Eastern Washington new President talks future

[Techster88]

Anyone hearing EWU might drop down to D2?

https://www.krem.com/mobile/article/...d-9f0bf261c5d1

[laker]

Anyone hearing EWU might drop down to D2?

https://www.krem.com/mobile/article/...d-9f0bf261c5d1

Staying D1 but dropping football? The comment about joining the WAC because it only has 3 football teams smacks of ignorance- for one thing, more teams are coming in and travel costs would be even greater! Going to D2 and keeping football? The GNAC needs more than just them. I can't see them going D3.

[Tech Boys]

The WAC is only looking at football schools. If EWU drops football then the WAC will not be an option.

The author needs to do a bit of fact checking. A school reclassifying from D1 to D2 is just 2 years, not several years.

The best option for EWU is to move to the GNAC. A good chunk of their budget cuts would be in the costs of travel and scholarships alone. The GNAC sponsors all of EWU's sports except men's and women's tennis.

[tsull]

The ignorance of college administrators continues to amaze me. There is one Division 3 league in the Northwest, the Northwest Conference, and for over 25 years they have said they do not want any state schools in their conference. They have said it publicly, they have said it privately, they have shouted it from the mountaintops. Eastern Oregon University was once a football-only school in that league and they got kicked out because they were a state school. Anyone with barely a pulse who lives in the Northwest knows this, except apparently six-figure administrators in Cheney, Washington.

Also, spending more money to join the Western Athletic Conference is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard for a western based college that is hurting for money.

They only have two options: stay in the Big Sky Conference and keep football and all other sports; or join the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for all sports.

I'm truly amazed at the stupidity of these administrators.

[IronOre]

The ignorance of college administrators continues to amaze me. There is one Division 3 league in the Northwest, the Northwest Conference, and for over 25 years they have said they do not want any state schools in their conference. They have said it publicly, they have said it privately, they have shouted it from the mountaintops. Eastern Oregon University was once a football-only school in that league and they got kicked out because they were a state school. Anyone with barely a pulse who lives in the Northwest knows this, except apparently six-figure administrators in Cheney, Washington.

Also, spending more money to join the Western Athletic Conference is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard for a western based college that is hurting for money.

They only have two options: stay in the Big Sky Conference and keep football and all other sports; or join the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for all sports.

I'm truly amazed at the stupidity of these administrators.

If you read the actual report, it straight up says that if EWU wants to reclassify it should go D2, and then gives information for the GNAC and RMAC, saying the GNAC is the more logical fit. The report is very detailed and does a good job laying out all the options.

https://cdn.ewu.edu/wp-content/uploa...rt_Feb2021.pdf

[tsull]

If you read the actual report, it straight up says that if EWU wants to reclassify it should go D2, and then gives information for the GNAC and RMAC, saying the GNAC is the more logical fit. The report is very detailed and does a good job laying out all the options.

https://cdn.ewu.edu/wp-content/uploa...rt_Feb2021.pdf

Yes, but D3 should've never even been studied. There's one state school D3 league in America, it's in Wisconsin. Joining the RMAC is another expensive endeavor.

EWU has been dominating the Big Sky on the field and on the court of late. While I'd love to see them in the GNAC, I think they'd be best served staying where they're at. They just gave Kansas a run for their money in the NCAA tournament.

The University of Idaho in my hometown dropped from FBS to FCS, thinking they would go back and dominate the Big Sky. They won ONE basketball game last year, football has consistently been near the bottom. The year they dropped to the Big Sky they had just won a bowl game over Colorado State. Donations have plummeted, enrollment has stagnated, and they're just not getting good athletes to go to the school anymore. When they were D-1 in the WAC, which at the time had Boise State and Nevada, they finished 3rd in basketball twice and had the player of the year.

