Category Archives: Mid-American Conference

Bowling Green Advances to NCR Nationals Semifinal with 29-18 Home Win Over Clemson

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Nico La Bianca, photo taken by Roger Mazzarella

By Fitzpatrick Metzger

Fitzpatrick Metzger is from Lakewood, Ohio, and is a graduate student at BGSU completing a masters in Sport Administration. He has a passion for soccer, rugby and sport analytics. In his free time, he is on the BG Rugby team as a player, club secretary, and SID.

December 3, 2024

Falcons set to face Virginia Tech in NCR Nationals Semifinals

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green Men’s Rugby Team (11-1, 6-0 MAC, 1-0 Nationals) beat Clemson (4-3, 2-0 SCRC East) in a 29-18 victory in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) National Semifinal. BG now faces Virginia Tech (8-0-1, 4-0-1 MARC) in Reading, Pennsylvania in the semifinals for the NCR Nationals Tournament on December 7th, at 3 pm, at Penn State’s Berks Stadium.

“A hard fought game. WE did a really good job of dominating the first ten-fifteen minutes and put them under pressure. We let them off the hook a little bit by some missed kicks, putting ourselves back under pressure and really just had to ride that out,” said Head Coach Tony Mazzarella. “Eventually we got ahead of them and held on to it. It just ended up being our day.”

Going into the match Clemson was unknown. BG knew the Tigers could hold their own against tough competition, as shown in their 8-7 SCRC final loss to the reigning D1-AA NCR Champions Kentucky. Bowling Green came out strong and got a grip on the game. The change in field locations due to the week’s weather proved to be an important decision in eliminating some of the environmental conditions. Ultimately, the Falcons held their own and downed the Tigers with the help of vice-captain and 8-Man Phil Tracey who had three tries for a hat-trick.

“I think the boys have been playing very well this whole season, especially through this postseason. I’ve really just tried to play my part and give the boys big carries to play off,” said vice-captain Phil Tracey. “As for the scoring aspect I’ve just been blessed by my team and the Lord to have the opportunities to put the ball in the try zone and I’ve done my best to capitalize on those opportunities.”

The Falcons kicked off to start the MAC Final. Once again, a beautiful kick from Captain Joey Apel allowed the Falcons to reclaim the ball instantly. The Falcons went on the attack, working all the way into Clemson 22 (i.e., the equivalent of the ‘red zone’). Although the Falcons didn’t score on the opening drive, they dominated the open 15 minutes of the game putting pressure on the Tigers. Vice-captain and 8-Man Phil Tracey broke the stalemate and gave the Falcons their first lead. Clemson soon drove down the field to score and convert for their first lead of the game. Phil would again give the Falcons the lead with his second try and Joey Apel converted. Clemson punched one back before halftime. In the second half, Clemson took the lead with a penalty kick. Phil scores again, completing his hat-trick and sparking a 17-point unanswered run by the Falcons. Prop Evan Holderer scored off a powerful run and Joey Apel converted his second of the game. Nico LaBianca scored his first of the match making it 29-13 going into the final minutes of the game. Clemson ended the Falcon’s 17 point scoring run with a try; however, it wasn’t enough to win the match. Overall, the Falcons played a solid match, doing well to manage Clemson’s kicking game. BG was able to advance through the NCR National Tournament Semifinal with a 29-18 win.

NOTABLES

  • Phil Tracey scores his seventh try in postseason: 3x Clemson (NCR Quarterfinal), 2x Cincinnati (MAC Semifinal) and Louisville (MAC Final)
  • Falcons return to the National semifinal

Bowling Green (11-1, 6-0 MAC) will continue into the post-season following the 29-18 win over Clemson with the semifinal of the NCR 15s National Tournament. The Falcons will face the 2021 and 2022 NCR National Champions and 2024 Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference Champions Virginia Tech (8-0-1 Overall, 4-0-1 MARC) on Saturday, December 7th at 3 pm at Penn State’s Berks Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1st XV

Bowling Green 29, Clemson18

  • Kickoff
  • 8-Man Phil Tracey opens the scoring (5-0)
  • Clemson scores and converts (5-7)
  • Tracey regains the Falcon’s lead with his second try (10-5)
  • Captain Joey Apel converts (12-5)
  • Clemson scores (12-10)
  • Halftime: (12-10)
  • Clemson scores a penalty kick (12-13)
  • Clemson misses a penalty kick (12-13)
  • Vice-captain Tracey scores his third of the game (17-13)
  • Prop Evan Holderer scores (22-13)
  • Captain Joey Apel converts his second (24-13)
  • Nico LaBianca scores (29-13)
  • Clemson score (29-18)
  • Final Score: 29-18

The M.A.C: A Conference Fighting Against the Odds

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The M.A.C Logo

By: Sam Morris

Sam Morris is from Madison Heights, Michigan, and is an undergraduate student at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. He has a passion for sports writing and journalism. In his free time, he also performs, writes, and produces his own rap music.

November 9, 2024

The culture of the 2020’s NCAA has been dominated by the creation and use of the transfer portal, million-dollar N.I.L deals, and conference realignment, and it is hurting the M.A.C’s ability to compete…..or is it?

