UB Road Trips 2019: EMU and Ypsilanti

So earlier this summer I had a chance to drive to drive around the MAC footprint, and given where all our opponents are this year we added a little time to hit the area around all of UB’s road games this year.

And Im going to rank from worst to first UB’s road trip experience for fans this year. None of these are scientific, it’s just my opinion. I’d love to hear in the comments if you feel differently.

So, with that out of the way, lets start at the bottom:

#6, Eastern Michigan - Ypsilanti

EMU is a game I love on the schedule, but as a road trip it’s average score falls below nay other game.

Affordability 4/5:

Like most of the games on our schedule, single game tickets are not the hard part. EMU does, however charge for Parking so rather than a 5/5, they get dinged one point for extracting $5 from you for parking in their lots.

You’ll also have to pay tolls at the Border (if you go through Canada it’s $3-5 each way) or on the Ohio Turnpike (if you go through the US $3-$5 depending on your use of ezPass).

So overall, ignoring gas, you’re looking at $10 in travel and about $20 per person at the gate.

A very affordable game, and it’s only a 4 hour drive.

Atmosphere 1.5/5:

EMU has had one of the worst gameday atmospheres in the MAC for a long time, but they have over recent years, like Buffalo, started to strive to improve things.

While they don’t have a great tailgate concert series they have added food trucks, and some other amenities. But you can’t start tailgating until 3 hours before the game, that’s what keeps them from a two.

Tourism 1/5:

Unless you’re a fan of phallic water towers there is not a lot to do or see in Ypsi. When I go to “things to do” pages a “bounce house” place for kids hits the top 10.

Opponent 2/5:

I love the Ontario Sandwich trophy, I am in the minority. For most UB fans EMU is as generic a MAC opponent as possible. They are also not a powerhouse.

But they get a second star because as a program they have really improved in the past 5-6 years. EMU went from 1995 to 2015 without a single season where they have more wins than losses, and in that time they only got to .500 once.

Since 2015 EMU is 19-19 with two Bowl appearances. They are a respectable program going in the right direction.

Competitiveness 3/5

A three star game, to me, is a toss up. Both of these teams will be fighting for that 7th win this season so this game is huge! And it should be close.

Overall 2.3/5

EMU is in last place but dang if they were not really close to some of the other games. #5 on the list scored a 2.4

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So Thoughts? Where am I wrong and why should a UB fan make the trip?