Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

[Sportsnut]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Warrior, it's Pikeville, Ky not Ohio. If the private schools in NE Pa. would come to the MEC that would really tie in with ND nicely. Then it would be a great fit for Ashland!

[ctrabs74]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

I do not know much about Bluefield other than the fact they do not sponsor football.

Bluefield College in Virginia does sponsor football; you might be thinking of Bluefield State College in West Virginia.

https://bcrams.com/index.aspx?path=football

[ESU Warrior]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Bluefield College in Virginia does sponsor football; you might be thinking of Bluefield State College in West Virginia.

https://bcrams.com/index.aspx?path=football

Thanks for the clarification. That would be a good addition. Any information about past history? Did they ever consider a move before? They do look to be a nice geographic fit.

[boatcapt]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Thanks for the clarification. That would be a good addition. Any information about past history? Did they ever consider a move before? They do look to be a nice geographic fit.

Never anything official about them being interested in moving.

From a football perspective, they are a relatively new program and they took a lot of lumps. They appear to be somewhat improved now but still struggle in the 500 range (I think). Better basketball program than football.

Seems like the relatively recent problems some NAIA schools had moving to DII has spooked them.

[ctrabs74]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Never anything official about them being interested in moving.

From a football perspective, they are a relatively new program and they took a lot of lumps. They appear to be somewhat improved now but still struggle in the 500 range (I think). Better basketball program than football.

Seems like the relatively recent problems some NAIA schools had moving to DII has spooked them.

It's not so much the NAIA as a whole, but at least two in particular - Georgetown (Ky.) and one of the Cumberlands universities (I think it was the Tennessee school, but don't quote me on it) - that have scared off programs from the Mid-South Conference footprint and the surrounding region. IIRC, Georgetown applied for D2 membership twice and was rejected both times.

NAIA schools from other parts of the country, particularly in Oklahoma and the West Coast, have had easier transitions to D2 in recent years (Azusa Pacific is probably the most notable example). Several schools from the PacWest recently completed their transitions from NAIA to D2 within the past 10 years.

[WVIAC-F-EVER]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

I thought Thomas More U would make jump from ncaa D3 to D2, but I think they are going naia would join MEC, GMAC, or GLVC

Just outside Cincinnati and they have football..

[Tech Boys]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

It's not so much the NAIA as a whole, but at least two in particular - Georgetown (Ky.) and one of the Cumberlands universities (I think it was the Tennessee school, but don't quote me on it) - that have scared off programs from the Mid-South Conference footprint and the surrounding region. IIRC, Georgetown applied for D2 membership twice and was rejected both times.

NAIA schools from other parts of the country, particularly in Oklahoma and the West Coast, have had easier transitions to D2 in recent years (Azusa Pacific is probably the most notable example). Several schools from the PacWest recently completed their transitions from NAIA to D2 within the past 10 years.

Yeah, it was Georgetown (KY) and Cumberland [without the "s"] (TN). What I recall is during the time of Georgetown's applications they were changing Presidents and/or Athletic Directors and were having accreditation issues. For Cumberland I had heard they did not do a feasibility report. Although the denials of these two schools were initially a surprise, the reasons for the denials have leaked out over the years. I believe enough time has gone by that the phrase "scared off" really doesn't apply anymore. Cal State San Marcos is a good example of persistence, they applied 5 or 6 times before finally being accepted.

[ctrabs74]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

I thought Thomas More U would make jump from ncaa D3 to D2, but I think they are going naia would join MEC, GMAC, or GLVC

Just outside Cincinnati and they have football..

Thomas More dropped to the NAIA in part because of NCAA-related probation involving their 2016 women's basketball national champions, as I recall. There's little to no chance of seeing Thomas More returning to the NCAA in the long run.

[ctrabs74]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Yeah, it was Georgetown (KY) and Cumberland [without the "s"] (TN). What I recall is during the time of Georgetown's applications they were changing Presidents and/or Athletic Directors and were having accreditation issues. For Cumberland I had heard they did not do a feasibility report. Although the denials of these two schools were initially a surprise, the reasons for the denials have leaked out over the years. I believe enough time has gone by that the phrase "scared off" really doesn't apply anymore. Cal State San Marcos is a good example of persistence, they applied 5 or 6 times before finally being accepted.

I wasn't aware about the difficulties involving Cal State San Marcos gaining an invite to transition to D2. I thought I had heard that the NAIA was threatening a post-season ban or something along those lines for NAIA programs which had applied but were rejected for D2 membership after the Georgetown/Cumberland applications, though I don't know if that was true or not.

[cneagle99]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Thanks for the clarification. That would be a good addition. Any information about past history? Did they ever consider a move before? They do look to be a nice geographic fit.

