G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

[unc4life]

Today Ashland is officially a member of the GMAC. Glad to be on board.

https://goashlandeagles.com/news/202...onference.aspx

[Uindy18]

I always liked AB and D&E institutionally. Obviously they got pushed to the back of the class when the GLIAC schools came in (from an all-sports competitiveness perspective). However, they seemed like they were well-run schools with well-run athletic departments and nice facilities. They were solid early G-MAC members and were super involved in helping build the G-MAC into what it is today. I'm glad that both still have men's lacrosse in the G-MAC so that they can reap a little of what they sowed.

Equating OVU facilities to D3 is kind. My kids middle school had nicer facilities.. No ill will toward them at all - it just is what it is.

Fair point, compared to high schools gyms here in Indiana, the OVU gym was a joke. But I hear we tend to be a bit over the top when it comes to our gyms so I was trying to scale it back.

[BlueBlood]

I always liked AB and D&E institutionally. Obviously they got pushed to the back of the class when the GLIAC schools came in (from an all-sports competitiveness perspective). However, they seemed like they were well-run schools with well-run athletic departments and nice facilities. They were solid early G-MAC members and were super involved in helping build the G-MAC into what it is today. I'm glad that both still have men's lacrosse in the G-MAC so that they can reap a little of what they sowed.

Equating OVU facilities to D3 is kind. My kids middle school had nicer facilities.. No ill will toward them at all - it just is what it is.

[Uindy18]

Good for D&E. Happy to see them have success in the MEC, with AB. Both of them belonged there anyway in the long run. I think OVU will be a good fit in NAIA as well. They were always a fringe D2 team with facilities that looked like lower level D3 and the only real success was in men's/women's soccer

[Inkblot]

D&E reached match play in men's golf, which is pretty rare for any Atlantic/East region school. (And it probably wouldn't have happened if they were still in the Midwest region).

[BlueBlood]

Sometimes a move is good for these schools.

I agree that OVU will do much better in NAIA. They are clearly not at the same level as the other GMAC schools.

I know that overall D&E was not very competitive in the GMAC, but they actually did considerably better last year in the MEC. They had the 4th most points in the MEC Commissioners Cup standings. They achieved that position despite getting zero points for football. In the Learfield standings, they were 2nd, only behind Charleston (and were ahead of NDC!).

In all fairness to D&E, they were decently competitive in the early G-MAC years . They then got pushed backward when the GLIAC schools started moving in. Glad to hear they are having more success in the MEC.

[Stea1th]

Sometimes a move is good for these schools.

I agree that OVU will do much better in NAIA. They are clearly not at the same level as the other GMAC schools.

I know that overall D&E was not very competitive in the GMAC, but they actually did considerably better last year in the MEC. They had the 4th most points in the MEC Commissioners Cup standings. They achieved that position despite getting zero points for football. In the Learfield standings, they were 2nd, only behind Charleston (and were ahead of NDC!).

[BlueBlood]

It looks like Ohio Valley University has officially moved on. Their logo is still showing on the G-MAC website and I suppose it likely will until 6/30 for contractual purposes. However the OVU athletic site is now displaying the NAIA and River States logos. And the River States website already shows them as a member.

OVU clearly limped out of the conference. Ursuline (despite not having men's sports) almost beat them in the all-sports rankings (OVU had 33.5 pts and Ursuline had 31). I think they will do much much better in the NAIA.

Two significant items:

-this continues the trend of the lower-performing all-sports schools leaving the conference at the same time that the G-MAC is adding higher-performing all-sports schools.

-the WV era for the G-MAC is now officially over.

[BlueBlood]

[BlueBlood]

[Uindy18]

The issue with trying to get those schools is you have to have some bait to get them to bit. Adding Northwood, although not a 'powerhouse', makes the conference more stable and makes it more attractive for the big fish, UIndy.

As far as Northwood leaving the GLIAC, it's overdue. Word is they were ready to pull the trigger before that massive flood hit Midland. Once that happened, they went into rebuild mode. Now that they're past that, it was time. For them, why stay in a league with multiple schools that boast 20,000+ students and is becoming more irrelevant every week it seems? Plus, yes they have a long trip to Nashville, but they also have lengthy trips now to the Upper Penninsula schools, and even over to Wisconsin-Parkside. It probably adds more travel overall, yes, but as far as 'fit', the G-MAC makes much more sense than the GLIAC for them.

