By Nate Murphy (bigmurph23)
A lot has changed since I joined the league back in Season 10. Players, ADs, teams, and even entire conferences have come and gone. One of those conferences that I speak of has made its triumphant return here in Season 16. Of course, I am speaking of the MAC. And back in Season 10 when I joined the league I also joined both the broadcast and content teams where I have been fortunate enough to have found success in both. Some of you that have been here as long or longer than I have may remember my very first article…okay, you probably don’t and that’s okay. You can find it on page 23 of the content page. Yes, I shamelessly went and found it just so I could remind you where it is. (You can find this article here).
In this article, I played devil’s advocate for the MAC to be in the playoffs. At the time the MAC wasn’t even little brother. They were more like the cousin you had to invite to your birthday party because mom gave you the “they’re family” line. But in Season 10 the Ohio Bobcats gave you a reason to think they belonged. They opened the season with a road victory against the Florida Gators, a game in which they never trailed. In Week Two they went on the road again and nearly upset Ohio State, losing 40-35. They went on to eventually win the MAC and were ranked higher than some of the Power 3 schools at the time.
Okay, I know you are asking, ‘What does that have to do with now? This was six seasons and two years ago.’ Well, let me tell you. In the article, I also advocated for adding another conference to compete with the MAC. Maybe a Sun Belt or C-USA type conference. Give the smaller “less talented” teams a chance to have a playoff of their own. Did the CFSL listen? Well, no of course not. I was a nobody in the league and an expansion like that would have been far too much. But six seasons later here we are. The MAC will get its chance.
Did the powers that be go back and read my article and decide this was finally the right time to give the MAC a chance at a CFSL championship? I’m sure no one has read it since Season 10. But the controversy, which was the main topic of my article then, surrounding who was left out of the playoffs has forced a change. Every team will now make the playoffs including the MAC. We all know they will be seeded 21-26 and placed in the tournament bracket.
So, after all of these seasons, all these years, we will finally get to see if the MAC can hang in the playoffs with the big boys. The most ironic thing about this is who is leading the charge in the MAC once again. The Ohio Bobcats are sitting atop the MAC standings. They have a HUGE matchup against Bowling Green on the road tonight. Along with Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green was one of the favorites going into the season to win the MAC. So this week’s game will be very important.
Will any team from the MAC win a game in the tournament? Only time can answer that question. But one thing I have come to find out since writing my very first article for the CFSL, the more something changes the more they stay the same.
