Ooops! I keep calling UL-Monoe "ULR" for some crazy reason. Sorry for any confusion. I mean "ULM"

Yes. Join the Big East.

Yes just the BE needs the bottom team in the MAC.

Buffalo (I call "SUNY-Buffalo") should definitely join the Big East.

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Wow I agree with TS2 on something.

How refreshing.

U. Buffalo should stay in the MAC. They need time to grow and Temple will need someone to beat as they gradually enter into the MAC. Which division of the conference will Temple be in? Can these two teams eventually meet in the MAC championship game or will they have to eliminate each other head to head to get to the championship game eventually. :o :o ::) ::).

I don't think the Buffalo in the MAC situation is comparable to BC, TCU or even Penn State.

Buffalo is not that much of a geographic outlier in the MAC. The school is only 3-4 hours from Cleveland and the MAC conference tourney. Mostly this thead has been talking about the football impact of Buffalo in the MAC, but for basketball joining the MAC has been a complete boon.

Attendance has quadrupled in the MAC in hoops as Buffalo is establishing itself as the Division 1 basketball option for the city. Football attendance is now up with the hiring of Turner Gill from Nebraska. The problem is football has never been very good in Buffalo at any level they've played. All the good western NY football players end up at Syracuse, not enough talent to sustain two strong teams from that region.

I don't think playing independent is the way to go for any school not named Notre Dame.

Again, I will disagree. As an Indy, buffalo has almost no shot at a BCS bowl, that is true, but how is that different from their lot in the MAC.

I can concede that the MAC works for them in every other sport but football, but in football, it kills them.

Buffalo need a front heavy schedule in football. They have to have the majority of their home games early and it would be in the best interest of the school if those game were against bigger name NEastern schools.

to hit 15K attendance and stay IA long term they need a schedule that goes like this: (To me this would be reasonable for Buffalo to acheive)

1 home 30K OOC
2 home 30K OOC
3 home 30K OOC
snow starts, pro bills get interesting
4 away
5 Home 8K MAC
6 Home 7K MAC
7 away
8 away
9 away
10 home 5K MAC
11 away
12 away

something like that EVERY year. If membership in the MAC could deliver that, then by all means stay in the MAC, if not, an independent schedule would.

There is a lot to suggest that buffalo doesn't travel or draw very well in the MAC either, so in that regard, their games might very well HURT the MAC until Buffalo gets a reasonable (on feild) football rep.

Buffalo looks like they are starting to get better in football. Of course, Buffalo could stay in the MAC for football only, instead of the other way around. All other sports could move to the America East Conference to play against the other University Centers in the SUNY system.

Could Buffalo get 30K in September? They only drew 23 for Baylor this year. Their all-time record isn't even 30K - just 205 fans shy.

Buffalo's a tough situation to be in, but if you look at, the MAC gives them their best shot to stay in D1A, due to the conference protection, and improve to the point of one day joining a league with Syracuse, Rutgers and UConn. They'd just be spinning the wheels and dealing with an even worse logistical nightmare as an independent. The MAC is a mid-tier league that exposes them to many fans across the country. Forging ties to the rest of NY is not truly necessary as they're already an established major state school. Besides the potential eastern opponents aren't necessarily any closer or significantly more attractive as the MAC.

Update: to back up my earlier post, Buffalo has continued their uprising, at this moment they are 8-5, and won the MAC championship for the first time ever - upsetting the previously unbeaten Ball State. I think Buffalo has what it takes to be a football-only member in the MAC now. I still think the other sports can move to the AEC.

They have a long way to go. We've seen in sports like basketball where schools like UMass were at the top of the world, sold out crowds, but when the program struggled, they took a huge step backwards. Buffalo needs many years of success in order to break the mold and become a real option for the upstate community.

That said, I think that despite the competitive nature of college sports business, that schools like Buffalo, UMass, etc...schools in the Big East footprint...have fans in the the Big East offices. Should the Big East need to expand you know they would love to have a top tier program in their region to be able to add. As it is now, they don't...which is why we hear schools like Memphis and ECU mentioned.

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Consistency for a program is key. You don't see the Pac-10 inviting Boise St despite their recent success. If a decade+ goes bye and they are on the same page in attendance, academics and performance, then yes, you will see invites.

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To pile on to what Quinn said...

...Boise State can pull a rabbit out of a hat in a Fiesta Bowl, and catch Oregon under the face mask (literally), but they also have to be better than 1-3 (losses to Boston College, East Carolina and TCU) in the last four bowl games. They have to actually expand the state population of Idaho five-fold.

The regionalization proposal makes sense for the smaller and less ambitious schools, but BCS conferences are not charities. They aren't going to bail out ANY school, and no amount of support you might get here will change that. Wait 'til you see how greedy they are amongst themselves.