Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[sc49erfan15]

Oh hey I think we saw this one coming

 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college-gridiron-365/os-sp-famu-bcu-realignment-20200623-r42q6flmq5cpvcwanuvm3xwwri-story.html

 

Bethune-Cookman to the SWAC.

[Burkell007]

13 hours ago, sc49erfan15 said:

Oh hey I think we saw this one coming

 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college-gridiron-365/os-sp-famu-bcu-realignment-20200623-r42q6flmq5cpvcwanuvm3xwwri-story.html

 

Bethune-Cookman to the SWAC.

And with North Carolina A&T going to the big south, where does that put SC St? Might as well dissolve the MEAC, or merge with the WAC lol 

[sportsfan7]

5 hours ago, lilben777 said:

18 hours ago, sc49erfan15 said:

Oh hey I think we saw this one coming

 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college-gridiron-365/os-sp-famu-bcu-realignment-20200623-r42q6flmq5cpvcwanuvm3xwwri-story.html

 

Bethune-Cookman to the SWAC.

And with North Carolina A&T going to the big south, where does that put SC St? Might as well dissolve the MEAC, or merge with the WAC lol 

If all potential moves go through as reported, I think the MEAC will dissolve. NC Central, Howard, and Norfolk St to the Big South, Delaware St and Baltimore St (Merger of Coppin and Morgan that gets discussed every few years) to the Colonial, MD-Eastern Shore to the DII CIAA and SC St to either the DII CIAA or the DII SIAC.

[Seadragon76]

Hmm.. I heard Delaware State was looking at the NEC.

[leopard88]

2 hours ago, sportsfan7 said:

If all potential moves go through as reported, I think the MEAC will dissolve. NC Central, Howard, and Norfolk St to the Big South, Delaware St and Baltimore St (Merger of Coppin and Morgan that gets discussed every few years) to the Colonial, MD-Eastern Shore to the DII CIAA and SC St to either the DII CIAA or the DII SIAC.

 

I live just outside Baltimore and I have never heard this discussed.  That's not to say that there isn't some logic to it, but I've never heard it talked about.  I've heard about merging UMBC and the University of Baltimore and even that has always sounded more like someone's "just tossin' it out there" idea.

 

As for the other parts, I could see UMES dropping down to D-II.  They are noncompetitive in pretty much every thing except bowling and are pretty isolated geographically on the lower Eastern Shore. On the other hand, given the "UM" part of the name, I could see a push to try to keep them in D-I if at all possible.

EDIT -- Apparently this was a thing in late 2019 . . . dualing op-eds about mergers of either Morgan or Coppin with the University of Baltimore, but not with each other.  I have no recollection of seeing or reading this.

 

https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-1115-equitable-mergers-20191114-tlaxypojbna2bkevovi4o6rija-story.html

UB dropped its athletic program in the early 1980s, so this would have no effect on sports other than a possible name change.  However, UB was once a D-II soccer powerhouse (Final Fours in 1972 and 1973 and a National Championship in 1975).

[sportsfan7]

41 minutes ago, Seadragon76 said:

Hmm.. I heard Delaware State was looking at the NEC.

I put them in the Colonial because that is where Delaware is. Delaware St isn't really in the NEC footprint and they would be only the second public school in the conference.

 

10 minutes ago, leopard88 said:

 

I live just outside Baltimore and I have never heard this discussed.  That's not to say that there isn't some logic to it, but I've never heard it talked about.  I've heard about merging UMBC and the University of Baltimore and even that has always sounded more like someone's "just tossin' it out there" idea.

 

As for the other parts, I could see UMES dropping down to D-II.  They are noncompetitive in pretty much every thing except bowling and are pretty isolated geographically on the lower Eastern Shore. On the other hand, given the "UM" part of the name, I could see a push to try to keep them in D-I if at all possible.

I guess I misremembered. I looked it up and their seems to be occassional plans to merge Baltimore with either Coppin or Morgan or UMBC, but I didn't see anything about a Coppin-Morgan merger. With that being said, the State of Maryland is making some budget cuts right now (just like almost every other state) and it would almost certainly be cheaper to merge Coppin and Morgan, as well as a UB-UMBC merger. It doesn't make a ton of sense, out side of past history, to operate 2 large, public HBCUs in the same city (same applies to UB-UMBC).

