MACtion could be in danger, and that would be horrible for college football

Alright college football expansion, enough is enough.

You want to make the new Pac-12 after dark feature Memphis vs. Texas State? Sure, we can deal with that. You want us to count the days until the ACC is dissolved into the Big Ten/SEC? Sure, we can deal with that. But if you take away our MACtion, there will be consequences.

The latest story from The Spun's Andrew Holleran spells out the potential that another round of college football expansion could be the end for everyone's favorite mid-major conference. 

The MAC is already losing Northern Illinois to the Mountain West and with Ohio opening flirting with the Sun Belt, things are looking pretty bleak. One can hope that common sense will prevail and the decision makers at Ohio U will realize that the home of the Bobcats should be the MAC.

The MAC brings us back to simpler times

As college football has repeatedly shown itself to be about as stable as the wave action on the coast with a Category 5 hurricane approaching, the MAC has generally remained a constant for those of us that remember the way things used to be. 

In many ways, the MAC is the last of the Mohicans. With conference expansion going from coast-to-coast with no regard for the travel stress on student athletes or the regional identity, the MAC has stayed true to itself.

It's a conference that was built in the Rust Belt, in working-class cities like Toledo, Bowling Green and Kalamazoo. The league is made up of public universities mostly located in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. Even when the MAC expanded, it went to Buffalo - a tough, blue-collar city that identifies with the conference, 

Road trips aren't too difficult for the fans and while the rivalries might not mean much to fans outside the MAC, they mean something to the people there. When Toledo and Bowling Green play the Battle of I-75 it MEANS something to the people that make that 30-mile trek either way. When Central Michigan and Western Michigan play for the Victory Cannon, that's bragging rights for the people along that two-hour stretch between Kalamazoo and Mount Pleasant, Michigan. 

​And for years, the MAC has given us mid-week MACtion. Late in the season when the elements come into play. And the results have often been amazing.

​Expansion has taken so much away from us already. And we've cinched our teeth and accepted it. But if we lose MACtion, we will soon have to wonder if the soul of college sports is truly worth saving.