NCAA Transfer Portal

The first element of the 2020’s NCAA is the transfer portal, which allows college athletes to choose wherever they want to go in the NCAA if they don’t like or want to be at the first school they picked. This has affected every team and every conference in the NCAA, as THOUSANDS of athletes a year enter the portal, including an all-time high of 20,911 athletes in 2022, and that’s just in Division 1!

The transfer portal has created “super-teams” within the Power 4 conferences but has left smaller conferences, like the M.A.C, constantly searching for players. Although MAC schools occasionally get Power 4 players in the portal, such as Bowling Green landing former Arizona State shooting guard Braelon Green, it is ultimately a much rarer feat than if the school was in a Power-4 conference to start.

Braelon Green (left) blocking a Utah player’s shot while on Arizona State

What often happens instead is M.A.C schools pick up other mid-tier conference players or Division 2/JUCO players in the portal who are looking for a better opportunity, which makes the program weaker overall while increasing the talent level of top-tier programs. This creates a constantly growing talent gap between the mid-tier conferences like the M.A.C and the Power 4 conferences.

N.I.L Deals

Huge N.I.L deals are also dominating the sphere of college athletics, with some athletes, such as Duke basketball’s standout forward, Cooper Flagg, getting an estimated 2.6 million dollars in N.I.L money this year. Whereas, the top 5 N.I.L deals given to M.A.C school, Ball State’s basketball team combined with the top 5 N.I.L deals given to Ball State’s football team, didn’t even hit the million mark. This is a huge problem in recruiting for M.A.C schools because they are at a disadvantage with how much money they can spend on athletics compared to the bigger schools.

Cooper Flagg dribbling up the court

Conference Realignment

On top of the N.I.L and transfer portal creating talent gaps in college athletics, there is a physical gap occurring with conference realignment. This is perhaps the biggest current threat to the M.A.C as they could easily see their conference get torn apart like Conference USA, the American, or even the Power 4 ACC. What would be even worse is if the M.A.C eventually disbands with all of their schools going elsewhere. If it happened to the once powerful PAC-12, why couldn’t it happen to the M.A.C, one of the smallest and weakest financial conferences in America.

Map of conference realignment

M.A.C Football Fighting Back

With all of this being said, the M.A.C is refusing to give up. In fact, they are thriving in many ways. They are currently the ONLY Division 1 conference to not significantly alter the teams in their conference. So far, they have not lost a single team to another conference and have in fact added former FBS-Independent UMASS to their conference starting in the 2025-2026 season. This silver lining should give the M.A.C hope that they can in fact compete with other conferences going forward.

Northern Illinois coach, Thomas Hammock, crying tears of joy after beating #10 ranked Notre Dame

As for the talent gap that continues to grow, this may just be a phenomenon that makes sense on paper but isn’t true in real life. Despite the transfer portal and N.I.L deals making M.A.C teams theoretically weaker, it sure hasn’t seemed like this is the case in the 2024-2025 football season. Northern Illinois, that was picked to finish tied for 3rd in the M.A.C, beat #10 Notre Dame in South Bend in week 2 of the season. This made national headlines and eventually ended up with Northern Illinois ranked in the top 25 for a few weeks. Bowling Green State University (currently tied with Ohio, Miami (OH), and Western Michigan for first place in the M.A.C.), took #8 Penn State and #24 Texas A&M down to the wire, losing both games by only one score, and leading most of both contests as well.

Pros from the M.A.C

Maybe the most important evidence that the M.A.C is not close to being finished is that with all of the disadvantages that they seem to face, they are still producing high-quality professional players and graduates in a multitude of sports.

Raiders DE, Maxx Crosby, grimacing

In the NFL, Eastern Michigan alumni, Maxx Crosby, defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders, is a 3-time Pro Bowler and 2-time All-Pro. In 6 years with the silver and black, he has 222 tackles, 99 tfl’s, and 58.5 sacks. His also consistently ranked in the NFL’s top 100 list, reaching a peak of #10 in 2023.

Yankees INF/OF, Jon Berti, making a throw from third base

In the MLB, Bowling Green alumni, Jon Berti, a versatile utilityman, went to the 2024 World Series with the New York Yankees. He also held the stolen base crown with the Miami Marlins in 2022 by stealing 41 bags. He did so in 102 games, the fewest games a stolen base leader has had in MLB History!

Pacers forward/center, Enrique Freeman (far right), celebrating after a play

In the NBA, Ryan Rollins (Toledo) is a third-string guard for the Milwaukee Bucks, Richaun Holmes (Bowling Green) is a 10-year NBA veteran and third-string center for the Washington Wizards, and Enrique Freeman (Akron) is a backup rookie forward/center for the Indiana Pacers.

Overall, I believe the M.A.C will continue to fight against the transfer portal and N.I.L phenomenon’s if they stick together and don’t abandon the conference in realignment. The widespread success of M.A.C football this year and of M.A.C players in pro sports is also a good sign that the M.A.C will continue to fight against the odds and hopefully stay strong together.