Thomas More to GMAC

[Tech Boys]

Any idea of when this picture was taken. This shows a "C" where a "U" should be on the window. The school became a university in October 2018.

[BlueBlood]

I know that this isn't a sexy pickup. However - location, location, location.

KWC and TNU have seen 13 distant schools and zero close schools added to the conference since they joined. This is finally something reasonably close to them. For those newer to the conference - KWC and TNU are charter members and did a lot of heavy lifting to get the G-MAC off the ground.

Plus, I would imagine that TMU will grow into a stronger athletic department with a D2/G-MAC affiliation. They will be the only D2 in the Cincy area.

For the G-MAC - this now gives the conference teams in the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy and Nashville metros. And yes - I'd love to see the Indy metro added next.

[BlueBlood]

Any idea of when this picture was taken. This shows a "C" where a "U" should be on the window. The school became a university in October 2018.

Not sure. That is the only close up picture of the main part of the stands I could find. The new turf can be seen below, as can the new track surface.

[Stea1th]

I
Plus, I would imagine that TMU will grow into a stronger athletic department with a D2/G-MAC affiliation. They will be the only D2 in the Cincy area.

For the G-MAC - this now gives the conference teams in the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy and Nashville metros. And yes - I'd love to see the Indy metro added next.

Agree with this. TMU looks pretty much like a Cincinnati version of NDC (Cleveland), Walsh (Canton) or Ohio Dominican (Columbus). I read their press release. It sounds like their administration is trying to raise the schools profile on multiple fronts and this is part of that effort.

Cincinnati has very good HS football. Being the only D2 in town gives them something unique to sell and should benefit them. I think they will be fine in the GMAC.

[unc4life]

I'm fine with this addition as long as TMU is up to the challenge of continuing to build their athletic program. A good amount of schools do what they can to get into Division 2 and then take the foot off the gas (Malone). You need schools that are willing to keep pushing forward. I hope this works out.

[Cavalier 1]

They are taking a round-about path to D2. When they were getting ready to leave D3 everyone thought they were headed to D2 then but instead they go NAIA and now headed to D2.

J
Depending on how this season goes in NAIA, how do they sell the program going into D2 with same staff? They could be down for a couple of years in building their D2 program, and yet haven't really done anything in NAIA where the jump from D3 is a little closer than D2. Maybe a golden dome or touchdown Jesus will help. LOL

[ctrabs74]

I remember reading posts in the past where some suggested that the GMAC might be in trouble.

That was likely a few years ago before the ex-GLIAC members (Findlay, Hillsdale, Lake Erie, ODU, Tiffin) made their way into the GMAC. Ashland only makes this league stronger.

That said, I thought Thomas More dropped to the NAIA due to NCAA probation issues. I would honestly be shocked if they were accepted into the D2 provisional membership process because of that.

[BlueBlood]

That said, I thought Thomas More dropped to the NAIA due to NCAA probation issues. I would honestly be shocked if they were accepted into the D2 provisional membership process because of that.

From what I can tell, their Women's Basketball team served its D3 probation probation from Nov. 15, 2016, through Nov. 14, 2018 and they moved to NAIA July 1, 2019. It looks like their penalty was fully served.

As I mentioned before, their violation wasn't anything conscience-shocking. In fact, it was humane.

[GetOily]

Strange addition but I suppose it makes some sense. The G-MAC seems hellbent on growing its membership, but having just seen OVU, ABU, D&E leave, this kind of feels like we're just bringing back in a school of that caliber. Doesn't really make it a more attractive conference for the big fish everyone really wants (UIndy). But, they have football and that's probably a big part of why the G-MAC decided to pull the trigger. Will be interesting to see if they can hold their own in the immediate future. I'm sure long term, they'll fit in, but don't really see them being a big time contender in most sports.

[TheDog]

Thomas More campus less than 2 hrs from UIndy campus. That seems like a GMAC move that would attract UIndy.

[Twincitiesmav]