Looks like YSU will have to go outside the B1G when scheduling a money game..

[GoGuins]

B1G going to a 9 or 10 conference schedule in a couple years when Maryland & Rutgers join.  No more FCS teams on B1G team schedules
http://tracking.si.com/2013/02/13/big-ten-to-no-longer-schedule-fcs-opponents/?sct=hp_t2_a4&eref=sihp

[IAA Fan]

Most important thing in that article is the quote from Alvarez.

“The nonconference schedule in our league is ridiculous,” Alvarez said on radio station WIBA-AM. “It’s not very appealing…So we’ve made an agreement that our future games will all be Division I schools. It will not be FCS schools.”

Even the coaches and AD's do not know us as DI. Our division needs to go back to Division I-AA. Our teams should never be playing at the IA level.

[ysuindy]

Lots of discussion this morning that the change will be effective with 2014 - I believe YSU has a game scheduled with Illinois. 

Overall this is problematic for the budget at YSU - I suspect the Athletic Department has become very dependent on these paydays.  If the Big Ten, with many of the largest stadiums and attendance around, will not schedule FCS teams, then more FCS teams will be left trying to get games with FBS teams that draw less and will be able to drive harder bargains for return games.

In addition, it would seem YSU will be left with only Pitt and WVU as teams that are a bus ride away that could offer a decent payday.

[ysuindy]

Dana Balash tweeted an Illinois spokesman said the 2014 YSU game would be played due to having a signed contract.

[guinpen]

If we are dependent on this money we may have to play 2 money games which is one less home game.

The mac could benefit.

[goodnews]

I dont think that this should come as a shock to anyway and certainly not the Athletic Department.  As the premier conferences began to expand I think the writing was on the wall.  I hope the athletic department has the vision and is proactive and expands its mens basketball scheduling.  There are so many accessible Big 10, ACC/Big East, A10 and a few SEC schools to make a pay check for a road basketball game.  With the 12th game in football this year I think if the right opportunity came along to schedule another big money game (even if you have to buy out someone) that it should seriously be considered.  I know many will disagree as it will seriously effect our chances of making the playoffs but thats why the AD gets paid to make those decisions.

[GuinsAndNoles]

I think this means less MAC vs. B1G as well (won't be completely eliminated, but less). It would be nice to use this as an opportunity to renew some old MAC rivalries. I'm not confident the MAC will relax it's stance on 1-aa road games, but a 2-for-1 seems reasonable. A consistent series with both Kent St. and Akron might help offset the lack of B1G games, and would certainly be more fun.

[IAA Fan]

If the MAC wants only home games, they had better be prepared to pay out like a BCS conference. I think the university does have the for site in more than just basketball. We are not building new facilities to satisfy a league we are already a member of.

[guinpen]

If the MAC wants only home games, they had better be prepared to pay out like a BCS conference. I think the university does have the for site in more than just basketball. We are not building new facilities to satisfy a league we are already a member of.

So you think we are planning to move to 1A

[IAA Fan]

Well:

We hosted the MAC softball championships twice. They hosted our Track & Field twice. We do not need a soccer field, and they stopped calling it a women's soccer field ...which tells me that our move would be to a conference known for soccer, and that we are going to have a men's program. We keep up the rent on a baseball filed that is much more expensive than Cene, and make quite a commitment to the program in terms of recruiting and new staff. So do the names of Akron and Kent come to mind? Granted they are local universities, so this could be way out of line.

[Wick250]

When will this MAC obsession ever end?  Here are the facts:

First, McCune park never hosted the MAC (college) softball championships.  You are confusing those letters with a old local high school conference.  McCune is a boys' little league field, and it is embarrassing that we have been forced to use it.  Our new facility will do wonders for our recruiting.

Second, our new soccer field is for our women's team, intramurals, and available for rent to local high schools.  We will never start a men's team.  Do the math.  20 new men's scholarships plus Title IX equals 40 additional athletic scholarships.

The Horizon League did rent the Kent indoor facility for the league championships.  Until the construction of the WATTS, the league HAD to rent an indoor facility somewhere because nobody had one.  Now the indoor championship will be staged, at a fraction of the old cost, in the WATTS every year (or until another school in the league gets a facility.)

Baseball rents Eastwood field specifically for recruiting purposes.  Nothing more.

Finally, each MAC school spends two, three, four times more on sports than we do.  What is their return for that investment?  They are a one-bid basketball league; so is the Horizon.  They send football teams to the famous Clorox Toilet Bowl and lesser attractions; the MVFC sends multiple teams to a national playoff.  No thank you.

[dwj]

The MAC is settling for mediocracy.  Is our long term goal to become another Kent or Akron.  Are we ready for mid week night football games and no hope of ever making the playoffs.  The best we could hope for would be some meaningless bowl game.

It sounds like we are admitting that we can never return to being a top FCS team. 

[IAA Fan]

I have never been one to obsess over going IA/FBS in football. However, this is why I have been applauding Strollo. Clearly he has an agenda, and he is getting us there. Maybe it is not in the agenda to make a move move, but we are certainly making ourselves more attractive to a number of conferences. Football will always rule at YSU (I have no complaints), but basketball determines conferences ...always has until now.

With the changes in conferences, it is my opinion that the future in collegiate athletics is going to jump beyond football and basketball; at least for the short-term. Title-IX has so-changed the landscape that women's programs are becoming a focus of many institutions. This is especially true on the coasts. Soccer has truly become a focus (unfortunately in my opinion), but it does offer YSU a chance to dominate. Not that I dislike soccer, I just cannot see why the American family cast off little-league so easily (blame the MLB). The desire to compete is almost non-existent outside of the mid-west.

The MAC is one of only a few balance athletic conferences anymore. Their success has grown dramatically, and it is far from a step-down. Beside who would not want another couple of teams on the schedule that we can go tailgate at? WHo would not want to continue playing Big-10 football teams? As to admitting we are not a football power?

A stroll through the Mosure HOGG tells a different story. As to a meaningless bowl game. Is it really any more meaningless than an NCAA play-in game, or an NIT first-round game? It is all about the ca$h.

[GuinsAndNoles]

I would not like exchanging playoff runs for the Little Caesars Bowl or worse, but it would make the regular season more fun to play against teams like Akron, Kent St., and even Bowling Green, Miami, and Ohio. Granted, I'd rather play them on Saturdays ...

[GuinsAndNoles]

My bigger worry is that BCS will sort of break away and the mid-majors will effectively become the new 1-aa, possibly even with their own playoff and champion. I wouldn't bet on it, but any change scares me just a bit -- especially with so many traditional 1-aa powers trying to go 1-a.