Mid-American Conference (MAC) Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, the longest-tenured in collegiate athletics, held media availability Friday afternoon at the MAC Basketball Tournament.
Basketball scheduling issues
Steinbrecher aired out his issues with the modern-day reliance of advanced metrics when evaluating college basketball teams for postseason bids.
“We’ve allowed metrics to become the story as opposed to wins and losses … The metrics don’t work real well when you have a group of schools who goes out of their way not to schedule you, and that’s what’s occurring,” Steinbrecher said. “We have a number of schools that have trouble getting quality games, people aren’t willing to play them, and Miami is a prime example of that. They’re not the only one, and we’re not the only league with that problem. So, that’s the challenge.”
The commissioner pointed to the recent change from RPI to NET before the 2018-19 season as a “significant” development, that does not fully represent the depth of the MAC.
“I don’t think that fully articulates the strength and quality of this league,” Steinbrecher said.
Steinbrecher did not provide a clear answer to the current problems facing mid-major conferences and programs.
“It’s an every year thing. It depends in part in relationships, good fortune and leveraging certain things when given the opportunity to take advantage of it,” Steinbrecher said. “So, when we go into NCAA Tournament play, let’s have some success. You want to make a name for yourself? You want to prove the point? Go do it in the postseason. It’s easy to talk about, not easy to do, right?”
He did comment on the Miami (OH) situation, stating that he believes the RedHawks will get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament based on his conversations with members of the selection committee.
NCAA Tournament expansion
There have been recent conversations about expanding the NCAA Tournament to 72 or 76 teams from its current format of 68 teams, with some reports saying the change is expected by as soon as 2027.
Steinbrecher stated that the MAC has not taken an official stance on the possible change.
“I’ll give you a personal opinion. I’m not, right now, a huge fan of it, and a lot of it has to do with logistics. Just recently, the NCAA put out a memo on the challenges of travel we’re going to see the next week with teams moving around, and that’s for 68 teams we’re moving around,” Steinbrecher said. “Now, let’s add more teams to it, and where are you going to place the game? How are you going to get people there? These sorts of things.”
But the commissioner was open to expansion if more details were provided on plans that benefitted mid-major programs.
“I’m still not convinced that we need more teams there, but I’m not necessarily opposed to it, but I’m kind of lukewarm. I’m not sure it necessarily is going to favor the Mid-American Conference or other non-autonomy conferences,” Steinbrecher said. “So, if the purpose is so we can get a 17-15 autonomy conference team in there, that doesn’t excite me so much.”
Football schedule/possible conference expansion
Although the media availability took place at the conference’s basketball tournament, Steinbrecher commented on football and conference expansion.
The MAC has still not put out a schedule for next season due to the addition of Sacramento State to the conference as a football-only member.
But the commissioner stated the conference should have a schedule released “within the next week or so.”
“Working hard to give oxygen and hydration to my football scheduler right now, as they are going through a lot of runs,” Steinbrecher said.
Steinbrecher also left the door open for the possibility of more conference expansion but harped on it needing to be the right situation.
“Start with one, never say never. Two, we’re in a position, if you add, you add to make yourself better in some way, and you can define that a lot of ways,” Steinbrecher said. “Conferences are challenging, right? They’re interesting business models. You’ve got people whose livelihood depends on beating the daylights out of whoever’s sitting across the table from the boardroom. We’ve got to get everybody to row together to lift each other up. So, the more commonality you have, that helps, because differences can cause fissures at times. So, I think that’s been a strength for us. Who knows what the future holds.”
Pursuing NCAA Tournament opportunities
The commissioner also detailed the conference’s current push to secure more NCAA Tournament opportunities across numerous sports.
“I think they’re incredible professional development opportunities for our staff. I think they are incredible economic engines for the community you’re in,” Steinbrecher said. “We’re in the early stages of another bid cycle. I’m hoping we can get basketball back here. I’m hoping we get wrestling back here. We’re doing women’s bowling in April. Not quite as high-profile, but again, it’s another fun event and it gets people to Cleveland, and we enjoy doing that. There are some upsides from a revenue perspective, which is positive, and again, it brings people to our community.”
Steinbrecher believes Cleveland, where the MAC headquarters is located, is appealing for large events for numerous reasons.
“I think we have a unique campus in that so many people can stay downtown and park your car. You’re at a hotel, you can walk to the arena, get to the bars, restaurants and all those things,” Steinbrecher said. “I think it’s one of the best setups anywhere in the country.”