I agree with you on UMES. They don't have a football team or any major rivalries and only really have success in bowling, which they could keep as a DI program.

[leopard88]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan7 said:

I put them in the Colonial because that is where Delaware is. Delaware St isn't really in the NEC footprint and they would be only the second public school in the conference.

 

I guess I misremembered. I looked it up and their seems to be occassional plans to merge Baltimore with either Coppin or Morgan or UMBC, but I didn't see anything about a Coppin-Morgan merger. With that being said, the State of Maryland is making some budget cuts right now (just like almost every other state) and it would almost certainly be cheaper to merge Coppin and Morgan, as well as a UB-UMBC merger. It doesn't make a ton of sense, out side of past history, to operate 2 large, public HBCUs in the same city (same applies to UB-UMBC).

I agree with you on UMES. They don't have a football team or any major rivalries and only really have success in bowling, which they could keep as a DI program.

 

I see Delaware St. and any Maryland schools left heading to the America East before the CAA or NEC.  They fit better with the other state schools in the AE than the schools in the NEC.  On the other hand, they seem at least a notch below the CAA in terms of competitiveness and competitive aspirations.

 

As for the mergers, the intracity mergers make the most sense, whether UB and Morgan or UB and Coppin.  I've never thought a UB-UMBC merger made as much sense because they're actually not that close together (probably a 30 minute drive depending on traffic).  They also tend to serve different students and different roles, so there would not be as much ability to eliminate overlap other than at the administration level.

[sportsfan7]

20 minutes ago, leopard88 said:

 

I see Delaware St. and any Maryland schools left heading to the America East before the CAA or NEC.  They fit better with the other state schools in the AE than the schools in the NEC.  On the other hand, they seem at least a notch below the CAA in terms of competitiveness and competitive aspirations.

 

As for the mergers, the intracity mergers make the most sense, whether UB and Morgan or UB and Coppin.  I've never thought a UB-UMBC merger made as much sense because they're actually not that close together (probably a 30 minute drive depending on traffic).  They also tend to serve different students and different roles, so there would not be as much ability to eliminate overlap other than at the administration level.

I think a post-merger Baltimore St would be good enough to get into the CAA and could bring along Delaware St. If Morgan St and Coppin St remain separate, I think they would join the AmericaEast along with Delaware St.

As far as Baltimore-area mergers go, It appears that Baltimore-Morgan is 1A, Baltimore-Coppin is 1B, and Baltimore-UMBC is 2. As far as travel goes, UB to UMBC is shorter than Coppin to Morgan (18 vs 20 minutes), but I would have to agree with you that their isn't enough overlap between UB and UMBC for any significant change to the budget.

[4_tattoos]

Doesn't the CAA have facility requirements for it's members? If so, no way in hell Delaware State winds up there. Their current football and basketball facilities are no where near on par with a University of Delaware or James Madison.

 

IMHO Delaware State should consider Division 2 if/when the MEAC truly implodes. I don't think any other D1 conferences will want to bring them in (honestly don't know why so many people think the NEC wants them), and I don't think their administration cares enough about it's athletics to invest any more into it than they have been.

[sportsfan7]

2 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

Doesn't the CAA have facility requirements for it's members? If so, no way in hell Delaware State winds up there. Their current football and basketball facilities are no where near on par with a University of Delaware or James Madison.

 

IMHO Delaware State should consider Division 2 if/when the MEAC truly implodes. I don't think any other D1 conferences will want to bring them in (honestly don't know why so many people think the NEC wants them), and I don't think their administration cares enough about it's athletics to invest any more into it than they have been.

Alumni Stadium would be the second smallest in the CAA and the smallest among full members. Memorial Hall is more of a problem, as it is less than 2/3 the size of the next smallest, Cabot Center, the home of Northeatern's women's team (The men's team shares Matthews Arena with the Northeastern and Wentworth hockey teams). The baseball stadium is on the smaller side of average.

 

To be fair, no one in the CAA has facilities on par with Delaware or JMU. The JMU football stadium is 2x the size of any other, excluding Delaware which is only a little smaller. JMU also built a brand-spanking-new basketball arena that's the second largest in the conference, but Delaware has one of the smallest (still 3 times the size of Delaware St).

