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Re: Future AE membership? -- NU Hoop Fan, 20:45:16 04/28/03 Mon
Bentley has a committee and the Board of Trustees tabled a vote on moving to D-1 in 2002. The people I know there told me that they weren't going to move unless they knew a conference would accept them.... wake up and smell the coffee.
No way in hell would NU and BU allow Bentley in the back door to Boston and the AE.
As the one of people at Bentley I know told me, "they want to be D-1 without any concept of what it would cost to go D-1." Their Women's Hoop Team would probably be near the top of the AE right away, and their women's field hockey team would also be highly competitive, as it won the D-2 title a couple of years ago.
I can't think of anything else they'd be competitive in right away.
Mercyhurst and Gannon are both in Erie, PA and have toyed with the idea of a D-1 shot, but as Fogel told me when he got fired, "they want to be Harvard during the week and UNLV on the weekends" and won't sacrifice any admissions standards for athletes.
One thing to remember about Quinnipiac, they had something that a lot of schools don't have.. money.... For a small school, they had cash and access to cash (how, I have no idea).
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Re: Future AE membership? -- animal, 18:16:08 04/28/03 Mon
>You'll never get UMass and URI to leave the A-10, the
>A-10 will disintegrate around them if they don't watch
>it, however. Unless you're reading different
>Worcester papers than I am, I don't think HC is going
>anywhere any time soon. They love the Patriot League,
>and it fits all of their needs incredibly well. They
>gain absolutely nothing from joining the AE.
>
>Hofstra CAN'T go anywhere, and I don't think they will
>go anywhere, especially if NU joins the CAA. That $1
>million buyout wasn't put there as an afterthought, it
>was known they'd be unhappy, and was put in there to
>keep them and their football team with the CAA.
>
>I'll give you Buffalo, that's probably a decent bet to
>leave the MAC. The MAC isn't thrilled with them and I
>think the AE would be a better fit.
>
>I don't think Lowell is going anywhere with all of the
>budgetary problems going on with the Commonwealth of
>Massachusetts. They dropped football under the
>direction of Governor Romney, who is trying to
>streamline the UMass system.
>
>I can't see them playing games in Tsongas Arena on a
>regular basis for basketball, and while their on
>campus building isn't bad, I don't think it's D-1
>level (nor is Cabot Gym for that matter).
>
>The reason why their hoop team is so good is that the
>former coach there recruited a ton of 25 year old
>Israelis to play at Lowell. He left, was replaced by
>another guy with Israeli ties, and the NCAA Closed the
>loophole on age requirements for International
>Players. Under the new rules, these kids wouldn't
>have any NCAA eligibility left. Their baseball team
>is good and would probably be in the top half of the
>AE, but other than those sports, and sports where they
>get a bunch of international kids who are in their
>20s, I don't know how good of a fit they are.
>
>Lowell has a good academic program, but I'm not sure
>it's what the AE is looking for.
>
>Quinnipiac would be in before Lowell, I'd think, and
>Sacred Heart??? please...
NU Hoop Fan, remember Eyal Leib at all? That guy was like 35 when he graduated.
It seems like Lowell was rumored to go DI in 1999 (at the same time as Binghamton) but it never happened. Personally, other than their basketball gym (which looks like a floor was layed over a pool for those that have never been there), it seems like a good fit. Another local rival for the Boston schools and UNH.
I think they would almost be a lock for AE membership if they made the move. They do have an "in" in the conference office...
While we're on the subject, anyone heard about any other DII schools in NE looking to make the move? Seems like there are several NE-10 schools that are no worse than AE schools. Remember, Quinnipiac was a pretty sorry DII hoops program when they jumped, so if they could do it, there are a lot of schools that could.
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Re: Future AE membership? -- mainejeff, 13:56:40 04/29/03 Tue
>Obliviously no school in the A-10 would leave for the
>AE (unless the Bonnies are ever forced out). If Miami
>or VT (or anyone else) left the Big East, I don't know
>of an A-10 program that could fill its shoes (w/
>football), so I don't see any trickle down effect
>either by having an AE team jump to the A-10. The CAA
>and Patriot teams have no real reason to move either
>they are generally a stronger conference. Buffalo is
>not a great fit in the MAC, but with I-A football
>program, they might have the only chance at a possible
>Big East spot. Lots of discussion about DII schools
>looking to jump to DI, but wouldn't an established
>program increase the quality of the league rather than
>an UMASS-Lowell?
>
>UMass, URI, HC, and Hoftsra have no reason to leave
>their current conference and join the AE. Central and
>Sacred Heart are the only schools from “the list” that
>can bring a comparable football program to the league
>and CCSU has a much stronger athletic program than
>SHU. Quinn does have tons of cash, but I think they
>want to compete academically with smaller private
>institutions like Loyola in the MAAC, so they aren't a
>good fit at all.
