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It was the news of the last few weeks when the Mid-American Conference announced that the roster of participating members would be expanding in the 2018-2019 academic season with the addition of Southern Illinois Edwardsville as an affiliate member in wrestling and men’s soccer.
Both of those sports are somewhat different than other MAC sports in that the full conference membership does not field an NCAA squad. This results in an odd amalgamation of membership that isn’t what you’re used to if you only follow the major revenue entities from the MAC.
Per the Mid-American Conference release on the issue:
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) has announced the immediate addition of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as an affiliate member in men’s soccer for the 2017 season.
Friday, June 2nd, the MAC had announced SIU Edwardsville (SIUE) as an affiliate member in men’s soccer and wrestling originally anticipated for the 2018-19 academic season. However, the opportunity arose to include SIUE within the MAC’s 2017 men’s soccer schedule immediately.
With the addition of SIUE, the Conference will consist of six men’s soccer programs – four from full MAC membership (Akron, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan) and two affiliate members (SIUE and West Virginia).
SIUE is filling the spot vacated by Buffalo, who announced the closure of their men’s soccer program at the conclusion of the 2017 season. By bringing SIUE on, the number of participating programs remains the same for next year. Men’s soccer is tough to find at the MAC level of schools, so its good to see that the sub of SIUE for Buffalo keeps the train rolling.