Rutgers and Maryland heavily rely on the prestige of the Big Ten and are very fortunate to get in because based on that last expansion with UCLA and USC they probably wouldn't get in today with the super league mindset.
SEC is trying to do the same thing I've heard by carving up the ACC, which might not be a bad place for Ohio to look if there are a lot of holes to fill. UC of course has made its future with the Big 12 and are sort of stuck.
After we expand Peden to 38,000, I think we'd almost be a lock for the ACC.
A lock for the biggest stadium in the MAC to go along with the conference leading Convo.
But I do note the ACC has a reloading problem particularly if they lose 6-8 members to the SEC/B1G by 2030 as speculated. There are very few FBS R1s which are in a Top 50 media market within their footprint. Media market size listed in parentheses.
Temple (Philadelphia #5)
Georgia State (Atlanta #7)
South Florida (Tampa-St. Petersburg #13)
Florida International (Miami-Ft.Lauderdale #18)
Kent State (Cleveland-Akron #19)
Connecticut (Hartford & New Haven #32)
Ohio (Columbus #33)
UAB (Birmingham #45)
They just don't have that many places to go for expansion teams and some of these selections are in markets they already have. Temple, UConn and USF are the most obvious fits. Additionally the ACC could add Big East basketball teams to keep the Northeast schools happy. That would provide openings in the Big East.
I know there are a segment of MAC fans wanting the AAC but it looks destined to be reduced to another version of CUSA at some point.
Most Memorable Bobcat Events Attended
2010 97-83 win over Georgetown in NCAA 1st round
2012 45-13 victory over ULM in the Independence Bowl
2015 34-3 drubbing of Fiami @ Peden with 25,086 fans
2023 10-7 near shutout of Iowa State @ Solich Field
2025 17-10 defeat of WVU @ Peden in front of 26,740