Seadragon76

That's a creepy looking Spartan helmet there... and where is this school located? Are they even in the NCAA or NAIA?

It never hurts to have another Texas school on the roster. Plus, while there are schools in Texas that have football (looking at you, Division II Lone Star Conference), are any of them ready to make the leap to FCS level football (and Division I sports as well)? The only FCS conference to do a championship game currently is the SWAC, but that's because they have it during the playoffs. Not only that, the winner goes to the Celebration Bowl against the MEAC champion. Before they got an automatic bid, the Pioneer League had a championship game as well.

It's definitely a basketball move here by UConn. Part of the reasoning is that there's more competition for the hugely powerful women's basketball team (who hasn't lost a conference game since the formation of the American in 2013) in the Big East and the newly done television deal with ESPN isn't exactly that great (especially because most games would be behind the ESPN+ paywall) Now, @LMU is right. They're the outlier in a league full of Catholic schools... but UConn is well known to most of these schools. There's tons of history between most of the core members before the big split and they're an associate member in field hockey.

Why don't they just move straight to Montreal instead of this... hare brained scheme? Think about it. Montreal would have, at most, 9 years to build a new stadium (Being that the Rays are locked into the lease for Tropicana Field until 2027). Once the stadium is built, then the Rays can move to Montreal and there's no need for realignment.

Um, did you notice that I said "could" in there, speedy? That doesn't mean that they will. All I'm saying that the potential for this has a chance... especially if New Mexico State wants to keep its football team at the FBS level because it's got to be a massive strain on them financially to remain as an Independent program (to which I'm sure dfwabel has the numbers to maybe either back it up or prove me wrong). As for the other schools I mentioned... -Utah Valley and Dixie State are pretty much in Big Sky territory, so that would be a perfect fit for these two. Hell, it would give Dixie State a football home as well. I also mentioned Seattle since they would be a decent rival for Eastern Washington... until I remembered that they were in the WCC a long time ago and would be a better fit there then the Big Sky. -Let's be honest about Chicago State: They're god awful. They're the only team in this conference without a single conference title to their name... do you know how bad you have to be when your school can't even win an individual championship? To me, they ought to close up shop. -UTRGV has been flirting with the Southland for years and why not? It's a Texas school and they would be in a conference with mostly Texas schools. -Cal Baptist is the wild card here. They're in prime Big West territory... but the WCC could see potential in them as well.

Grand Canyon would work well for the WCC... They're both private schools that have some sort of religious backing (More so for Grand Canyon then Denver). If this happens, the WAC might end up ceasing to be. The members would all go elsewhere... -New Mexico State could find a home in either the Mountain West or Conference USA -Seattle, Utah Valley and Dixie State would be perfect in the Big Sky -Chicago State is just better off folding -UTRGV is perfect for the Southland -Cal Baptist would be good for either the Big West or the WCC.

You knew this was going to happen. UMKC was not happy in the WAC and moving back to the Summit was the best move for them. This gives the Summit a 10th team to help equalize schedules and a stable platform should Augustana (SD) want to jump on board. The WAC? Well, here we go again... They're already losing Cal State Bakersfield to the Big West in 2020. They're adding Dixie State at the same time. Basically, they're one good swipe or a Chicago State closure from falling apart since they'll be at only six core members in 2020 (Cal Baptist would be halfway through the process and Dixie State would be starting it).

There's 10 Division III schools that play in Division I. Five of them (Clarkson, Colorado College, Johns Hopkins, RPI and St. Lawrence) were grandfathered in since these schools have played at the highest level for many years. There were a few others that were grandfathered in but have gone back down to Division III. These were the men's soccer teams at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick along with the men's volleyball team at Rutgers-Newark. The other five (Franklin and Marshall, Hobart, MIT, RIT, and Union) were not grandfathered in. Therefore they can't give out scholarships in these sports. Of these ten schools, 5.5 of them are for hockey (the half is for Colorado College, who doesn't have women's ice hockey). The others are women's soccer, lacrosse, men's wrestling and women's rowing. This doesn't include the teams in sports that compete in a single division (like Bowling or Beach Volleyball)

That's a different beast to begin with. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word were already D-II schools and New Orleans flirted with the idea before going back. This is a school that probably has no business in even attempting this.

