Field of 64: “MAAC expands … and NEC dwindles”

[MICKEY]

Per Rothstein: announcement soon

[phillyeagle]

Ugh!!!

[anderson]

That would take us to 13. My guess is we are losing one of Siena, Iona, or Fairfield. My gut says FF to the Patriot League. That is why Sacred Heart and don’t sleep on Merrimack. The are moving in the right direction.

[le]

These two schools make the most sense as the two logical expansion targets for the MAAC. Both Catholic schools, one in metro NYC and the other in metro Boston. Merrimack's Volpe Center seats around 3,500 for hoops. Merrimack would have received the NEC auto-bid last season but they are still transitioning from D2. Merrimack has became a "name" school in the Bos area over the the last decade or so with numerous campus improvements --It's really moved up! I'm not sure what SHU's plans are for their hoops facility. Maybe they can lay down a hard floor at their new hockey on-campus arena. In terms of enrollment, I believe SHU is the second largest Catholic school in New England, not too far behind BC.

NU and CC are really on an island in WNY.

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

https://fairfieldstags.proboards.com/th ... ion?page=3

[le]

Found this re SHU’s new bball facility :

“The growth of Sacred Heart over the past 10 years is unbelievable. They raised their academic profile, bought out the old GE campus for a second campus, built a brand new hockey arena. Plan to rebuild their basketball facility (the money has been raised).”[/

[le]

Sacred Heart U (19,000) has surpassed BC (15,000) in total enrollment.

[NewEnglander]

Merrimack will be a formidable opponent in the MAAC. They have transitioned well to D1. They already have a hockey program in Hockey East and advanced to the NCAA's last year. Interesting to note that this gives the MAAC 5 Hockey programs, one short of making a new league. I don't see how Merrimack or Quinnipiac would take to a MAAC hockey conference, so don't be surprised if Quinnipiac is the school to leave. Merrimack may actually like to be the top dog in a new conference as Hockey East is brutal for most of the also rans. It may be the way for more NCAA bids. Another note is that the team that qualified for the NCAA basketball championships that lost to Merrimack is none other than last years NCAA darling Farleigh Dickenson. They would not have even been in the tournament otherwise.

[eagle80]

Maac board :

What I've been routinely told is the MAAC expects the A10 to splinter with the big name teams leaving for the Big East, and the A10 becoming more of a MAAC+ regional conference with MAAC teams heading there.

[eagle80]

This is very possible:

MB- I don’t think several MAAC Schools to the A-10 is completely dead. A-10 sits at 15 members today. La Salle has been rumored to pull a Hartford (drop to D3) and reportedly Loyola Chicago is looking to move back to the MVC. Big East won’t sit at 11 forever, VCU, St. Louis and Dayton are all realistic additions. Umass is investing more into their football program in hopes of an invite to the American. That’s 5 maybe 6 schools that could be on the move in the short term.

The next school the A-10 is adding is Charleston. But after that? Who knows. Hofstra? Drexel? Maybe some MVC teams? If Loyola & St Louis leave, I doubt the MVC route makes sense. I’d say Vermont but they just canceled their $80m basketball arena project which really pissed off their top donors. That leaves Iona, Quinny, Siena and Fairfield as next in line teams

.

[MICKEY]

There are a number of midwestern and southern teams that make sense for the A-10 as well. Northern Kentucky, Cleveland State to name a few. Let’s not look at the MAAC as the sole source of teams for the A-10. What puts QPac and Fairfield in line for the A-10. They have nice new but small facilities but haven’t won anything. Iona has dominated the MAAC but plays in a 2500 seat gym but has had questionable recruiting standards over the years. Siena has use of a downtown arena but has not shown much on the court as of late. If the A-10 loses Dayton and VCU to the Big East and Loyola and St Louis return to The Valley and U Mass goes to the AAC the A-10 loses a lot. I think a real question is what will happen to the NEC?