G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

[UFOILERFAN]

I still hold out hope that Georgetown and Cumberland give joining NCAA another try and that Indy will join. That would give a 16 men's sports conference that could go to North Division and South Division.with I-70 as dividing line. I don't know why Cumberland was refused DII status. At the time Georgetown was under watch by its accreditation board but is now on good terms. Rumors at the time were that GLVC and GLIAC black-balled them to keep GMAC from reaching auto bid status. I don't know if that's true but they were the only NAIA schools refused entry. If that's true there is no reason for the conferences to oppose them now.

South "Travel Partners" - ODU/Cedarville, Thomas More/Indy, KWC/Georgetown, TNU/Cumberland
North "Travel Partners" - Hillsdale/Northwood, Findlay/Tiffan, Ashland/Lake Erie, Malone/Walsh

This would be ideal. Adding Thomas More is encouraging because I think it points to more schools being added. Also. Northwood makes even more sense because I think we will actually get to the North/South Divisions.

[WKYDave]

I still hold out hope that Georgetown and Cumberland give joining NCAA another try and that Indy will join. That would give a 16 men's sports conference that could go to North Division and South Division.with I-70 as dividing line. I don't know why Cumberland was refused DII status. At the time Georgetown was under watch by its accreditation board but is now on good terms. Rumors at the time were that GLVC and GLIAC black-balled them to keep GMAC from reaching auto bid status. I don't know if that's true but they were the only NAIA schools refused entry. If that's true there is no reason for the conferences to oppose them now.

South "Travel Partners" - ODU*/Cedarville, Thomas More*/Indy*, KWC*/Georgetown*, TNU/Cumberland*
North "Travel Partners" - Hillsdale*/Northwood, Findlay*/Tiffan*, Ashland*/Lake Erie*, Malone/Walsh*

[BlueBlood]

Checked out their facilities (online). Their gym is smallish, but the football stadium looks nice. They just re-turfed it and redid the track as well. Baseball and softball fields are very basic. Everything is on campus - so that is a plus.

[BlueBlood]

Thomas More will be the only D2 in the Cincy metro. Seems like an opportunity for them and nice for the G-MAC to plant its flag there.

[BlueBlood]

[kdubnation]

Wow, if they are approved for D2 status this is welcome news, indeed!

https://greatmidwestsports.com/news/...t-midwest.aspx

[Uindy18]

Former Member and Future Member All-Sports updates.

The two schools that left for the MEC:
AB went from the bottom of the G-MAC to the bottom of the MEC. They finished 12/12 in the MEC's Commissioner's Cup. D&E continues to do better in the MEC than they did in the G-MAC. They finished 6/12..

The incoming schools from the GLIAC:
Ashland again finished second in the GLIAC. I'm not sure how many years in a row they have been #2 - but I know its a lot. Northwood finished 7/12 n the GLIAC, which obviously is mid-pack. It should be noted though that spots 3 through 7 were all within 10 points of each other. Basically, you have GV, then AU, then a 5-school grouping.

Really goes to show how big a deal it was to get Ashland. They will immediately contend for most sports, they are a perfect geographic fit, and they are a very stable program that stregthens the conference overall. I love the Ashland addition, but the Northwood one will probably never make total sense to me. I get the private/public school thing, but I really think they belong back in the GLIAC based on geography mostly.

[BlueBlood]

Former Member and Future Member All-Sports updates.

The two schools that left for the MEC:
AB went from the bottom of the G-MAC to the bottom of the MEC. They finished 12/12 in the MEC's Commissioner's Cup. D&E continues to do better in the MEC than they did in the G-MAC. They finished 6/12..

The incoming schools from the GLIAC:
Ashland again finished second in the GLIAC. I'm not sure how many years in a row they have been #2 - but I know its a lot. Northwood finished 7/12 n the GLIAC, which obviously is mid-pack. It should be noted though that spots 3 through 7 were all within 10 points of each other. Basically, you have GV, then AU, then a 5-school grouping.

