Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

In Ashland's February statement, the president effectively said there were two major concern they had that were effecting their decision. First was the travel distance and second was conference quality. This and the previous assessment was between staying in the GLIAC and moving to the GMAC. Obviously the GMAC trumps the GLIAC by a large margin in the travel distance concern so the quality of the GLIAC compared to the GMAC must have been hugely in the favor of the GLIAC to "beat out" the massive travel savings. What I'm wondering is does joining the MEC represent a compromise position? Sure, the travel distance for Ashland between the MEC and the GMAC favors the GMAC...but the travel distance between the GLIAC and MEC is a lot less. From a competition stand point, the GLIAC is clearly better than the MEC but I think the MEC's achievements in it's short existence compared to the GMACs achievements in it's equally short existence speak for themselves.

I would say Ashland is clearly not 100% happy with the current two options (Staying in the GLIAC or moving to the GMAC). Perhaps the MEC doesn't have enough going for it (travel distance savings, conference national perspective) to convince Ashland...but you never know until you take a look.

OR ... until the PSAC courts Ashland.

[boatcapt]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

No offense captain. But I think you are the only person that thinks Ashland is even a remote possibility.

That may be...But you never know unless you ask. It appears that right now the only conference that has asked is the GMAC, and Ashland has considered it...Twice.

[BlueBlood]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

Boatcapt, your premise is clearly rooted in a belief that the MEC is a competitively superior conference to the G-MAC. Is your belief related to football-only, or is this an all-sports perspective? Does the loss of Shepherd change your view at all? While I admit that there was an undeniable gap years ago (when the G-MAC only had 2-3 football schools), The last 2 years of expansion have certainly changed the G-MAC's standing. Given Findlay's performance in last year's football playoffs (combined with the G-MAC addition of Tiffin and the MEC loss of Shepherd) and the G-MAC's list of schools in this years top-100 of the Directors Cup standings, I could probably make the argument that the G-MAC may have surpassed the MEC both in football and all-sports. I will refrain from going there, as competitiveness is fluid and one year does not make a trend. However, I just don't see the big gap that you keep alluding to.

[ABjo]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

Boatcapt, your premise is clearly rooted in a belief that the MEC is a competitively superior conference to the G-MAC. Is your belief related to football-only, or is this an all-sports perspective? Does the loss of Shepherd change your view at all? While I admit that there was an undeniable gap years ago (when the G-MAC only had 2-3 football schools), The last 2 years of expansion have certainly changed the G-MAC's standing. Given Findlay's performance in last year's football playoffs (combined with the G-MAC addition of Tiffin and the MEC loss of Shepherd) and the G-MAC's list of schools in this years top-100 of the Directors Cup standings, I could probably make the argument that the G-MAC may have surpassed the MEC both in football and all-sports. I will refrain from going there, as competitiveness is fluid and one year does not make a trend. However, I just don't see the big gap that you keep alluding to.

Agree with this. The MEC is a mediocre All-Sports conference. And with Shepherd out, they are a pretty lousy football conference. Being a WV native, I still cheer for some of the MEC schools... But I try to call things are I see them, and that's how I see the MEC right now.

[Ram Tough]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

I'm not going to lie. Without Shepherd, the MEC is one of the worst football conferences in Division II. And there is now a very strong argument that it is the weakest conference in SR 1 after Shepherd leaves.

[Sportsnut]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

The conference is still the same as far as level as competiveness between schools, except the Big Dog has now left. Just because Shepherd was good doesn't mean the MEC was good. Just had a good team in a average at best conference. Now with that being said, with the departure of Shepherd and Wise and addition of Frostburg we have a much more compact conference geographically. Shepherd and Wise were the outliers and will make the travel for the Ohio schools much better. We just somehow need to come up with another good fit and hope that Notre Dame and Urbana doesn't leave.

[JDonAB92]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

The conference is still the same as far as level as competiveness between schools, except the Big Dog has now left. Just because Shepherd was good doesn't mean the MEC was good. Just had a good team in a average at best conference. Now with that being said, with the departure of Shepherd and Wise and addition of Frostburg we have a much more compact conference geographically. Shepherd and Wise were the outliers and will make the travel for the Ohio schools much better. We just somehow need to come up with another good fit and hope that Notre Dame and Urbana doesn't leave.

If you are talking "outliers", it would have been FAR BETTER for the MEC to lose Urbana than to lose Shepherd. The Rams were more than just a football school. That is the main sport that they were known for, but they had a rock solid athletic program for the MEC. Shepherd finished 2nd out of 12 in the MEC commissioner's cup. Urbana finished 12th out of 12. Urbana has some pretty bad athletic programs and now it appears they are adding more. Shepherd had 7 programs finish .500 or above. Some of those programs were pretty solid. The only four teams at SU with losing records were men's and women's soccer and men's and women's tennis. But a lot of there other teams made the MEC strong. Urbana only had 2 championship teams with a winning record. They had 7 teams with losing records.

I think too many people think Shepherd just had football and nothing else. When you look at the strength of a conference in terms of overall athletics, you have to look at which schools produce winning records in sports. For instance, Shepherd helped all MEC teams in men's basketball by having a winning record. Your conference teams do better in terms of the Performance Indicator ranking if you play a team with a winning record. Urbana gave nothing in that sport with a record of 4-24. The PI does not rate teams hardly at all that have a winning percentage less than 25%.

