The Pregame Meal: Stony Brook - Breakfast

The Case For Stony Brook In the MAC

The Hustle Belt needs 14 teams.

1) BGSU/Toledo split is unfair to BGSU and Toledo and splitting rivals makes me sad.

2) UB never gets Akron

3) Odd numbers are evil

The 14th team should be in the East

1) UMass is so alone

2) Buffalo hates all of you MAC teams, and not that good I care about you hate

3) Technically a western team could push Toledo east, uniting all the Ohio teams, but I'm not from Ohio so I care not about that.

NY + TV Deal = $$$

1) Between Long Island and Buffalo, the MAC would own the NYC market

2) ???

3) Profit

The new MAC looks like

West

NIU - Ball St

Toledo - BGSU

CMU-EMU-WMU

East

UB-UMass-SB

Akron-Kent

Ohio-Miami

Trophies ya'll

1) The Powderhorn (UMass)

2) The Ontario Sandwich (EMU)

3) The Gill-Solich Nebrasa Trophy (Ohio)

4) The Erie Canal Trophy(UB-UMass-SB)

5) The SUNY Thomas E. Dewey Trophy (UB-SB)

Basketball

1) Stony Brook actually pretty good in basketball.

2) With UMass as full member, the MAC East would be a dominant basketball division

3) Pipelines into the Massachusetts and NY/LI recruiting zones

If Stony Brook joined the MAC East, they would be picked to finish fourth this year just behind big brother, the Buffalo Bulls. Saturday is SB's chance to show they'd do even better. They can say they are happy in FCS and that they love the CAA, but it has to sting knowing that they played UB, only to go back to their obscure FCS world, while UB plays primetime MAC games on ESPN.

When to play?

Rivals finish the year with each other, because even if there is nothing to play for, you play for pride. I can't say i've ever been to Stony Brook, neither have I ever met a Stony Brook alum, so I can't say UB-SB is a rivalry as of today. However if SB made the leap to the MAC and we played every year, I bet a bunch of shy SB grads would pop out and laugh in my face...a rivalry is born once both teams lose...here's to hopefully a one-sided Blue and White dominated rivalry.

The Buffalo-Stony Brook rivalry is built for the final game of the year, Thanksgiving. Stony Brook at Buffalo at the Ralph on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I call it "The World's Largest Outdoor Subzero Homecoming Cocktail Party" when one of the nation's largest and most loyal cities that cannot retain their own population invites all its former residents to enjoy family, eat, drink and party in the cold of a Buffalo November.

The following year, Buffalo at Stony Brook, Friday after Thanksgiving Black Friday Classic at Citi Field. We don't need to go to New Jersey, we don't need to go to the Bronx, Queens is still ON the Island. After Thanksgiving dinner, Buffalonians can make the trip down to New York City on Friday, shop, tailgate and watch their Bulls take on the Big Bad Wet Wolves of the Island, while SBers complaining about a game off campus, will still be a short most LIRR ride to the game.

In my mind it's not IF SB should be the 14th member of the MAC, it's WHEN. The when should also be now.