Like many coaches across the country, MAC football is set to feel a financial pinch brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Toledo Blade was the first to report that the MAC will implement league-wide cost-saving measures for its football programs. The moves will be in effect for the 2020 college football season. According to the newspaper, those measures include:
- End the practice of MAC home teams staying in hotels the night before football games.
- Reduce the travel rosters for road games from the current 76 to 70.
Those are a couple of the handful of cost-saving moves the conference and its members have made of late.
It had previously been confirmed that Akron was eliminating men’s cross country, men’s golf and women’s tennis. Just Friday, Bowling Green announced it was eliminating its baseball program, effective immediately.
Additionally, the MAC announced Tuesday it would be ending postseason tournaments for eight non-revenue sports beginning with the 2020-21 school year. Those changes will last at least five years.
There will be no MAC tournament for men’s or women’s soccer, baseball, softball, men’s or women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse, and women’s field hockey. The recipient of the conference’s NCAA tournament bid in those eight sports will be determined by the regular season.
Thus far, two MAC schools have implemented pay cuts for their head football coaches. Those are Northern Illinois (HERE) and Western Michigan (HERE). Those aren’t expected to be the last.