[Clydes 'N Rams]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

If you are talking "outliers", it would have been FAR BETTER for the MEC to lose Urbana than to lose Shepherd. The Rams were more than just a football school. That is the main sport that they were known for, but they had a rock solid athletic program for the MEC. Shepherd finished 2nd out of 12 in the MEC commissioner's cup. Urbana finished 12th out of 12. Urbana has some pretty bad athletic programs and now it appears they are adding more. Shepherd had 7 programs finish .500 or above. Some of those programs were pretty solid. The only four teams at SU with losing records were men's and women's soccer and men's and women's tennis. But a lot of there other teams made the MEC strong. Urbana only had 2 championship teams with a winning record. They had 7 teams with losing records.

I think too many people think Shepherd just had football and nothing else. When you look at the strength of a conference in terms of overall athletics, you have to look at which schools produce winning records in sports. For instance, Shepherd helped all MEC teams in men's basketball by having a winning record. Your conference teams do better in terms of the Performance Indicator ranking if you play a team with a winning record. Urbana gave nothing in that sport with a record of 4-24. The PI does not rate teams hardly at all that have a winning percentage less than 25%.

Very good points, the contribution of all the teams conference rankings & what sports are offered are a much better way to weigh the significance
of an institution in it's conference.
ie. Wheeling with their non football championships & national rankings.

[boatcapt]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

The conference is still the same as far as level as competiveness between schools, except the Big Dog has now left. Just because Shepherd was good doesn't mean the MEC was good. Just had a good team in a average at best conference. Now with that being said, with the departure of Shepherd and Wise and addition of Frostburg we have a much more compact conference geographically. Shepherd and Wise were the outliers and will make the travel for the Ohio schools much better. We just somehow need to come up with another good fit and hope that Notre Dame and Urbana doesn't leave.

The big football dog has left. We'll see if any one team or collection of teams step up.

[Stea1th]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

Boatcapt, your premise is clearly rooted in a belief that the MEC is a competitively superior conference to the G-MAC. Is your belief related to football-only, or is this an all-sports perspective? Does the loss of Shepherd change your view at all? While I admit that there was an undeniable gap years ago (when the G-MAC only had 2-3 football schools), The last 2 years of expansion have certainly changed the G-MAC's standing. Given Findlay's performance in last year's football playoffs (combined with the G-MAC addition of Tiffin and the MEC loss of Shepherd) and the G-MAC's list of schools in this years top-100 of the Directors Cup standings, I could probably make the argument that the G-MAC may have surpassed the MEC both in football and all-sports. I will refrain from going there, as competitiveness is fluid and one year does not make a trend. However, I just don't see the big gap that you keep alluding to.

I wonder how many times Boatcapt has stared at this, tried to answer it, and decided not to post.

[Sportsnut]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

JDon, of course Shepherd would be a far better member than Urbana. I'm just saying that the travel will be easier for the Ohio schools since Shepherd and Wise were their longest road trips.

[Stea1th]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

JDon, of course Shepherd would be a far better member than Urbana. I'm just saying that the travel will be easier for the Ohio schools since Shepherd and Wise were their longest road trips.

Removing 2 of the 3 longest commutes (Concord being the other) does help from a travel perspective. However, losing the conference's best football school is a high price to pay.

[boatcapt]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

I wonder how many times Boatcapt has stared at this, tried to answer it, and decided not to post.

Sorry...Been working nights.

In just five years of existence, MEC institutions have produced:

Three team NCAA Division II champions
Seven national finals appearances
18 national semifinals appearances
18 Atlantic Region/SR1 titles
104 NCAA postseason berths
Every MEC team has been selected at least once to participate in the NCAA playoffs

This comes out to:

.6 National Championships per year
3.6 Regional Titles per year

According to the GLIAC web site between 2000 and 2018 (18 years) they have achieved:

24 National Championships
142 Regional Championships

That works out to:

1.3 National Championships per year
7.8 Regional Titles per year

Care to post the GMAC's "resume" so we can compare??

[Stea1th]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

In just five years of existence, MEC institutions have produced:

Three team NCAA Division II champions

All right, I'm stumped. I have WJU volleyball and Charleston men's soccer. Who was the third MEC National Champ?

BTW - in a non-MEC sport, NDC had a wrestling championship in 16-17, and was runner-up in 17-18 and 15-16

[boatcapt]

Re: Derek Redd reports Shepherd is leaving the MEC after next year

All right, I'm stumped. I have WJU volleyball and Charleston men's soccer. Who was the third MEC National Champ?

BTW - in a non-MEC sport, NDC had a wrestling championship in 16-17, and was runner-up in 17-18 and 15-16

Obviously you don't like it but NDC IS a MEC member school. To update with the additional information you gave:

Three team NCAA Division II champions
Nine national finals appearances
20 national semifinals appearances
20 Atlantic Region/SR1 titles
107 NCAA postseason berths
Every MEC team has been selected at least once to participate in the NCAA playoffs

This comes out to:

.6 National Championships per year
4 Regional Titles per year