oldvmter

source?

UNHFan

A high ranking UNH official!

oldvmter

then not from the pl.

UNHFan

My source is 100% accurate! UNH was offered an invite for all sports to the Patriot League and said no thank you. They then got SBU and Albany into the CAA for football and are very happy in the Aeast!

mainejeff

If it is true, that was a very savvy move by UNH.......if they left CAA Football, that league would have fallen apart IMO. Maine would have been gone as well. I don't think that Albany and Stony Brook would have been in play (I could be wrong though), and the league would have been down to 6 members. In hindsight, NU and Hofstra REALLY screwed over the CAA by dropping football. And UNH is the only Northern school with leverage as they are desirable because of the right mix of football, academics and geography.

WrenFGun

I imagine getting Albany and SBU into football was enough to convince them to stay in the AEast for basketball for some period of time as a tradeoff.

I was not aware there was a firm invite to the PL, but it doesn't surprise me that they turned it down. I guess it's an upgrade in basketball but it's marginal, and it's a downgrade in football. It is indeed a pretty savvy move all around, particularly if URI sticks, too.

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Please fire Bill Herrion.

UVM Hoop Cat

Let's say UNH did turn down a Patriot League invite....well, of course they would. How would the athletic programs that would play in the Patriot League benefit over where the sports currently are in the AE/CAA. Someone could correct me if this isn't a good analogy, but wouldn't leaving the CAA football be like leaving Hockey East for the ECAC/ or another inferior conference?

IF UNH cared about basketball/soccer/whatever else is in the AE then maybe a point could be made, but they don't, so what exactly would the PL even offer them?

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

WrenFGun

Well, what the Patriot League offers at it's core is, at least, stability. You get Fordham (?), Lehigh, Lafayette, Holy Cross, Colgate, Bucknell and Georgetown in football, and really only Georgetown is a threat not to have football there. It's somewhat regional, but it's clearly a downgrade. It's a better fit than say, the NEC, but in general, we'd be taking a championship contending football team and settling for playoff berths and guaranteed regional games.

It's clearly an upgrade in basketball, but it's essentially still a one-bid league. Games against, say, Lehigh and Bucknell aren't exactly going to ignite the basketball population at UNH, so I'm not sure it had tremendous value. The only way a move to the PL would have made sense is if the CAA was adding some SoCON schools and was going to keep Maine/UNH on an island. My guess is AEast basketball may have crumbled had that actually happened, though.

--

Re: AEast/CAA, it clearly makes more sense for UNH, as UVMHoopCat mentioned. The AEast is inferior basketball, but there's a lot of regional matchups between Vermont, Hartford, Albany, Maine, UMBC (heh) that I'd hate to lose. It's unfortunate that BU has bolted for the PL (a headscratcher still, to me) but there's still plenty here to like, and hopefully QU is coming on soon to add to that. For Football, no brainer ... UNH gets to stay at the upper echalon of FCS now with regional partners in SBU, Albany and Maine, and potentially URI, as well .. I think UNH is completely comfortable with Villanova and UD, too, and don't mind a few flights to places like JMU, RIchmond, W&M or Towson if it means keeping a premium FCS program stable.

Marty did a nice job with this, all around.

__________________
Please fire Bill Herrion.

UVM Hoop Cat

Yeah, I'm not saying I wasn't aware of what the appeal for the Patriot League is- more, what that appeal would be to UNH specifically, which I don't see existing and how they would fit.

I definitely agree the PL right now is a step up for basketball-albeit marginal and still a one-bid league- and is more stable- but the issue is how would that really be relevant to UNH, who by all indications doesn't really care about whatever sports play in the AE. If UNH had a basketball program more like BU for example= history of NCAA Tourney appearances, good threat to finish Top 3 most every season, then they would benefit from the move in basketball, as BU expects to. But absent that, I don't see what they would benefit. And even if UNH did have that, would they still leave CAA Football for PL football?

Agree with everything you said though.

Moving to the PL would have been...a very strange move for UNH to say the least, at this time.

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

usslider

As a BU fan, I'm glad to not see UNH tagging along to the Patriot League. The only thing they'd help the league with is football, which we don't care about. Everything we DO care about -- basketball, academics, a few of the other sports -- UNH would be dead weight and a drag on the league. No offense intended.

In the end it's probably best for UNH to stay as well, aside from the affiliation with better academic schools

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TerrierNation

Well said.

I was actually really hoping UNH and Maine left the CAA to start football in the AE. That would then hopefully lead to Richmond and Villanova joining the Patriot League as affiliates. To me, that should be the goal of the Patriot League. Add those two and a solid basketball school like Fairfield.

SaltySeawolf

Don't BU fans have their own forums to post in now? Don't hang on to the past. Move along, move along.

TerrierNation

You sad bitter man.

SaltySeawolf

Im not sad and bitter, im jubilant! I wish every team except SB would leave the conference. That would improve our chances of winning the big one by a a lot! Not that New Hampshire fans need me to defend them, but to say its good they didn't "tag along" is very condescending.

I for one applaud schools like New Hampshire and Stony Brook. Both were offered full membership in other conferences, and both said, "No thank you. We are happy in the America East." With these two schools showing such character, integrity, and leadership, it is a bit late for the Vermont AD to stop fiddling and noticing that Rome is burning. The fire is out and we move ahead. The only way this becomes an issue again is if the schools in the AE do not expand to at least 10 teams. If they stay at 8 they are begging for trouble.

PS - my next post will be my 500th - I want to make it very very special. If you have any ideas just send a note.

UVM Hoop Cat

I think just a simple link to this would commemorate it quite nicely:

https://twitter.com/UVMmbb/status/23...761602/photo/1

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005