2025 Non-Conference Games

[IUPNation]

Now you know the D1 move was handled poorly when I'm agreeing with IUP people...

New Haven having D1 aspirations isn’t the issue. It’s the route they are taking. They should have aspired joining the CAA in foosball and maybe the A10 for everything else. The NEC is a dead end.

[Tdobson]

Just wondering: what is so bad about the NEC?

[Boro33]

New Haven having D1 aspirations isn’t the issue. It’s the route they are taking. They should have aspired joining the CAA in foosball and maybe the A10 for everything else. The NEC is a dead end.

Travel and recruiting expenses certainly is though. Plus, a better chance to win 🏆 in NEC. No brainer.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Just wondering: what is so bad about the NEC?

I'm not sure their football or basketball champions would beat the PSAC champions. That's the problem.

Following-wise, our top programs have larger fan bases.

I'd go to a St. Francis hoops game once a year. It was worse than a high school atmosphere.

We know what games at Mercyhurst are like.

[NewHaven Alum]

I just don't understand why New Haven needed to make the move for 2025-26. Is it really worth starting the transition one year sooner if everything goes scorched earth in the meantime?

Could be said the same about the NEC and it's not the first time they are doing it, Mercyhurst 😉😉.

[IUPNation]

Just wondering: what is so bad about the NEC?

Look at their mangy lineup.

[cwfenn]

New Haven having D1 aspirations isn’t the issue. It’s the route they are taking. They should have aspired joining the CAA in foosball and maybe the A10 for everything else. The NEC is a dead end.

Hoping they have an idea for moving out of the NEC for that reason. Quinnipiac might be the model here, they started in the NEC and moved to the MAAC, but they also hit a home run with ice hockey while their other programs have been OK at best. New Haven doesn't have any sport like that, and they just nuked their most prominent program too.

CAA/A10 would be great, but don't see that happening.

[IUPNation]

Hoping they have an idea for moving out of the NEC for that reason. Quinnipiac might be the model here, they started in the NEC and moved to the MAAC, but they also hit a home run with ice hockey while their other programs have been OK at best. New Haven doesn't have any sport like that, and they just nuked their most prominent program too.

CAA/A10 would be great, but don't see that happening.

I think New Haven would be better off playing Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Villanova in foosball

[EastStroud13]

The NEC is only a dead end for programs that don't invest. Merrimack joined the NEC in 2019 and left for the MAAC in 2024. Gotta start somewhere and the MAAC/CAA/AEC don't take D2 callups.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The NEC is only a dead end for programs that don't invest. Merrimack joined the NEC in 2019 and left for the MAAC in 2024. Gotta start somewhere and the MAAC/CAA/AEC don't take D2 callups.

I'd preface that by saying they won't take 'those' D2 callups. Mercyhurst, for example, was a D2 football tomato can.

If an actual 'big baller' wanted to come up (Grand Valley, Ferris State, etc.) ... it would be interesting to see which conferences would try and grab them.

The PSAC has some legit targets but the whole PASSHE thing really muddies the waters. Not to mention most of them are broke. West Chester would certainly be appealing. IUP would have been 20 years ago.

But, the grass isn't always greener. IUP, SRU, WCU, etc., have a good thing going in the PSAC. They have a some 'friendly' rivalries, history, etc. Going up to the slums of D1 isn't that appealing. It's not like joing the NEC would do anything for fan interest. At some schools it would actually hurt it.

[Fightingscot82]

Hoping they have an idea for moving out of the NEC for that reason. Quinnipiac might be the model here, they started in the NEC and moved to the MAAC, but they also hit a home run with ice hockey while their other programs have been OK at best. New Haven doesn't have any sport like that, and they just nuked their most prominent program too.

CAA/A10 would be great, but don't see that happening.

Does New Haven have the corporate connections that QU has? If I recall correctly, New Haven is somewhat landlocked so their ability to build a true D1 worthy arena if they can even find the money could be difficult. That said, their current basketball facility is on par with some of the NEC gyms of the last decade (some have been upgraded)

[EastStroud13]

I'd preface that by saying they won't take 'those' D2 callups. Mercyhurst, for example, was a D2 football tomato can.

If an actual 'big baller' wanted to come up (Grand Valley, Ferris State, etc.) ... it would be interesting to see which conferences would try and grab them.

The PSAC has some legit targets but the whole PASSHE thing really muddies the waters. Not to mention most of them are broke. West Chester would certainly be appealing. IUP would have been 20 years ago.

