What about NDSU?

Do you mean Univeristy of North Dakota ? (who are in the Big Sky, and have hopefully resolved their nickname issue, and who really would prefer to be in the Summit / MVFC with other 3 Dakota schools) ?

Or maybe you mean NDSU. They are a top FCS school, but I sort of doubt they have the resources / inclination to go FBS at this time.
What would be their conference for Olympic Sports, and wouldn't travel be horrendous ?

It hasn't been that long since Dakota schools moved up from D-2. Some criticized the move, but in a lot of sports, they seem to be thriving.

They are hungry up there in Fargo...the only issue with them is their location. With the WAC dying, they're out of that line. But the MAC isn't as far a jump for them. No different to some schools as traveling to Amherst and Foxboro will be.

I think the candidate list is long...the issue is whether the candidates will commit to the conference and not jump when C-USA calls, and that could be why the MAC is taking their sweet ole time.

The tough spot for the MAC isn't the football...they can let any eastern program park it there indefinitely. The issue is their basketball. The schools who would make the obvious sense for the conference to invite reside in the MVC. Some/most/all of the MVC would rather bypass the MAC for C-USA, because MVC basketball > MAC multiple times over. So, some of the more obvious mid-west schools considering upgrades, like Illinois State and Missouri State, don't want to go. YSU does, but they bring nothing to the conference, and would further over-saturate the region. And NDSU, probably the best all-around candidate (and they are), sits...well...in Fargo.

I think it comes down to Delaware and NDSU. App State and JMU are decent...but, we know they'd rather be elsewhere...that's not a compelling case to invite a school.

It really looks like the basketball schools are driving the realignment bus in the CAA and thus Delaware and James Madison might be inclined to upgrade. If the MAC opts to not expel UMass after 2 seasons I wonder which of those CAA programs they would rather have as a football only member

On paper, the MAC might be in a good spot if they could get UD, JMU and App St. as FB only members, 4 total. Would move the footprint further south for recruiting. Those 3 schools could just remain/join the CAA, making the CAA a non-football conference. I'm sure W&M, Towson, Richmond and Nova could just join the Patriot for FB only if the CAA lost the number of schools needed to even have any level of football.

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Article out of Iowa with comments from UNI AD regarding UNI's exploration of a possible FB only move to FBS with a conference "like" the MAC at http://thegazette.com/2012/09/13/financ ... sideration

UNI could be in position to grab a lot of talent given the lack of FBS programs in Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. The stadium situation must be addressed.

How big is UNI's tiny dome? Seems small like the Kibble Dome

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FSA,
The UNI's dome in Cedar Falls has a seating capacity of 16,324. This is on par with the Kibbie Dome of the Univ. of Idaho.

For the MAC, that size is not so far off compared to a few that have seating capacities in the low-to-mid twenties. Even at that, some of them often have considerable empty seats. All have been wanting to meet the 15,000 average home attendance rule for FBS. I am not sure of the status of the rule currently, since some schools have found clever ways to meet the criteria, and little prior enforcement of it was undertaken.

There's a couple in the SunBelt that fell a little below 20,000. Some have upgraded such as Florida Atlantic.

UNI doesn't seem to be in a position to upgrade to FBS within the next year or two. Their stadium, attendance figures and for that matter their football team need a bit of improvement before they can be successful in making the jump. I think it could happen for UNI within the next few years, but even then they would probably only join for football only in the MAC West and be like UMass is in the MAC East. Why would their decent basketball program leave the Missouri Valley for the MAC?

I know this is generally football leaning thread and this may have flown under the radar, but the MAC did add three affiliate members to their wrestling program. Mizzou, Northern Iowa and Old Dominion have joined for the next five years...

Article: http://www.mac-sports.com/News/tabid/96 ... tling.aspx

This may be an important development as it relates to Northern Iowa...

Who do you all think is most likely to upgrade their football to FBS and join the MAC? I think Delaware, James Madison, Northern Iowa, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern are the most likely options right now. Does anyone else have other schools they want to throw out? I realize App St. and GSU aren't very likely, but you never know anymore.

Maybe Northern Iowa (if they are truly serious about FBS).

I think this past summer (when the CAA was going through the throes of replacing UMAss, ODU, and Georgia State), IF Delware and /or JMU were really serious about jumping to FBS,
that would've been the time to approach the MAC. The MAC has been in a quandry with regard to how to get to even numbers, since Umass joined for FB, and then Temple left.

Appalachian State and Georgia State have been studying the move to FBS for some time,
but they both appear to want to joinn a southeastern league and have been in a dialogue with the Sun-Belt.
They could very well make the move (together) to the SBC in a few years.
There may have been some sentiment for the Sun-Belt to go to 14 this past spring, but they decided to hold off, to "digest" all the new schools they just added.

Lots of rumors going around that the MAC might be adding Arkansas State.

Got a link?

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