Would Kentucky State even have the financial resources to even consider a jump to Division 1? The last two HBCU's to make this jump (Winston-Salem State and Savannah State) are back in Division II and a third HBCU, Morris Brown, doesn't even exist anymore. This would be a very, very risky gamble on their part.

I like the way this new logo looks. Also got to love the new typeface they're rolling out.

No, no, no. The invite clearly said "Butt:censored:ers"

I like to think that when the Arena League botched it on two separate occasions, it helped turn the indoor game from a national level to more of a regional level sport. With the indoor game being more regional, it helps to cut down on costs. Why do you think that the Arena League's farthest location is Columbus? It helps to cut down on costs. You will have outliers in any league. In the NAL, where @Ferdinand Cesarano's Streets reside in, the farthest north you have to go is Worcester, MA. The farthest south is Orlando. In the IFL, you could go to either San Diego, Phoenix or Tucson for a game.

That's a bad one, but I think Paul George and his injury tops this because of the cringe factor alone... there's a huge difference between a compound fracture and having you ankle nearly broken off like George had.

The moves makes sense for Dixie State since they didn't exactly fit in that well with the Pacific West. This is despite their current home, the Rocky Mountain, being a far better fit. This saves the WAC for the time being because California Baptist will be about halfway through the process and Bakersfield jumping ship to join the Big West. This is still a ship that has major leaks, so any other moves may tip it over for good.

I find that hard to believe that Omaha wants to separate from old rivals. What would they gain in the Summit? They would be the outlier in that league... yes, you would be able to go to cities that are as big as, if not bigger then, Omaha itself.

That makes no sense to me... I would think that Omaha would be happy to see a fellow NCC alum in the same league. As for Denver... Where the hell would they go? The Mountain West wouldn't want them, they're a little far off for the West Coast, and the WAC is one good move from implosion.

Eh... that's not going to happen. All of those teams are pretty happy where they are... except for New Mexico State. The WAC is under constant pressure of possible implosion at any time. Chicago State is a freaking mess, Kansas City isn't happy with what they wanted from the WAC, Seattle and Grand Canyon probably wouldn't mind finding greener pastures like Cal State Bakersfield did... and there are rumors that the WAC may be looking at another Division II school in Dixie State (Utah). The Trailblazers are set to possibly make that move here. This means the WAC would have only 7 counting members (this is, of course, before Bakersfield leaves for the Big West). New Mexico State wouldn't mind finding a new home if it all goes to hell. Another D-II school that might be set for a move is Augustana (SD). The Vikings would be a perfect fit for the Summit League alongside a good chunk of their old North Central Conference rivals (The Dakota schools and Omaha)

With my perverted mind, that nickname means something else... you know what I mean? Also... Why??

The West Coast League introduced the newest member of the league today... introducing the Ridgefield Raptors.

I don't know where this fits, but it is college related so... How about a conference making an identity change as the Division III Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference now becomes the American Rivers Conference

They got to do Trash Pandas... it's probably the best choice of a rather crappy list (Puffy Head Bird Legs?!? How the hell do you make a mascot out of that name... or a logo even?)

I don't know if anyone noticed, but the West Coast League (summer college league) will be adding a franchise in Clark County, Washington starting next season. They'll play in Ridgefield (a rising community just north of Vancouver) at the Outdoor Recreation Complex there. It's a brand new stadium with seating at 1800 people. They're going to announce the nickname at the end of summer, but I have one idea that should work: Clark County Taters. Clark County since the team will represent the entire county (and adding 'county' to the name helps separate it from Cowlitz) and Taters since the team is playing in Ridgefield (whose high school teams are the Spudders) AND is used in baseball lingo.

This still feels very lateral for them. If the goal is to get into an FBS conference, being in the Atlantic Sun isn't going to help them in the long run. At least being an associate member of the Big South means that if the FBS experiment fails, they have a fall back option (they still technically would have this option in the Atlantic Sun as they have an alliance deal with the Big South that would put A-SUN members in the Big South for football).

That seems like a very lateral move for Liberty. Weren't they more comfortable in the Big South?