But, the grass isn't always greener. IUP, SRU, WCU, etc., have a good thing going in the PSAC. They have a some 'friendly' rivalries, history, etc. Going up to the slums of D1 isn't that appealing. It's not like joing the NEC would do anything for fan interest. At some schools it would actually hurt it.

I have long felt that GVSU/Ferris's best fit in the current environment is all sports in the Horizon League, football in the MVFC. But, I'm not sure if the MVFC is willing to take D2 callups, no matter how good they are. And GVSU/Ferris probably don't have interest in slumming it in OVC football while they wait around for the MVFC.

I think if PASSHE really wanted to pump money into West Chester as their "flagship", they could find a decent enough home in D1. The America East is mostly R1 public flagships, and having a program in Pennsylvania would fill a gap in their geography. But that would come at the expense of all the other campuses, so I can't imagine it would garner the necessary support.

[Fightingscot82]

Ferris is very much a D2 school from top to bottom whereas Grand Valley is a truly regional university. Their connections to Amway and Meijer are huge. They're the #3 option for a lot of Michigan kids and not viewed the way PASSHE schools are. Ferris, not so much.

It was several years ago, but GVSU leadership wants to stay D2. They'd consider D1 but it would have to make sense. They like being a big dog in a small neighborhood. The GLIAC public schools are very much like the PSAC - you play against a lot of schools your friends go to. That changes when they start playing Wisconsin Green Bay or Illinois State every week - the same as it would change if West Chester started playing Georgetown and Central Connecticut State.

[EastStroud13]

Ferris is very much a D2 school from top to bottom whereas Grand Valley is a truly regional university. Their connections to Amway and Meijer are huge. They're the #3 option for a lot of Michigan kids and not viewed the way PASSHE schools are. Ferris, not so much.

It was several years ago, but GVSU leadership wants to stay D2. They'd consider D1 but it would have to make sense. They like being a big dog in a small neighborhood. The GLIAC public schools are very much like the PSAC - you play against a lot of schools your friends go to. That changes when they start playing Wisconsin Green Bay or Illinois State every week - the same as it would change if West Chester started playing Georgetown and Central Connecticut State.

I don't really agree. Ferris's enrollment exceeds every PASSHE school except West Chester. Their endowment is more than double West Chester's, and almost double IUP's. And, they already support a D1 hockey program at a much better level than Mercyhurst ever had. They may not be GVSU-level, but they still don't look like the average D2 school.

Sure, they'd have fewer in-state schools in their conference (though they would gain Oakland). But being D1 would also open them up to non-conference dates against Michigan, MSU, and the MAC directionals. Neither GVSU nor Ferris gets that opportunity in D2. Likewise with West Chester, sure they would lose their in-state rivalries, but when you can put Penn State or Temple on your schedule, that offsets the loss by quite a bit. Not to mention a possible continuation of their football rivalry with Delaware, which as far as I'm aware is the only rivalry involving a PSAC school to have its own Wikipedia page.

For the GLIAC schools I truly believe it comes down to football not having a natural immediate home. It's not worth the risk having to wait around in the OVC for an opening to become available in the MVFC. If the Horizon sponsored football, I think they would already be in D1.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don't really agree. Ferris's enrollment exceeds every PASSHE school except West Chester. Their endowment is more than double West Chester's, and almost double IUP's. And, they already support a D1 hockey program at a much better level than Mercyhurst ever had. They may not be GVSU-level, but they still don't look like the average D2 school.

Sure, they'd have fewer in-state schools in their conference (though they would gain Oakland). But being D1 would also open them up to non-conference dates against Michigan, MSU, and the MAC directionals. Neither GVSU nor Ferris gets that opportunity in D2. Likewise with West Chester, sure they would lose their in-state rivalries, but when you can put Penn State or Temple on your schedule, that offsets the loss by quite a bit. Not to mention a possible continuation of their football rivalry with Delaware, which as far as I'm aware is the only rivalry involving a PSAC school to have its own Wikipedia page.

For the GLIAC schools I truly believe it comes down to football not having a natural immediate home. It's not worth the risk having to wait around in the OVC for an opening to become available in the MVFC. If the Horizon sponsored football, I think they would already be in D1.

I don't think Grand Valley would even consider jumping to one of the bush league conferences. Now, the MAC would be a different topic.