>
>Clearly I’m pushing to have Central Connecticut join
>the AE as soon as possible. I think the AE offers a
>much better deal than the NEC can. It would
>reestablish some great regional rivalries for Central
>(especially with the other NE schools). CCSU has a
>strong athletic program that would be very competitive
>in all sports and our facilities compare with any
>existing AE program. While academics are not the
>strongest side to a CCSU bid, I think it is fair to
>group us with the SUNY additions in that regard. I
>still think Central remains the only realistic option
>for the AE and hope the league would pursue that
>option in the future.
JJ....With all due respect, football has no bearibng on the future endeavors of America East. That has been made painfully obvious over the last couple of years. As far as academics go, I could care less....unless you are an Ivy, it's all overrated to me. If a school operates within the rules set forth by the NCAA then who the hell cares.....honestly, some people take the academic comparisons so seriously it makes me laugh.....good and bad educations are offered at ANY school. It just sounds like snobbery and a crutch for weaker athletic programs to thump their chest about academics.
Anyway....CC does not offer AE anything special other than another footprint in Connecticut (which would be a good thing), but I'm afraid it's not enough to turn heads.
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Re: Future AE membership? -- UNH_Alum_In_CT, 15:03:38 04/29/03 Tue
>
>JJ....With all due respect, football has no bearibng
>on the future endeavors of America East. That has
>been made painfully obvious over the last couple of
>years. As far as academics go, I could care
>less....unless you are an Ivy, it's all overrated to
>me. If a school operates within the rules set forth
>by the NCAA then who the hell cares.....honestly, some
>people take the academic comparisons so seriously it
>makes me laugh.....good and bad educations are offered
>at ANY school. It just sounds like snobbery and a
>crutch for weaker athletic programs to thump their
>chest about academics.
>
Jeff, I agree with you that an excellent education can be obtained at virtually any university if one really takes advantage of the opportunity. But the presidents of the AE member schools obviously take these academic comparisons VERY seriously. Whether we like it or not, that is our reality.
And I think the issue with the AE schools is that they operate within a set of rules that is more stringent than what the NCAA sets forth. An institution operating at just the NCAA level of rules is deemed as having an advantage in recruiting.
Even the best of the AE athletic programs are probably "inferior" on the national measuring stick. And the vast majority of AE athletes are NOT going pro in their sports. So, IMHO I don't think academic prowess is snobbery as much as it is being pragmatic and not exploiting our athletes like we all know occurs at "big time" programs.
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Re: Future AE membership?-mainejeff -- Patch, 16:51:05 04/29/03 Tue
I do care about academics and I think many of the AE schools say one thing and do another. Hell with the avg. SAT as posted today - how many schools have athletes below the avg.(especially men's basketball), I believe many. It would be nice but impractical to have an athlete pool equal too the general pool so when you talk academics you're usually talking about the general student body not the athletes (especially the men).
>>Obliviously no school in the A-10 would leave for the
>>AE (unless the Bonnies are ever forced out). If Miami
>>or VT (or anyone else) left the Big East, I don't know
>>of an A-10 program that could fill its shoes (w/
>>football), so I don't see any trickle down effect
>>either by having an AE team jump to the A-10. The CAA
>>and Patriot teams have no real reason to move either
>>they are generally a stronger conference. Buffalo is
>>not a great fit in the MAC, but with I-A football
>>program, they might have the only chance at a possible
>>Big East spot. Lots of discussion about DII schools
>>looking to jump to DI, but wouldn't an established
>>program increase the quality of the league rather than
>>an UMASS-Lowell?
>>
>>UMass, URI, HC, and Hoftsra have no reason to leave
>>their current conference and join the AE. Central and
>>Sacred Heart are the only schools from “the list” that
>>can bring a comparable football program to the league
>>and CCSU has a much stronger athletic program than
>>SHU. Quinn does have tons of cash, but I think they
>>want to compete academically with smaller private
>>institutions like Loyola in the MAAC, so they aren't a
>>good fit at all.
>>
>>Clearly I’m pushing to have Central Connecticut join
>>the AE as soon as possible. I think the AE offers a
>>much better deal than the NEC can. It would
>>reestablish some great regional rivalries for Central
>>(especially with the other NE schools). CCSU has a
>>strong athletic program that would be very competitive
>>in all sports and our facilities compare with any
>>existing AE program. While academics are not the
>>strongest side to a CCSU bid, I think it is fair to
>>group us with the SUNY additions in that regard. I
>>still think Central remains the only realistic option
>>for the AE and hope the league would pursue that
>>option in the future.
>
>JJ....With all due respect, football has no bearibng
>on the future endeavors of America East. That has
>been made painfully obvious over the last couple of
>years. As far as academics go, I could care
>less....unless you are an Ivy, it's all overrated to
>me. If a school operates within the rules set forth
>by the NCAA then who the hell cares.....honestly, some
>people take the academic comparisons so seriously it
>makes me laugh.....good and bad educations are offered
>at ANY school. It just sounds like snobbery and a
>crutch for weaker athletic programs to thump their
>chest about academics.
>
>Anyway....CC does not offer AE anything special other
>than another footprint in Connecticut (which would be
>a good thing), but I'm afraid it's not enough to turn
>heads.
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