iamsirjoshua

Very well said. Definitely see the next member playing football, as I don't see the PL wanting a situation like the CAA where football is nearly a different conference entirely in all but name. I doubt Fordham is going to be #10, as their alumni seem to be hostile to the idea and what they're paying their basketball coach is pretty prohibitive for a step "down" in conference affiliation, although unlike other A10 schools they do have a history with the PL on their side. I am also unsure if something like the AI banding could be worked out in a reasonable time period (at least to actually alleviate scheduling concerns) for #10 to be a public school. I see schools like Fordham and UNH as eventual #11 and #12, and of course there's no indication or guarantee the PL would want to expand past 10 (and at this point no guarantee it will even go to 10).

I see the most likely scenario is to invite a school like Marist. They're a bit below what most people are envisioning in terms of academics/endowment, but so was AU in 2001. I'll quickly make my argument that in the last decade AU has improved very, very substantially to the point where it is not the PL outlier that it once was (and I know some disagree, which is fine), but the point I'm trying to make is that a school like Marist could be seen in the same way, where PL affiliation would help drive rapid improvement, and there is precedent for this (the degree to which AU's strides are due to PL affiliation is of course unknown, but it definitely did not hurt). More importantly, Marist fits in geographically, it's the right size, it's private so the AI wouldn't pose as much of an issue, and they have both football and lax. Is it a perfect solution? No. However, in terms of short-term additions, I don't think there is a perfect solution considering the size of the potential applicant pool. Whether or not the PL would bend in order to do something in the short-term (which it rarely does, see football scholarships), is another question entirely. I just see that as more likely than Fordham or UNH/Maine/UVM in the short term.

__________________
All hail the mighty AU Eagles

iamsirjoshua

That also pretty much answers the questions my previous post raised.

__________________
All hail the mighty AU Eagles

RichH2

PL moves with academic alacrity. Decision by consensus which is about as common as a Yeti sighting at Yankee stadium . May change with new Pres at LC. Think in terms of years.

TerrierNation

Why? Is the current LC President stubborn or something?

RichH2

He is leaving next yr for a D III school. Opposed to athletics except as a very minor adjunct to academics. Stalled schollies for PL for 2 yrs. He wreaked havoc on LC teams.

Gate alum

Rich’s comments about LC’s President underscores an ongoing tension within P.L. schools. Simply stated, the tension is about the role of athletics as P.L. schools try to honor their storied athletic histories and strive to increase their academic profiles. The constraints on L.C.’s Athletics Dept. by this current President represent the extreme within the P.L.. ( H.C. competes for this "honor." ) But this intramural debate, which is replicated to different degrees in each of the P.L. schools, can’t help but affect big decisions by the P.L. President’s Council. This certainly underlies any decision on expansion candidates.

There is a fairly consistent stratification from top to bottom within the P.L. representing different degrees of institutional commitment to athletics. I’m conjecturing that B.U. comes into the P.L. near the top of the stratification. You can draw your own conclusions. The P.L. data is manifested clearly in the President’s Cup performance trends from year to year and athletic spending. http://www.patriotleague.org/school-...dents-cup.html ( Note L.C.‘s and H.C.'s positions. ) The competitive match of expansion candidates is not just an issue within the P.L.. It has an impact on the competitiveness of the P.L. in regular and post season play, as well. And, there are clear trends within competition in individual sports, if you want to assess, for instance, the pecking order in football and how an expansion candidate is likely to affect the stratification in just that particular sport.

So, we have yet another variable to consider in expansion candidates: whether the school is likely to come into the League near the top or bottom of the P.L. stratification ?

RichH2

Yup, well put. A taffy pull that will ever be with us. As admins change schools will flip from one side of the fence to the other. A perennial dance. It was not thay long ago that LU was in the same spot as LC is now.

KenZ

i would qualify this statement somewhat wrt Bucknell. while we have had incredible success over the years in the President's Cup competition, we always have to be dragged along to any higher level of commitment in terms of athletics scholarship funding.

i would say that currently Navy and Lehigh are most aggresively pushing the support of athletics to higher levels, while the other schools are following along more slowly. Bucknell always seems to need to demonstrate that they cannot keep pace before scholly's are added. see our history in basketball, soccer, lacrosse. on the other hand we have a strong commitment to providing quality facilities.

i believe BostonU will help push the envelope further and am excited to see them join the league precisely for that reason. I think that the PL is actually modifying i=ts position on the role of athletics to some degree and we will see continued advancement on the national stage in selected sports.

Gate alum

I agree with you about the benefits of BostonU coming in to the P.L. and competing with Lehigh, Navy and whoever else is on top in many of the 19 m's and w's teams with which they'll be competing.Their women's teams are especially strong. But, more competition at the top also puts pressure on the schools who appear perennially on the bottom in a particular sport. The schools have to decide if they want to commit more resources to a failing sport or let the teams accept failure, on a relative basis. My position is that all things being equal ( i.e. A.I., geography, etc. ), the better the competitive level of an expansion school, the better it is for the P.L.. I'm not sure that's the way some of the members of the President's Council see it as they approach their next expansion decisions ?

BucBisonAtLarge

The five schools adding fb scholarships should produce a concomitant increase in scholarships on the women's side of the conference, though no one is going to be adding a full 15 a year, based on current equivalencies. Those schools have to stretch anyway to hang with Boston University's women's program across the board.

Gate alum

The uptick in the competitiveness of P.L. women’s sports could be substantial. The B.U. impact coupled with the womens scholarship requirement accompanying fb schollies complement one another in this regard. P.L. schools currently at the top in individual sports will be fighting with B.U. as a serious contender for the NCAA A.Q. bids, almost across-the-board. Perhaps, over time, P.L. NCAA tourney performance improves, as well. Even with add'l mandated w's schollies, P.L. teams on the bottom will have to fight harder for relevance in a tougher P.L.. Although the impact is felt in both intra-conference and inter-conference play, it remains to be seem whether this enters into the equation of full member expansion candidates ?

Gate alum

FCS football budgets shed light on likely expansion candidates

http://fordhamfans.smfforfree.com/in...ic,4586.0.html

While there are some questions on how schollies/equivalencies are included in these budgets, it seems unlikely that an expansion candidate's fb budget would be too far from the P.L. teams.

TerrierNation

But on the other hand, a school like Villanova who is losing significant amounts of money on FCS (I've heard anywhere between 1-1.5 million), may embrace the notion of cutting 1 million from their budget, making for more convenient travel, and not really sacrificing attendance or revenue. Some of the budgets would be reduced for some candidates (Fordham, Nova, UNH) simply by having much lower travel costs than in the CAA.

Gate alum

To your point: Looking at UNH's numbers on this list ( and considering their motivation ) makes it easy to understand why their name keeps coming up in the rumor mill. Were it not for the A.i. and the "Public School" work-around thing, I'd consider them a slam dunk.

FredDavenport

Quinnipiac already a member of ECAC Hockey (w/Ivies), Law School, New Medical School, Aggressive TV package and a great facility, might be good to add to the discussion.

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe/ESPN noted that QU's TD Bank Sports Center is the "Best Facility in New England",

http://articles.boston.com/2012-03-2...l-tradition/12