MAC officials are not worried about the loss of Marshall and Central Florida to Conference USA next season.

Marshall signed a membership agreement with C-USA last October after being in the MAC since 1997. Since joining the MAC, Marshall has won five football championships and five of six bowl games.

CFU has been in the MAC since 2002 and is a football-only member.

“This conference went on a long time without either one of them,” NIU football coach Joe Novak said. “It’ll be just fine without them. UCF has come in the league and hasn’t done a darn thing. Marshall has upped the bar, but this is a pretty good league without either one of them.”

C-USA will lose Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida to the Big East Conference in 2005-2006.

With the loss of UCF and Marshall, the MAC will be left with 12 teams.

“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency to replace them, but at the same time, there has to be an awareness of what the future of intercollegiate athletics may bring,” said Gary Richter, assistant director for MAC media relations. “If you look at the core of the MAC, the teams that have been in here for a long time and will continue to keep this a competitive league.”

Richter said there were no particular schools mentioned, but that it will be brought up in future meetings.

“It’s pretty fluid right now, and they’re looking at a lot of things,” NIU Athletic Director Jim Phillips said. “They want to be diligent about it, but nothing is set in stone.”

Phillips said he thought one major reason for the move was location with Marshall in West Virginia and UCF being closer to C-USA teams.

“To be in a conference with South Florida and other close-by schools it is just better for them,” Phillips said.

The move to C-USA will be a step down for football, Novak said.

“Personally, I don’t think Conference USA is as good as the MAC,” Novak said. “Conference USA has more bowl opportunities and the national image is that Conference USA is a better league, but I think that’s because of basketball.”

The MAC is 6-0 against the C-USA in bowl games since 1998.