Remember When The MAC Was Good At Basketball?

No matter what you do, the big conferences simply will not let you compete. From making it damn near impossible to get an at large bid into a Bowl game to squeezing out the MAC from the week night broadcasts.

4 or 5 years ago (maybe even 3), you could count on seeing the MAC on one of those late weekday espn games. Now, were relegated to espnu or espn3 because espn has decided that Colorado or Kansas or Connecticut or North Carolina or some other Big East, Big 12, or ACC 5th place team needs exposure.

The MAC whored itself out for the national spotlight and now, even though we’re still playing those games, we’re not getting the national spotlight any more.

Then you have to look at the neutral site “home” games. NIU can’t play a Big Ten team in DeKalb anymore. They all have to either be played as a psuedo home game at Soldier Field, in the Big Ten stadium, or not at all. This hurts NIU because anytime we play Iowa, or Illinois, or Wisconsin or whoever at Soldier Field, there’s alway 30,000 (insert Big Ten team) fans in attendance. Sure, the home team on the scoreboard is NIU, but there’s no home field advantage.

Seriously, thank God for Iowa State. At least they’ll come to DeKalb once every 5 years or so. They don’t seem to care.

This year, the NIU non-conference schedule has road games against Iowa State, Illinois, and Minnesota with their one home non-conf game being North Dakota.

Next year? Road games: Kansas. Home: Army (good for them) and Wisconsin (in Soldier Field)

2012: Road: Army (the old home and home). Home: Iowa (@ Soldier Field), Tennessee-Martin, Kansas (returning the favor).

2013: Road: Iowa, Purdue. Home?? Nothing yet.

2014: Road: Wake Forest. Home? Nothing yet.

2015: Road: Ohio State. Home??

2018: Road: Iowa State (I’m assuming this will be accompanied by a home game a few years later.

Not one Big Ten team will travel here. Not one. Iowa State, Kansas and Army are the only ones and thats as part of a home and home series. I know NIU would gladly do the home and homes more often, but the Big Ten schools aren’t interested. And they know they have the MAC over a barrell because if the MAC wants to play them (and they really do), then it has to be on their terms. It’s either play at Soldier Field or Ford Field or wherever, or go find a Big 12 or an Independant team to play you that doesn’t mean nearly as much to your fans.

At least in basketball, the small schools/small conferences have a chance to compete. The power of the major football conferences just won’t allow it and no one even cares to address it.

A very nice analysis of the issue of basketball in the MAC. It is sad to see MAC basketball relegated to second fiddle, but football brings in more money and exposure.

During the 2006-07 season, the MAC won 6 of 8 games against Summit League teams. Since then, the conferences have split the games, 8 for SL and 8 for MAC. I think that too is another indication that the league has gone down in basketball. As a fan of the SL, I’d love to attribute that to our league getting better (which it has), but most would consider MAC to be higher up on the hoops conference hierarchy, yet in the last three seasons that hasn’t really held up, and I think the balance could shift to SL this year.

we beat Georgetown THIS YEAR. THIS CALENDAR YEAR we knocked off a #3 seed Georgetown featuring NBA players in their starting lineup. And ESPN forgets us?

then again, last time they remembered us it was 2006 and we were ESPN’s IT TEAM and it led to the season that should have been a reality series that would have made Hard Knocks look like The Bozo Show.