[Uindy18]

I saw a couple social media posts lately regarding St. Cloud St. having soccer and swimming and diving in the GLIAC. I would have missed the earlier announcement. Upper Iowa (soccer and lacrosse) and Concordia MN (lacrosse) are already affiliate members.

So, in addition to all teams going to the U.P. and Wisconsin, GLIAC schools now send Women's Lacrosse and Men's soccer teams to Iowa and Minnesota.

I don't want to hear any complaining about the G-MAC trips to Nashville!

Yes, i dont know about Saint Cloud and Upper Iowa, but I know they have had Concordia in for Lacrosse for sometime. Even before the GLVC schools quit being affiliate members last year I think when they got enough to sponsor, I remember Uindy hosting Concordia for women's lacrosse as a conference game.

[BlueBlood]

I saw a couple social media posts lately regarding St. Cloud St. having soccer and swimming and diving in the GLIAC. I would have missed the earlier announcement. Upper Iowa (soccer and lacrosse) and Concordia MN (lacrosse) are already affiliate members.

So, in addition to all teams going to the U.P. and Wisconsin, GLIAC schools now send Women's Lacrosse and Men's soccer teams to Iowa and Minnesota.

I don't want to hear any complaining about the G-MAC trips to Nashville!

[Uindy18]

Looks like Lake Erie is selling old helmets and jerseys if anyone is interested. Thinking about one for a wall hanger in my office: https://www.lakeeriestorm.com/sports...20210615t70kh4

[purduefan11]

As we sit at the 10-year mark for the conference, it is obvious that the G-MAC has turned into a really nice all-sports conference. Ashland, Findlay, Tiffin, Walsh and Hillsdale are a solid top of the conference. Cedarville, ODU and Malone are a very respectable middle grouping, and I would expect Northwood to further solidify the middle. Even those schools that find themselves in the lower tier of the conference's all-sports standings are often very competitive in certain key sports.

Overall, there is nice competitive balance and while I tiered the schools above, I don't think those are static groupings. I don't think any school is going to enter a season as the "I'd be shocked if they don't win the [insert sport] championship" favorite.

I know that GLIAC posters love bashing the G-MAC. But honestly, I have a feeling that the G-MAC members are pretty confident in the direction this thing is heading.

I agree 100 percent. I really think the GMAC has been really good at building up the conference slowly but surely. The nucleus of Ohio schools is solid, and can grow even more.The WV schools (and KWC/TNU) have provided the conference stability at times where things easily could have fallen apart. While there is some stratification, pretty much every school in the conference has at least a sport or two in which they are particularly competitive.

[BlueBlood]

As we sit at the 10-year mark for the conference, it is obvious that the G-MAC has turned into a really nice all-sports conference. Ashland, Findlay, Tiffin, Walsh and Hillsdale are a solid top of the conference. Cedarville, ODU and Malone are a very respectable middle grouping, and I would expect Northwood to further solidify the middle. Even those schools that find themselves in the lower tier of the conference's all-sports standings are often very competitive in certain key sports.

Overall, there is nice competitive balance and while I tiered the schools above, I don't think those are static groupings. I don't think any school is going to enter a season as the "I'd be shocked if they don't win the [insert sport] championship" favorite.

I know that GLIAC posters love bashing the G-MAC. But honestly, I have a feeling that the G-MAC members are pretty confident in the direction this thing is heading.

[unc4life]

I know the talk of the NCAA new NIL rules have mostly been D1 athletes, but a win for D2 happened yesterday. Ashland's track star Trevor Bassitt who made it to the finals at the Olympic trials last week in the 400H will be returning for his last year or eligibility mainly because of these new rules. I'm sure AU will be glad to have him around again for another track season.

[BlueBlood]

Glad to have Ashland on board!! Welcome Eagles.