Bluefield and the SAC have had talks in the past. Not sure how far they went though.

[WVIAC-F-EVER]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Naia put in a rule - you were out as soon as you announced ncaa...

Joining ncaa
Graduation rates, Title IX, gender equity of staff, and retention trump athletic success on the field when applying to joining the ncaa... a bunch of schools would have problems Getting in these days

[Dozsa2]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

I posted this on the GMAC thread because they were discussing rumors they had herd about schools joining the GMAC. It seems to be an annual ritual over there with many "sources" telling people that moves were eminent. ALWAYS part of the annual rumors are NDC and Urbana moving to the GMAC. This has been reported every year since the GMAC and MEC first opened for business and it just doesn't happen. There is also annual talk about "sources" saying Ashland and UIndy are either intending to move or very close to deciding to move. Again, it just never happens. New this year are "sources" that are apparently saying SHU, Gannon and Hurst are intent on moving to the GMAC. If history teaches us anything, I wouldn't antisipate this happening for at least another decade!

But since we were in the mode of posting what "sources" had said, I decided to post what I had heard over the last several months. Will all of the moves to the MEC I've heard from my "sources" happen? I'd say there is only about a 1% chance of that happening any time soon. Will ANY of the moves I posted happen in the forseable future (2-4 years)? I'd say there is about a 50/50 chance of that.

Concerning Ashland, what my source told me is that they are not completely happy with the direction of the GLIAC and they weren't happy with the offers conference offers they had received to that point. Hence their interest in hearing what the MEC could offer them. Now is that just due diligence on their part or genuine interest? My "source" didn't know but they did depart on good terms with a promise to keep in touch.

AB talks got to a pretty serious level but in the end just didn't happen. Don't know why or who backed out, but my "source" said it was pretty close to happening.

Walsh is a relatively new rekindling of past talks. Again, may be just due diligence on the part of Walsh.

The PSAC school, according to the "source" who provided me with the information is NOT a private school. "Source" wouldn't name names but did say the school was in the "West" (don't know if that was the location in the state or as in PSAC West).

Pikeville and Bluefield are interested but are reluctant to make the jump from NAIA to DII due to some recent problems that some NAIA schools have had in making the jump. NOTE: Bluefield College in VA NOT WVA. Bluefield VA has a football team and is a private school...Bluefield WVA does NOT have a football team and is a public.

Salisbury was speculated about based solely on their close ties with Frostburg but from a distance standpoint, that doesn't make sense without other schools joining.

Hadn't heard about Allaganey's possible interest in moving up to DII.

Well, if you're a member of the PSAC West, your location is in Western Pennsylvania.

State schools in the PSAC West: California, Clarion, Edinboro, IUP and Slippery Rock. The one state school that I would consider being in Western Pa. that isn't in the West anymore is Lock Haven. Regardless, and correct me if I'm wrong, fellow PSAC posters, but none of those schools are leaving. One or two might close/merge, but none of them are leaving for another conference.

[boatcapt]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Well, if you're a member of the PSAC West, your location is in Western Pennsylvania.

State schools in the PSAC West: California, Clarion, Edinboro, IUP and Slippery Rock. The one state school that I would consider being in Western Pa. that isn't in the West anymore is Lock Haven. Regardless, and correct me if I'm wrong, fellow PSAC posters, but none of those schools are leaving. One or two might close/merge, but none of them are leaving for another conference.

I ran down the list with him/her and he/she wouldn't even give me a feel for who. Source did say it might be just the team developing a contingency plan should a number if PSAC schools close/merge/leave and the conf colapses to one division (no east and west). Perhaps a travel distance issue??

[boatcapt]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

Naia put in a rule - you were out as soon as you announced ncaa...

Joining ncaa
Graduation rates, Title IX, gender equity of staff, and retention trump athletic success on the field when applying to joining the ncaa... a bunch of schools would have problems Getting in these days

NAIA putting in that rule, coupled with the difficulty some teams have had getting NCAA approval to move up to DII would probably cause any team considering a move to think twice.

[Dozsa2]

Re: Who will take WJU's spot in MEC???

I ran down the list with him/her and he/she wouldn't even give me a feel for who. Source did say it might be just the team developing a contingency plan should a number if PSAC schools close/merge/leave and the conf colapses to one division (no east and west). Perhaps a travel distance issue??

Here's a good map that shows exact locations our schools (not including the private institutions). Lock Haven is further east than I thought haha.

If the talk is a West team and a potential travel issue to the east, it seems the best candidates are Edinboro (GMAC) or California (MEC).

That said, short of a absolute apocalyptic scenario like you described with the league losing so many members that the divisions dissolve, I don't see any of the state schools leaving. But like the Biebs said, never say never.