UNHFan

Mr. Allen Lessels focused the majority of this week's UNH Notebook on the continual saga that is or has become college athletics. I will post a link to the full article for those of you that would like to read it and will post the main points for those that do not want to read it.

1. Football is Marty's priority. Wants to keep UNH like it is in football for the next 20 years and how does that happen he is wrestling with.

2. BU leaving is a blow to the AEast as they have played UNH consistently since 1972-1973 and had one of the best all around programs.

3. Important for the Aeast to maintain both qualty and quantity to keep the guarantees league champions in the NCAA tournament Scarano said.

4. According to Marty UNH is comitted to the Aeast and CAA but sadly it has become every school thinking about themselves.

5. Marty says that no one can trust anyone sadly anymore. You have no idea what your other member schools are going to do. Everyone is looking out for themselves and what is best for their school.

6. THe next shoe or shoes will drop sooner than later.

7. Add Bryant and the Q??? Or Merrimack moving up to Div I for all sports?

8. SBU to the CAA just for football??


Here is a link to the article


http://www.unionleader.com/article/2...85/1003/sports

fast789

Merrimack? That's interesting.

__________________

According to UVM Hoop Cat, Jordan Clarke will have a better career than both Dane DiLiegro and Brian Benson... combined.

Career Stats (as of 3/28/12)
Points|Rebounds|Blocks
DiLiegro 795 | 854 | 34
Benson 525 | 626 | 81

TOTAL 1320 |1480 | 115

Clarke 304 | 329 | 21
UVM career:30 | 35 | 3
At Drake: 334 | 359 | 24

mainejeff

Scarano is a bit hysterical about all of this IMO.

This is becoming cut and dry as it concerns AE. Either Stony Brook leaves and AE invites Q and Bryant..........or SB stays and AE invites Q only. I actually think that AE becomes pretty stable after the SB decision. If you want to talk instability, try being the CAA right now.........they are what I'd call an unstable league. No matter who they add, they will continue to be in state of flux IMO. AE could be the beneficiary eventually.........that is why it's probably a good idea for AE to stay at only 9 members and continue to maintain just minimal numbers for auto bids.

And by the way........UNH/Marty can trust Maine.......not sure that the opposite is true though.

hoopcat

The "problem" with SBU staying is they are a ticking time bomb, they want out in some form, so it is only a matter of time. I agree that SBU leaving and inviting the Q and Bryant would make for a stable league, the problem is what that leaves us with is probably the crappiest league in the country. Frankly, the current AE without BU and SBU is really, really weak. So weak that it could hurt recruiting for the top basketball school's that are left. This league is a freakin' mess at this point and more losses will just continue to degrade whatever semblance of competitiveness left. I hate to say it but IMO, we are on our way to becoming a league of leftovers and scraps. But at least we have a NCAA bid....

UNHFan

If SBU stays which I hope they do and just goes to the CAA for football why not add the Q and Bryant to give us 10 schools anyhow?

umainealum

However, the SBU staying & time bomb thing...by the time they leave (5-10 years), the AEast should have stabilized itself with an addition or 2 and SBU's departure will most likely coincide with the time that JMU, App State, etc decide to move up, leaving the CAA in a major quandry.

I'm with Jeff, I think the CAA's situation is very tenuous and the undeniable emphasis on their shift southward only means they are isolating the northern schools that much more. Not saying that makes Northeastern and/or Hofstra come back to the AEast, but I can't imagine either school is going to be thrilled about visiting Elon, Furman, etc every year...

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UMaine - the epitome of mediocrity

Proud supporter of an AMERICA EAST team that made a coaching change...

umainealum

Wow...multiple posts again...what on earth?

__________________
UMaine - the epitome of mediocrity

Proud supporter of an AMERICA EAST team that made a coaching change...

umainealum

Sorry...another repeat post

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UMaine - the epitome of mediocrity

Proud supporter of an AMERICA EAST team that made a coaching change...

umainealum

And the final repeat...

__________________
UMaine - the epitome of mediocrity

Proud supporter of an AMERICA EAST team that made a coaching change...

Rhett1

It's a shame that the rumors about Merrimack are stronger than UMass-Lowell. There was an article in the Lowell Sun last week about the school being ambitious about its athletic profile but too financially hamstrung to pursue D-I. Very good facilities, easy access, keeps a team in Massachusetts, and a National Research academic profile that matches all current AEC schools and none of the expansion candidates.

NU Hoop Fan

Why?

We were ok with multiple trips to Virgnia and an annual trips to Georgia State.

Everyone's running around like Chicken Little with "NU and Hofstra aren't happy with CAA expansion down south."

Says who?

We could easily (along with Drexel) try and block any move south, if we were opposed. We haven't/aren't.

We could easily call the AE and come back in about 2 nanoseconds, we're not.

If the "mega expansion" occurs, we'd be in a division with 6 other schools whose footprint isn't that much different from the AE, oh and we would have to make a max of 4 trips south of DC for conference play. In a 12 team CAA, we made 3-4 every year.

I'm not seeing how the added travel makes us unhappy. What makes NU unhappy would being in a visionless/directionless/leadershipless conference. See East, America.

We're doing this already!!

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Today is the first day of the next 86 years!

NU Hoop Fan

They don't have the cash to move to D-I. I was at an event Saturday night with a bunch of folks from Andover, and some Merrimack grads were talking about it. A Partner in my firm is on an "Exploratory" committee for D-I.

When you let them know the scholarship cost to be D-I they pause. They don't have the money, or the facilities.

They're more of an NEC/Bad MAAC school (along the lines of a St. Peter's or a Mt. St. Mary's) than an AE school.

__________________
Today is the first day of the next 86 years!

ccd494

Elon is a very easy travel get. Like 10 minutes from the Greensboro airport, which has direct flights from Boston. It's buying its way to academic respectability (kind of the Quinnipiac of the south; it is the kind of school that will put up billboards celebrating being ranked the 4th best night school for an MBA in the mid-south, but only have the billboard say "ELON: RANKED #4 IN BEST MBA PROGRAM!" and no I did not make that up).

Aceinthehole

That's not a rumor, that wild speculation by the reporter.

Currently, I think there is a NCAA moritorium on reclassifications from D-II to D-I. The University of New Haven had announced and went through an explortory year a while ago, but decided on staying D-II once they were accepted into the NE-10.

Furthermore, the non-refundable application fee to the NCAA is now $1 million and the transition is a 5-year process (1 exploratory + 4 transitional). A D-II school is not a realistic option for any league.

Aceinthehole

Good for him covering this story because no one else is, but that article doesn't say much. And him suggesting D-II schools is pretty absurd and not well researched or vetted, it's just his speculation.

Has any of the other AE beat writer done any reporting on this issue?