"HURST OUT OF PSAC?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Westminster (Pa.) (not to be confused with Westminster (Utah) from the RMAC) was part of the GLIAC for three years (1997-2000) before ultimately dropping to D3. I think you're referring to what was called the Midwestern Intercollegiate Football Conference, of which Westminster was a part of for the 1998 season before the MIFC was disbanded and the GLIAC began sponsoring football again in 1999.

Two of my high school friends played at Westminster during their brief GLIAC run. It wasn't a fun experience for them.

[ctrabs74]

Probably not now that the GMAC is Region 3 in football which means they will be going far for any playoffs. I’m sure the GMAC was already clumped with Midwestern leagues for other sports playoffs.

Correct. The GMAC is part of the Midwest Region for non-football sports along with the GLIAC and GLVC.

[ctrabs74]

It looks like they were NAIA up until they tried to make a go of it in the MIAC then dropped down to D3.

Westminster (Pa.) (not to be confused with Westminster (Utah) from the RMAC) was part of the GLIAC for three years (1997-2000) before ultimately dropping to D3. I think you're referring to what was called the Midwestern Intercollegiate Football Conference, of which Westminster was a part of for the 1998 season before the MIFC was disbanded and the GLIAC began sponsoring football again in 1999.

[ctrabs74]

It definitely leaned toward Phillly in the dark ages when I attended, and I believe it still does. The biggest difference is that you have hundreds of minority students, when the campuses in the '60s, outside of Cheyney, were mostly lily white. I could be wrong, but I don't think students from the D.C. area have ever been a significant presence at Ship.

I only mentioned DC because I seemed to recall that the cable TV systems at Ship carried stations from DC, but you're correct in that there's a heavy Philly presence at Shippensburg.

[Ram040506]

Probably not now that the GMAC is Region 3 in football which means they will be going far for any playoffs. I’m sure the GMAC was already clumped with Midwestern leagues for other sports playoffs.

Must matter in sports not related to this forum lol

[TheBigCat2192]

I think Westminster was the last holdout of NAIA football in the region. Geneva and Waynesburg were also NAIA for years. NAIA is scholarship football and in most cases fits somewhere between D3 and D2.

It looks like they were NAIA up until they tried to make a go of it in the MIAC then dropped down to D3.

[Fightingscot82]

Massey’s “All Seasons” page for Westminster says they spent two years in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference which then merged with another league to form the GLIAC. They didn’t do very well and dropped to D3 before the merger. So they have tried before.

I think Westminster was the last holdout of NAIA football in the region. Geneva and Waynesburg were also NAIA for years. NAIA is scholarship football and in most cases fits somewhere between D3 and D2.

[IUPNation]

Wouldn't it kind of make some sense for Gannon to join the GMAC? Or Seton Hill even? Most of those schools seem to be private (GMAC) and I'd think that would align better for those 2 in particular.

Probably not now that the GMAC is Region 3 in football which means they will be going far for any playoffs. I’m sure the GMAC was already clumped with Midwestern leagues for other sports playoffs.

[IUPNation]

I'm going to come back to a question I asked before. What happens if there is no addition for 2025? I guess the West teams just schedule a new team in Mercyhurst's slot.

Are the 2025 schedules out yet? Finalized might be a better word. Would another OOC game benefit IUP and the other West teams? Could it benefit the league?

Don’t forget three East schools don’t have a third crossover.

[TheBigCat2192]

There's several potential schools in the PAC.

Westminster was the last one to try (from memory). I think they played in the GLIAC for a year or so.

I'm probably remembering all that incorrectly but they did come up for a brief period.

Who knows where this is going at this point.

Massey’s “All Seasons” page for Westminster says they spent two years in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference which then merged with another league to form the GLIAC. They didn’t do very well and dropped to D3 before the merger. So they have tried before.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Adding a West team? What do you mean. Everybody in the West already schedules everybody else in the West.

The obvious difficulty is a team has to find another team during the specific week they were scheduled to play Hurst. That is not that easy to do.

As it stands now, if the more competitive programs leave it as a bye week they can hurt their post-season playoff hopes. There are other ways to look at it where it could give PSAC-West teams an unfair advantage come post-season. My thinking is that the imbalanced divisions issue has to be resolved.

Remember, they can play Week 0 (or whatever it's called).

The week last year before IUP played at Ashland ... they could have scheduled a game that weekend.

But, yes, filling it during the Mercyhurst hole is about impossible.

[iupgroundhog]

2025 and 2026 schedules are online and updated with Bye weeks where Mercyhurst would have been. Obviously things can be adjusted as needed, but the easy path would be adding a West team and inserting them into the void left by Mercyhurst.

Adding a West team? What do you mean. Everybody in the West already schedules everybody else in the West.

The obvious difficulty is a team has to find another team during the specific week they were scheduled to play Hurst. That is not that easy to do.

As it stands now, if the more competitive programs leave it as a bye week they can hurt their post-season playoff hopes. There are other ways to look at it where it could give PSAC-West teams an unfair advantage come post-season. My thinking is that the imbalanced divisions issue has to be resolved.

[Fightingscot82]

2025 and 2026 schedules are online and updated with Bye weeks where Mercyhurst would have been. Obviously things can be adjusted as needed, but the easy path would be adding a West team and inserting them into the void left by Mercyhurst.

[gman16506]

Wouldn't it kind of make some sense for Gannon to join the GMAC? Or Seton Hill even? Most of those schools seem to be private (GMAC) and I'd think that would align better for those 2 in particular.

But the travel schedule would bring back memories for Gannon of the long road trips when they were a member of the GLAC. Would be surprised if Gannon has any interest in that type of change. Plus, Gannon would have to give up all the natural rivalries available thru the PSAC West.

[Ram040506]

Classify under the 'message board babbling' category, but ... what if we haven't heard about any additions because there won't be any additions? What if there will be addition by subtraction and another team folds (thus balancing the ledger, per se).

If I've learned one thing following this league for decades ... it's that nothing should ever surprise you. Who actually believed Mercyhurst would give a no-notice 'F You' to the league and bail in April?

We have a lot of schools hanging on for dear life. We have two institutions that each feature three varsity football teams. I'm just waiting for the day to log in here and see so-and-so has announced they are dropping football. Uncle Sam's PA posse isn't going to close a campus down. Hell, Cheyney and Mansfield are still open. But, I could see one of our schools dumping football.

Wouldn't it kind of make some sense for Gannon to join the GMAC? Or Seton Hill even? Most of those schools seem to be private (GMAC) and I'd think that would align better for those 2 in particular.