I can understand some of the move for Northwood, and the GMAC, but I can't help for wondering why now? I mean they could have gone with the rest of the GLIAC defectors a few years ago, or with Ashland last year. I had not considered the role of the flood, but I still have a feeling that there is more to this story in the GLIAC.

[GetOily]

I understand that argument. I just wish that if the conference was looking to add private schools with football, they would have gone with Uindy, NDC, or the Indiana NAIAs before Northwood.

The issue with trying to get those schools is you have to have some bait to get them to bit. Adding Northwood, although not a 'powerhouse', makes the conference more stable and makes it more attractive for the big fish, UIndy.

As far as Northwood leaving the GLIAC, it's overdue. Word is they were ready to pull the trigger before that massive flood hit Midland. Once that happened, they went into rebuild mode. Now that they're past that, it was time. For them, why stay in a league with multiple schools that boast 20,000+ students and is becoming more irrelevant every week it seems? Plus, yes they have a long trip to Nashville, but they also have lengthy trips now to the Upper Penninsula schools, and even over to Wisconsin-Parkside. It probably adds more travel overall, yes, but as far as 'fit', the G-MAC makes much more sense than the GLIAC for them.

[Uindy18]

Travel is not much different for KWC or TNU in either conference set up. Though for TNU, 6 hour trips South are much better than 8 hour trips north in winter! Adding Northwood makes KWC/TNU situation worse without a doubt! For KWC travel time average for GMAC is almost 6 hours and would be the same for Gulf South. GLVC travel time is almost 5 hours. IF USI and Indy leave GVLC, it jumps to over 5 hours.

I agree that I wish Indy were joining GMAC instead of Northwood. When it comes to NAIA - from a KWC/TNU perspective maybe Marion, Cumberland, Georgetown, or Campbellsville. Of course the KY schools tried moving up before and failed. Not sure if the appetite is there to try again.

I do not think it would be for the NAIAs in KY. I could see the NAIAs in Indiana go, but I think it only happen under a couple of circumstances. First, Uindy to the GMAC. Second, the GMAC would have to add either 2 or all 4. I think Marian and Saint Francis would only go as a pair, and the same for Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor. Do I think any of this would happen? Probably not, or at least not anytime soon with COVID making budgets tight.

My point is that if you made me king of lower level college sports , I would essentially destroy the MSFA in NAIA by:

Send the Indiana schools(Marian, Saint Francis, Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor) to the GMAC with Uindy and NDC
Send the Michigan ones (Lawrence Tech, Madonna, Concordia-Ann Arbor, and Siena Heights) in the GLIAC along with Lewis
Send Saint Ambrose and Missouri Baptist into the GLVC along with KWC.
TNU moves to the GSC
Keep NU in the GLIAC
Leave the NAIA Illinois teams to fend for themselves in NAIA.

[WKYDave]

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I honestly think this move has more to do with the GLIAC than the GMAC. I would bet NU caught wind of a Ferris or GVSU moving up, and sensed an implosion of the GLIAC as a result. The move makes no sense to me either, if I were NU, I would have been hyper focused on trying to help the GLIAC survive by adding some schools.

I would bet TNU and KWC are eventually gone, but no idea when. Someone has to do the travel math eventually and realize there is another option for both those schools (KWC to GLVC? TNU to GSC?)

Travel is not much different for KWC or TNU in either conference set up. Though for TNU, 6 hour trips South are much better than 8 hour trips north in winter! Adding Northwood makes KWC/TNU situation worse without a doubt! For KWC travel time average for GMAC is almost 6 hours and would be the same for Gulf South. GLVC travel time is almost 5 hours. IF USI and Indy leave GVLC, it jumps to over 5 hours.

I agree that I wish Indy were joining GMAC instead of Northwood. When it comes to NAIA - from a KWC/TNU perspective maybe Marion, Cumberland, Georgetown, or Campbellsville. Of course the KY schools tried moving up before and failed. Not sure if the appetite is there to try again.

[Uindy18]

Me too, but apparently those schools aren't ready to join.

Guess so, I always wish I knew whether or not schools approached conferences or if conferences approached schools about joining. One one hand, conferences operate at the member school's discretion. But on the other, if I was the GMAC commissioner, I would at least have a mental list of schools that I want or do not want in my conference.