Being deep on the fringe of Mountain West Country, I've watched as they've created a narrative of being the top G5 conference using smoke and mirrors.

Utah State won't play at top 4 MW team until the final week of the season @ Boise. As they have amassed wins (only 2 vs teams .500 or better) and a quality loss (@ Michigan State) Utah State is #14 in the AP poll.

Fresno avoided a top 4 MW team until losing @ Boise this week. Prior to their loss, Fresno was #23 in the CFP poll.

San Diego State and Boise played in October. This hurt the conference as it prevented Boise from being ranked. SDSU was ranked as high as #27 before they went on to lose to Nevada and UNLV. SDSU was very over-rated (see needing OT to beat EMU at home, or beating SJSU by 3 at home), but their schedule and what looks like a fluke victory in Boise protected them.

Boise was crushed by Oklahoma State and lost to SDSU, then spent a month beating average MW teams before beating BYU at home, (NIU beat BYU in Provo) and Fresno at home. Boise got all three of the top MW teams at home this year, and the conference championship is played at the home field of the top ranked divisional winner. The MWC put this season on a platter for Boise, and they'd be top 15 if they didn't choke that game away to SDSU early.

By failing to schedule strategically, the MAC failed us, and it's not the first time:

Bad News:
MAC teams make up 11 of the 14 'left out' spots
3 Teams went 9-1 and were unranked by all 3, each was a MAC School:
'12 NIU (9 gm win streak)
'13 Ball State (7 gm win streak)
'15 Toledo 9-1 (2 gm win streak)
'12 Kent was 9-1 (8 gm win streak): 25 AP, NR Coaches, NR BCS

— Ohio has two o's but no rings 6-5 9-1 (@conradmostiller) November 5, 2018

This week's matchup should be:

UB @ Toledo
Ohio @ NIU

and next week:

UB @ Ohio
NIU @ Toledo

In this scenario you'd have

9-1 UB @ 7-3 Toledo and 7-3 Ohio @ 7-3 NIU

(Assuming UB beats BGSU, Toledo beats Kent and CMU, Ohio beats Akron, and NIU beats Miami and WMU)

Two clear marquee games that would get more attention nationally. I think if we had this setup, UB would be at least #25 this week and NIU would be receiving votes.

In the final week we'd have:

10-1 UB @ 7-4 Ohio
8-3 NIU @ 7-4 Toledo

Again, solid games to end the season, and if UB can beat Ohio, it sets up a possible ranked vs ranked MAC Championship.

Instead while other conferences were stacking up impressive big wins over the bottom of the conference, UB was scoring efficient small margin wins over the top half of the conference. Now as other conference are getting big time wins against the top of their conference we're blowing out the bottom of the conference, but optically it just looks like we're feasting on a bad conference.

MAC has to schedule better and their poor scheduling is repeatedly hurting the top MAC teams and our competitiveness in Bowl season. Maybe they need to schedule less with their hearts and more with their heads; did they REALLY think the Ohio Akron matchup at the end of the season was gonna be the big game of the season?

The MAC thinks Akron vs Ohio is gonna decide the MAC East pic.twitter.com/OmHC5I1NGL

— Ohio has two o's but no rings 6-5 9-1 (@conradmostiller) February 22, 2018

***

After the WVU basketball win, I went deep into the world of the AAC and their TV deal and possible expansion and an invite. The facts, we make 833k a year from our TV deal. If we had the chance to go to a conference that could make 8+ million per year in TV money, plays more in our geographic footprint and is multi-bid in Basketball, you do it. If you get an invite, you accept it.

But for the first time, I don't want to go to the AAC.

1) AAC is moving their headquarters from Providence, RI to Dallas, TX

Moving from Providence, RI to Dallas TX. The Conference wanted to be more centrally located, and wanted to be in a place where they had a team, so they would be more accessible to teams coming through the area. The place that fits the bill the best is Memphis, Tennessee. Providence is 17 hours from the center of the conference, Dallas is 10 hours away.

To me it's a sign of the league focusing on the south and the west, and that is not really a league we want to be part of.

2) UConn floundering

It's not a good sign that one of the marquee northeastern programs isn't being supported. UConn is rumored to be considering leaving the American for the Big East and playing football as an independent, dropping football down a level (Bucky's dream) or just dropping football.

3) The conference isn't stable

Outside of the possibility that UConn leaves, the rest of the conference is obsessed with being P6 and the premier teams in the conference are still looking to move to the big 12. The more I look at it, the more the conference doesn't make sense. We want Temple and UConn and games in Florida and Texas are always good for us. Tulsa, ECU, Wichita, Kansas, Navy (Army is enough), Memphis, Tulane and Cincy do nothing for us and our fan/alumni base.

4) Buffalo won't be welcome.

Temple will welcome Buffalo, everyone else will feel it's a step down, UB hasn't yet washed off the stink of our first 15 years of FBS play. Our facilities aren't up to par and maybe a move to the American would be the catalyst to get a new Stadium and Arena, however until that point, we'd get constant complaints about our facilities from our peers, which is exhausting and counter-productive to our mission of getting Buffalonians to focus on the good over the bad.

5) Wichita State

Thought they'd come into the American and run the Basketball league. They finished third, which is good, but not as fun as winning championships. They then went to the tournament and lost in the first round for the first time since 2012 (to Marshall) They are presumably getting 501k a year to play in the AAC while the full members get 1.67 million, so you question whether Wichita will get better (they don't have to spend any of that on football) while their peers are making more money.

The dream is to go to the American, sustain success and instead of going to Athens for the division, we could be in Orlando on college gameday for the division and the inside track to the NY6 bowl.

Or

We could be UConn. What Rutgers is to the B1G, UConn is to the American. Neither are better off than they were in the old Big East. A school in Texas will do whatever it takes to compete in sports, the Northeastern schools have other priorities.

OR

The alternative to the AAC, is taking control of a conference and holding it hostage. Boise cut a sweetheart deal to stay in the Mountain West. Gonzaga did the same with the WCC.

We have dominated half a decade of MAC Basketball. In football, we have never been able to sustain success, but we are trending that way (Past 15 years, 3 years at a time: 5 wins - 18 wins - 9 wins - 18 wins - 17 wins [and counting], based on the pattern this is the final year of our "down" period, and next year would start our "up" period). I could see Buffalo getting a good deal from the MAC, if we continue to dominate, namely a greater percentage of NCAA Basketball Tournament revenue and more revenue for our TV games.

So we aren't ranked, and we're not respected by the AAC. Who cares. We are 9-1 and we just beat #13 in Basketball on the road. For now, we should just keep winning, the rest will work itself out in the end.