https://www.hbcusports.com/forums/thread...f8pdy_BcJ4

Quote:Word on the street is Delaware State may be considering leaving the MEAC for the Northeast Conference. I was told that issue was discussed during a Board of Trustees meeting last Thursday.

Just a rumor right now. Nothing confirmed.

The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

If any of the MEAC north leave it will be very tough for that conference to continue

Nothing in the rumor to suggest that the NEC invited them to "consider" the issue, it could just as easily be the BOT exploring their options if the MEAC does lose B-C and one more.

Bad fit and a no go from the NEC, I’d guess. The only public school in the conference is Central Connecticut St. Delaware St has about half the amount of students with less than half the endowment as CCSU.

(06-23-2020 07:07 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

Maybe Howard is aiming higher, like the CAA or Patriot.

Wonder why the NEC over the America East? NEC is mostly private schools, while the AE is mostly public

(06-23-2020 11:34 PM)TDenverFan Wrote:  Wonder why the NEC over the America East? NEC is mostly private schools, while the AE is mostly public

Power/prestige rankings are something like this:

AmEast
MAAC
NEC
MEAC

The NEC has lower standards and would be more inclined than AmEast to take on a school like DSU, although that doesn't mean they'd actually invite them.

(06-23-2020 10:57 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 07:07 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

Maybe Howard is aiming higher, like the CAA or Patriot.

My thought, too. Howard will be just fine. The MEAC had 4 schools I wasn’t concerned about: Howard, Hampton, Florida A&M, and North Carolina a A&T.

(06-23-2020 10:57 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 07:07 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

Maybe Howard is aiming higher, like the CAA or Patriot.

An FBS league might even be possible with Howard leading. Add JMU, Delaware, Stony Brook, Albany,, UNH, Kennesaw St, NC AT, EKU, Jacksonville St.

It would be less complicated than a ASUN spinoff and at least give somewhere that the CAA FBS wanna bees get to be in charge.

The CAA and Patriot might be aiming a bit to high for Howard. If they can get into the NEC I’d take it.

Doesn’t the Patriot have some sort of academic index that schools have to meet?

(06-24-2020 06:38 AM)NoDak Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 10:57 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 07:07 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

Maybe Howard is aiming higher, like the CAA or Patriot.

An FBS league might even be possible with Howard leading. Add JMU, Delaware, Stony Brook, Albany,, UNH, Kennesaw St, NC AT, EKU, Jacksonville St.

6 days, brother.

Quote:It would be less complicated than a ASUN spinoff

Why? You're still creating an FBS league out of thin air, in defiance of the NCAA's rules, that nobody with any stroke actually wants. Now the rules are made of rubber and can change on a whim, but they usually change to accomodate the desires of The Powers That Be. And the FCS elite aren't TPTB.

(06-24-2020 06:58 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(06-24-2020 06:38 AM)NoDak Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 10:57 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 07:07 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

Maybe Howard is aiming higher, like the CAA or Patriot.

An FBS league might even be possible with Howard leading. Add JMU, Delaware, Stony Brook, Albany,, UNH, Kennesaw St, NC AT, EKU, Jacksonville St.

6 days, brother.

Quote:It would be less complicated than a ASUN spinoff

Why? You're still creating an FBS league out of thin air, in defiance of the NCAA's rules, that nobody with any stroke actually wants. Now the rules are made of rubber and can change on a whim, but they usually change to accomodate the desires of The Powers That Be. And the FCS elite aren't TPTB.

There is no defiance of NCAA rules. FCS schools simply move to FBS which is allowable and when they get eight FBS teams they just apply to be an FBS conference. The MEAC autobid stays which Howard. Ban me if it isn't possible as you say. Just another example of your incompetence after the NCAA FBS decision with Liberty.

(06-23-2020 11:34 PM)TDenverFan Wrote:  Wonder why the NEC over the America East? NEC is mostly private schools, while the AE is mostly public

I think its size and enrollment profile. I would bet that AmEast wouldn’t sniff DSU given it had used to house its sibling, UD. Whereas NEC is smaller, and the other public member also isn’t some flagship or research hub.

(06-24-2020 06:51 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The CAA and Patriot might be aiming a bit to high for Howard. If they can get into the NEC I’d take it.

Doesn’t the Patriot have some sort of academic index that schools have to meet?

CAA has been the chaser for so many of the coastal state schools, be it MEAC, Big South, or even SoCon. Hampton and Howard were known to inquire for CAA. Academically, you would want Howard, but the athletics have been so bad, it’s almost untenable. And while I feel Howard actually does have a Patriot-esque vibe to it, good luck. I do think Howard would yield to the AI, though. They’re a selective school as is.

(06-24-2020 06:51 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The CAA and Patriot might be aiming a bit to high for Howard. If they can get into the NEC I’d take it.

Doesn’t the Patriot have some sort of academic index that schools have to meet?

