in enrollment. Fan following concentrated around Washtenaw County, SE Michigan and some Detroit and suburbs.

Michigan Tech University: The "Engineering School and School of Mines" located in the far reaches of the Kewenaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula 600 miles from Detroit. Very high tech and good academic rep. Models Georgia Tech and the Colorado School of Mines with an emphasis on engineering subjects. ~6,000 in enrollment. Plays Div II sports but Hockey is Div I and is big. Students from all over state, but as a small school, not any represent any region predominantly other than the Upper Peninsula.

Northern Michigan University: Historic Normal. Limited grad programs. Most regional U serving as primary academic institution for the Upper Peninsula. Located 400 miles from Detroit. ~8,000 students. Div II sports but Div I Hockey and it is big. Students are mainly from Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Grand Valley State^ discussed above. Big on teacher's education. Its a newer university and plays Div II. sports.

Oakland University: This is another metropolitan university serving primarily Oakland and Macomb Counties which are the northern Detroit suburbs. ~16,000 in enrollment, has an engineering college and a small research functions. Started out in the late 1950's as a branch of MSU. Plays Div. 1-AAA sports, with the bball team in the MidCon.

Ferris State University: Serves mostly west central Michigan, and most of its students are from the western 1/3 of the Lower Peninsula, Grand Rapids and Muskegon. Was original a private "First Professional" school, but was boughten up by the state. Has the state's Pharmacy school, which is good and specializes in Graphic Arts. Has about ~11,000 in enrollment. Plays Div. II sports and Div. 1 Hockey, which is big. Fans concentrated in that west central area and Grand Rapids.

Saginaw Valley State University: Commuter campus that serves the metro area of Saginaw-Bay City-Midland. Mostly teacher's education is a focus. Approximately ~8,000 students. Palys Div II sports with students coming from the Saginaw-Bay City-Midland area and some Flint and very limited fans from that metro area.

Lake Superior State University: Located in Sault Ste. Marie, accross from Canada. Small regional school serving the eastern parts of the Upper Peninsula. ~2,500 in enrollment. Plays Div II sports but Div. I Hockey which is big. Students are from the Upper Peninsula and also some from Canada. Very limited following from the Sault Ste. Marie area.

U of Michigan Flint: Small commuter campus of U of M serving the greater Flint area. Very limited master's degrees. ~8,000 in enrollment. I don't think they play sports.

U of Michigan Dearborn: Small commuter campus of the U of M serving Dearborn and other near western Detroit suburbs. Students primarily from the near western Detroit suburbs. ~8,000 students. They don't play sports.

Those are the highlights of Michigan's educational institutions, including GVSU.

Where did you get this info about UM-Dearborn not playing athletics? They're in the NAIA with a limited number of sports offered ;)

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Do you ahhhhh......realign?

^Thanks for correcting me. I wasn't sure about the two branches of U of M. I know the other 13, but those two I don't hear of their sports. I just assumed their focus was mainly on providing an education to near-Detroit suburbanites. I drive by that campus about once every 2 months and it looks like a commuter campus. I also know, for its size, its a fairly decent academic school for a commuter school.

But I stand corrected. Thanks.

thanks sportgeog, I think GVSU and Youngstown St would make great additions to the MAC if they decide to go back to 14 schools.

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The Bear may be dead but he still hates Tennessee. Roll Damn Tide

I think that Youngstown State is certainly a good candidate for the MAC and have tried become a member in the past. But the 3 Michigan schools opposed their inclusion for not wanting to give more power to the Ohio school of the conference by having a 7th Ohio MAC member, when Michigan has only 3 in comparison.

Now, to counter that, if the MAC did take Youngstown State, then of all the schools in Michigan that could give the state a 4th MAC school to balance with a 7th Ohio school, the best candidate is GVSU. Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech would be too far north. Lake Superior State and Saginaw Valley State are too small of institutions. Ferris State is too close to GVSU, and Grand Valley has won Div II National Championships. There are no Div. I-AA schools currently in MI, so GVSU would be the best candidate. But the problem is could they make the jump from Div. II to Div 1-A, without going to I-AA first? They would also have to expand their stadium as it only holds about ~6,300. YSU's stadium holds ~20,000. May need to get up to 25K or 30K but could function with that stadium in I-A.

wow when they was down here in florence they brought 11,000 with them I guess they need a bigger stadium. They was inquiries that they may move to division 1-AA soon.

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The Bear may be dead but he still hates Tennessee. Roll Damn Tide