While I agree that any sort of rivalry with some of the other MAC West teams is contrived (in their eyes any sort of rivalry with us is contrived) it does matter. These are the constants every year, the other seven rotate, but those five don't. EMU is 40-98 against the West since it's creation back in 1997, has never won more than three divisional games in one year (a feat that's only happened five times: 97, 04, 07, 18, 22). Furthermore, there are only two streaks of multi-win divisional seasons, one from 1997-2000, and one from 2018-22. I suppose one could look at the silver lining that Creighton has won half of EMU's wins against the MAC East. Also, I just looked this up, apparently since Creighton arrived the West has won 7 of 9 Conference titles (probably 8 of 10 in a couple weeks), so that might explain something too. The progress that has been made in Ypsi over the past 10 years is something worth celebrating for sure. But the fact of the matter is that the team's divisional performance is lagging behind the rest, and it makes everything else feel kinda hollow.
Good grief! Qualify for a bowl game! Is it really worth it? The Eagles have already been beaten by CMU, WMU, Toledo, NIU; a drubbing by Jacksonville, barely winning the Mass. game. This year they should stay home and take some time to think.
While I agree that any sort of rivalry with some of the other MAC West teams is contrived (in their eyes any sort of rivalry with us is contrived) it does matter. These are the constants every year, the other seven rotate, but those five don't. EMU is 40-98 against the West since it's creation back in 1997, has never won more than three divisional games in one year (a feat that's only happened five times: 97, 04, 07, 18, 22). Furthermore, there are only two streaks of multi-win divisional seasons, one from 1997-2000, and one from 2018-22. I suppose one could look at the silver lining that Creighton has won half of EMU's wins against the MAC East. Also, I just looked this up, apparently since Creighton arrived the West has won 7 of 9 Conference titles (probably 8 of 10 in a couple weeks), so that might explain something too. The progress that has been made in Ypsi over the past 10 years is something worth celebrating for sure. But the fact of the matter is that the team's divisional performance is lagging behind the rest, and it makes everything else feel kinda hollow.
Good grief! Qualify for a bowl game! Is it really worth it? The Eagles have already been beaten by CMU, WMU, Toledo, NIU; a drubbing by Jacksonville, barely winning the Mass. game. This year they should stay home and take some time to think.