Dropping down could have serious consequences for EWU, IMO, or maybe not enough people care. There's a new prep football stadium going up in downtown Spokane, they could play a game or two there. Dropping football has not benefitted WWU or Humboldt. We won't see some sudden great hoops at APU because of this move. It's just a move that makes people mad, drops enrollment and donations, and makes fat cat administrators think they're great intellectuals quoting Tennyson to their student body, while all their students roll their eyes.

[tsull]

If you read the actual report, it straight up says that if EWU wants to reclassify it should go D2, and then gives information for the GNAC and RMAC, saying the GNAC is the more logical fit. The report is very detailed and does a good job laying out all the options.

https://cdn.ewu.edu/wp-content/uploa...rt_Feb2021.pdf

Thanks for the link, I read the report. The committee could've saved hours if not days in eliminating any D3 or RMAC talk. That was window dressing. D3/NWC isn't taking them ever, neither is the RMAC. I've been on committees, people love just adding to the work load and documentation. Burger flipper in Cheney could've told them not to put D3 or RMAC in ... otherwise a good report.

[IronOre]

Thanks for the link, I read the report. The committee could've saved hours if not days in eliminating any D3 or RMAC talk. That was window dressing. D3/NWC isn't taking them ever, neither is the RMAC. I've been on committees, people love just adding to the work load and documentation. Burger flipper in Cheney could've told them not to put D3 or RMAC in ... otherwise a good report.

A burger flipper in Cheney has no idea D3, D2, the RMAC, or the GNAC exists. Might have an inkling of the Big Sky conference if they follow sports.

[tsull]

A burger flipper in Cheney has no idea D3, D2, the RMAC, or the GNAC exists. Might have an inkling of the Big Sky conference if they follow sports.

I was being sarcastic, but I am surprised how clueless 6-figure administrators are and the people doing this report seem to be. One call -- ONE -- to any NWC school or the NWC offices gets your answer:

"Hey, can we join the NWC conference?"

NWC: "Wait till I stop laughing then I will give you your answer."

For 20+ years the NWC has said no private schools. What broke up the CFA? Private vs. public.

Also, for admins or the report researchers who are left out in the cold, try a 5-second Google search, it's really not that hard.

[IronOre]

I was being sarcastic, but I am surprised how clueless 6-figure administrators are and the people doing this report seem to be. One call -- ONE -- to any NWC school or the NWC offices gets your answer:

"Hey, can we join the NWC conference?"

NWC: "Wait till I stop laughing then I will give you your answer."

For 20+ years the NWC has said no private schools. What broke up the CFA? Private vs. public.

Also, for admins or the report researchers who are left out in the cold, try a 5-second Google search, it's really not that hard.

I dunno, you offer the conference a big enough chunk of money to gain entrance to it, they might take a different approach.

[tsull]

I dunno, you offer the conference a big enough chunk of money to gain entrance to it, they might take a different approach.

What money? EWU is broke and the private schools said never, ever again in playing state schools. Won't happen in a million years, that's their big sticking point. They use the term "like-minded" players and schools. University of Michigan could want entrance and they're not taking it. CWU and WOU had some pretty good teams in the 80's and started crushing the likes of UPS, Whitworth, and L & C, they made the most noise and got it changed. There will never be a state school playing in the NWC, ever.

[tsull]

I have a feeling they're staying FCS/Big Sky. They just announced the hiring of their women's hoop coach, a former assistant from Seattle U., well she did have D2 experience as the head coach at Humboldt State. Her husband is the asst. men's coach at Seattle U., I doubt she takes the job unless there were assurances of staying D-1. They also announced the hiring of two assistant men's hoop coaches, who were at other D-1 schools. Again, they don't make those hires unless they're staying D-1, IMO, they would hold off until the smoke cleared ... well, you never know, they could drop down, but I doubt it.

* Just heard they're staying FCS and keeping football. As much as I wanted them in the GNAC, this is a good move for them ... now Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Idaho State and other D1annabees, they should look at D2, IMO. EWU has simply won too much. They should play more games in Spokane, build a fan base ... Cheney sucks.