 

Really the only reason I put DSU in the CAA was because they would be in-state rivals with Delaware and would even up the conference if they added my hypothetical Baltimore St. Knowing now that an HBCU Baltimore St will likely never happen, I would see them ending up in the NEC or AEC with Morgan, Coppin, and possibly UMES.

[4_tattoos]

Bethune-Cookman officially announces plan to join the SWAC in 2021

 

https://hbcugameday.com/2020/06/25/bethune-cookman-university-leaving-meac-for-swac/?fbclid=IwAR2zR9iblRm4fCofiB00F_zDrya6rTvxS3ZDU-ch7Jlb5gPD7H03S0uzpcs

[sportsfan7]

A bitter irony that as HBCUs are getting more attention than ever, one of their 2 D1 conferences is crumbling before our eyes.

[Dilbert]

I honestly think Delaware State would be okay in the NEC. The NEC unlike America East hosts football. If the MEAC does implode like it looks like it might, I can see Howard and Morgan State join them, Basketball wise these three would have Mount St Marys in Emmitsburg MD not far away, plus Coppin State and Maryland Eastern Shore could join them. As for Norfolk State, South Carolina State and North Carolina Central I see them going to the Big South or even the Southern Conference

[Red Comet]

5 hours ago, Dilbert said:

I honestly think Delaware State would be okay in the NEC. The NEC unlike America East hosts football. If the MEAC does implode like it looks like it might, I can see Howard and Morgan State join them, Basketball wise these three would have Mount St Marys in Emmitsburg MD not far away, plus Coppin State and Maryland Eastern Shore could join them. As for Norfolk State, South Carolina State and North Carolina Central I see them going to the Big South or even the Southern Conference

 

If the MEAC collapses, I could see SWAC change their name to something like the Heritage or Freedom Conference as it would be the only conference left dominated by HBCUs.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Red Comet

[sportsfan7]

6 hours ago, Dilbert said:

I honestly think Delaware State would be okay in the NEC. The NEC unlike America East hosts football. If the MEAC does implode like it looks like it might, I can see Howard and Morgan State join them, Basketball wise these three would have Mount St Marys in Emmitsburg MD not far away, plus Coppin State and Maryland Eastern Shore could join them. As for Norfolk State, South Carolina State and North Carolina Central I see them going to the Big South or even the Southern Conference

I don't think Howard would go to the NEC. They are far and away the biggest name-brand HBCU. Steph Curry is a donor to their golf team and most of the kids who visit HBCUs visit Howard. I think Howard would end up in a better conference, such as the CAA, Big South, or maybe even the SoCon.

[sc49erfan15]

On 6/8/2020 at 12:49 PM, sc49erfan15 said:

https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2020/06/03/robert-morris-considering-options-to-leave-northeast-conference/

 

It popped up a few days ago that this was being "considered," but I have on good word that Robert Morris is leaving the NEC for the Horizon League.

 

Quoting myself to bring Robert Morris back up - I forgot to mention that this move also involved Robert Morris becoming an associate member of the Big South in football.

 

https://bigsouthsports.com/news/2020/6/15/big-south-adds-robert-morris-university-as-football-member.aspx

 

For the 2021 season, Big South football will have 9 members:

Campbell

Charleston Southern

Gardner-Webb

Hampton

North Carolina A&T

Kennesaw State

Monmouth

North Alabama

Robert Morris

 

Presbyterian College is currently a full member of the Big South in all sports, but will transition to non-scholarship Pioneer League football in 2021.

[Seadragon76]

Right now, the remaining eight schools in the MEAC are probably concerned with this exodus going on. They could (but not hoping) lose Coppin State or UMES since they're non-football schools.

 

Any school that plays football jumps ship and this conference is in trouble.

[rams80]

Also on the earlier Delaware State to the Colonial spitballing, I'm pretty sure Delaware would put a brick on that idea.

[stumpygremlin]

https://hbcugameday.com/2020/06/30/delaware-state-sticking-with-the-meac/

Delaware State is not leaving the MEAC, and the other schools likely breathed a sigh of relief. For now.

[sportsfan7]

8 hours ago, rams80 said:

Also on the earlier Delaware State to the Colonial spitballing, I'm pretty sure Delaware would put a brick on that idea.

Even though we now know they're staying in the MEAC, it wouldn't have been unusual for the State gov't to get involved and force Delaware to vote in favor of Delaware St, a la UVA-VA Tech in the ACC.