July 1 - Moving Day 2023

[crixus]

Simpson to Join Frontier as Associate Member in Football - Victory Sports Network

My favorite NAIA football team is Southern Oregon which is in the Frontier Conference. They've been growing like gangbusters lately. I hope it all runs smoothly.

[SPOLOVILO4EVER]

Is there more to the story? Are the exiting programs not happy with WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton's leadership? He took over in 2021. I can't help but wonder.

I think the phrase is "lack of leadership". No one I have talked to from any WAC school likes BT, they all hate him to be honest. I wish they would get someone else and I have no clue what the remaining presidents are waiting for, they need to can his butt ASAP. But BT has little to do with why the schools left. GCU/Seattle got a WCC invite and that was their ultimate goal. RGV was a perrenial doormat in almost every sport and a travel nightmare. No one was sad to see them go. SFA also went for competitive reasons because they were in the middle or basement in most sports as well this year save for womens basketball. After they hired McBroom as their AD you saw it coming. He does not want to be in the WAC where his programs can not win championships so he moved them back to the Southland because all the teams there are D1 in name only and are not competitive in most sports other than maybe Baseball. McBroom just wants the easiest path to make himself look good, he does not want to elevate the school because he is scared they will not compete and he will lose his job.

[crixus]

I think the phrase is "lack of leadership". No one I have talked to from any WAC school likes BT, they all hate him to be honest. I wish they would get someone else and I have no clue what the remaining presidents are waiting for, they need to can his butt ASAP. But BT has little to do with why the schools left. GCU/Seattle got a WCC invite and that was their ultimate goal. RGV was a perrenial doormat in almost every sport and a travel nightmare. No one was sad to see them go. SFA also went for competitive reasons because they were in the middle or basement in most sports as well this year save for womens basketball. After they hired McBroom as their AD you saw it coming. He does not want to be in the WAC where his programs can not win championships so he moved them back to the Southland because all the teams there are D1 in name only and are not competitive in most sports other than maybe Baseball. McBroom just wants the easiest path to make himself look good, he does not want to elevate the school because he is scared they will not compete and he will lose his job.

I figured it was a leadership problem because of the mass exodus and from reading your post I was right. I'm not happy about it because I've been a WAC fan since the early 1970's. Save the WAC!

[SW_Mustang]

UArts in Philadelphia is closing unexpectedly. Not sure if they have sports or not, probably not being an art school.

University of the Arts announces sudden closure (insidehighered.com)

[crixus]

UArts in Philadelphia is closing unexpectedly. Not sure if they have sports or not, probably not being an art school.

University of the Arts announces sudden closure (insidehighered.com)

I just looked at the UArts Philadelphia website and didn't see sports listed. But there was an Arts college that closed down in SoCal that had sports.

[SW_Mustang]

I just looked at the UArts Philadelphia website and didn't see sports listed. But there was an Arts college that closed down in SoCal this year that had sports.

Yeah, now that you mention it I do remember there's a DII art college in San Fransisco that has sports. Academy of Art University - one of their pitchers was drafted by the Twins in 2014 and it was a pretty big story at the time.

I understood UArts to be one of the better art schools in the US, so it's abrupt closure is interesting.

[crixus]

Yeah, now that you mention it I do remember there's a DII art college in San Fransisco that has sports. Academy of Art University - one of their pitchers was drafted by the Twins in 2014 and it was a pretty big story at the time.

I understood UArts to be one of the better art schools in the US, so it's abrupt closure is interesting.

The one in SoCal had sports and it closed down as did many others across the country (it's a chain of art schools). I think the one in San Francisco is still open. They still have a website up.

[SW_Mustang]

The one in SoCal that had sports closed as did many others across the country (it's a chain of art schools). I think the one in San Francisco is still open. They still have a website up.

Yeah, the one in SF is still functioning as far as I'm aware.

[crixus]

The College of Saint Rose (D2 sports) in Albany, NY is closing on June 21.

[UCObluejay]

I was reading an article last night. I wish I had it saved, but there are colleges closing at a rate of one a week. I feel like an "in memoriam" could be its own thread.

[SW_Mustang]

I was reading an article last night. I wish I had it saved, but there are colleges closing at a rate of one a week. I feel like an "in memoriam" could be its own thread.

I think I know which one you're talking about. I read one with a headline like that.

It's getting hard to track. Eastern Gateway Community College is going to close in October - I can't remember if they've been shared in the thread or not. I believe they were a member of the NJCAA at one point.

Really scary once they community schools start falling.

[SW_Mustang]

Here's a list of colleges that have closed since 2020. It's not all-encompassing I've noticed, and it can also be a little misleading - like when it says IUPUI is "closing." But it's a good list.

Closed Colleges: List, Statistics, and Major Closures | BestColleges

(IUPUI is separating into two different institutions).

[psugorilla]

So in the last couple of decades we have had a rather large contingent of schools moving up from D2 to D1. We have also seen a few schools look to reclassify down to D2 and ultimately abandon that. We had Winston Salem come back to D2. And a few schools move up to D2.
Does anyone think that we could be on the verge of seeing some of the smaller D1 schools looking to come down to D2 again? Be it financial/Academic based or just a competition based decision, and if so, who do you think could be potential movers?

[laker]

who do you think could be potential movers?

Not sure why Presbyterian is still D1. There are some others who should be sent down but politics won't allow it.

On a side track, I see that there is a bill in North Carolina where they want to require that NC and NC State play each other (in case NC leaves the ACC), but also require both to have games with East Carolina and App St.

Andrew Carter@_andrewcarter

A bill that'd require UNC and N.C. State to play App State, ECU and Charlotte more often in football (and basketball) passed through a House committee today in about 30 seconds. (Bill would also put into law that UNC and State play every year.)

[Finchwidget]

Does anyone think that we could be on the verge of seeing some of the smaller D1 schools looking to come down to D2 again? Be it financial/Academic based or just a competition based decision, and if so, who do you think could be potential movers?

I don't think we'll see any waves of schools moving back down. Hartford moving from D1 to D3 was met with a lot of backlash on campus. Idaho's decision to drop to FCS got their president doxxed online, and that was just in football. There are definitely many that should, but no one wants it to be their team, and by extension I don't think any president wants to be the person that makes that decision.

However though, I wouldn't be shocked to see any of the members in the MEAC not named Howard drop down in the likely event that conference goes under