Picked up from wikipedia:

Quote:It is categorized among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity"

U.S. News & World Report ranked Howard tied for 104th among national universities, and second among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for 2020.[6] Howard is the only HBCU ranked in the top 40 on the Bloomberg Businessweek business school rankings.[7] The Princeton Review ranked the business school first in opportunities for minority students and in the top five for most competitive students.[8] The National Law Journal ranked the law school among the top 25 in the nation for placing graduates at the most successful law firms.[9]

University rankings

National

Forbes[42] 388
Times/WSJ[43] 117
U.S. News & World Report[44] 104
Washington Monthly[45] 102

Global

QS[46] 581–590
U.S. News & World Report[47] 774

Howard ought to satisfy those academic marks for the Patriot.

Compare to Lehigh University:

Quote:University rankings

National

ARWU[9] 156–171
Forbes[10] 67
Times/WSJ[11] 48
U.S. News & World Report[12] 50
Washington Monthly[13] 71

Global

ARWU[14] 601–700
QS[15] 551–560
Times[16] 601–800
U.S. News & World Report[17] 799

(06-24-2020 06:38 AM)NoDak Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 10:57 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 07:07 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

Maybe Howard is aiming higher, like the CAA or Patriot.

An FBS league might even be possible with Howard leading. Add JMU, Delaware, Stony Brook, Albany,, UNH, Kennesaw St, NC AT, EKU, Jacksonville St.

It would be less complicated than a ASUN spinoff and at least give somewhere that the CAA FBS wanna bees get to be in charge.

Why would these schools form a conference with no autobid (without an NCAA waiver), no CFP money (again, barring a waiver), and increased travel for most schools?

JMU and Delaware might be looking to move up, but both are looking for a cushy landing spot, especially JMU. Eastern Kentucky has the history of success, a large enough stadium, but how many FBS football teams can Kentucky support? Jacksonville State... eh, maybe? But they might be a better fit in the Sun Belt or CUSA if some of the schools on the geographic edges of the conference decide to find a new home.

UNH, Albany, and Stony Brook do not have large enough stadiums, and UNH just renovated. Albany and Stony Brook do not have the history of success, although that does not seem to matter when considering a move up. Kennesaw State does not have the fan support for FBS, and how many FBS teams can Atlanta support? NC A&T just joined the Big South, but at least they have a large enough stadium and seem to have decent fan support. Not sure if they have the financials to move up though.

UAlbany has plans to build the other side of their stadium in case they need FBS levels of capacity, but this is not the year to take on a commitment like that. Their basketball arena is currently being used for antibody testing. They’re going to lose out on a lot of state aid in this budget climate and they might lose out on fall room-and-board revenue.

It makes sense why Delaware State might talk to the NEC. They would get a cost-contained FCS football home and more stability without needing to invest a lot more into the program.

Look for most of this year’s moves to be small upgrades (Robert Morris to Horizon) or moves to gain more stability and/or less travel (Florida A&M). No way you’ll find 8+ schools all wanting to throw a Hail Mary.

(06-24-2020 07:49 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(06-24-2020 06:38 AM)NoDak Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 10:57 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(06-23-2020 07:07 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The NEC should aim higher—go for Howard. Delaware St is the weakest football program in the MEAC.

Maybe Howard is aiming higher, like the CAA or Patriot.

An FBS league might even be possible with Howard leading. Add JMU, Delaware, Stony Brook, Albany,, UNH, Kennesaw St, NC AT, EKU, Jacksonville St.

It would be less complicated than a ASUN spinoff and at least give somewhere that the CAA FBS wanna bees get to be in charge.

Why would these schools form a conference with no autobid (without an NCAA waiver), no CFP money (again, barring a waiver), and increased travel for most schools?

JMU and Delaware might be looking to move up, but both are looking for a cushy landing spot, especially JMU. Eastern Kentucky has the history of success, a large enough stadium, but how many FBS football teams can Kentucky support? Jacksonville State... eh, maybe? But they might be a better fit in the Sun Belt or CUSA if some of the schools on the geographic edges of the conference decide to find a new home.

UNH, Albany, and Stony Brook do not have large enough stadiums, and UNH just renovated. Albany and Stony Brook do not have the history of success, although that does not seem to matter when considering a move up. Kennesaw State does not have the fan support for FBS, and how many FBS teams can Atlanta support? NC A&T just joined the Big South, but at least they have a large enough stadium and seem to have decent fan support. Not sure if they have the financials to move up though.

A new FBS conference would be part of the FBS payout in 2025. That is precisely why the U Presidents are poling around right now as FBS would be on sale for a few years

The SUNYs want FBS soon as their would be more prestige than FCS.

(06-24-2020 06:51 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The CAA and Patriot might be aiming a bit to high for Howard. If they can get into the NEC I’d take it.

Doesn’t the Patriot have some sort of academic index that schools have to meet?

The Patriot League is exactly the kind of place Howard fits, IMO. It's an extremely good school, so I would assume they meet the academic criteria, and they'd get to rub shoulders with the Ivies since those two schedule each other a lot, especially in football. They strike me as pretty committed to making the MEAC work, though.

If Delaware State is already discussing an exit strategy, things are worse than I thought. The league could survive the loss of BCU, albeit uncomfortably; if a school like DSU or Morgan State leaves, it's DEFCON 1 for the rest of the MEAC.