(03-08-2019 02:52 AM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  the 2 UCs are far more like the CSUs in D-II than they are like the small privates in NAIA. Yes UCM would need to add 2 sports, schools have done that before. UCSC's problem is they do have the money but choose to never fund athletics. They bailed on baseball 20 years ago when my wife was there. There are no D-III schools other than the 9 SoCal schools. There's 1 women's school that is in some new far flung conf. in D-III. Winning doesn't equal moving to the NCAA. You know that. Money and will is all you need. What has Dixie St., Cal Baptist done? nothing and they're D-I. Merrimack? going back NJIT? This is only D-II you know very well how you(teamsvn) are like why are they moving to D-II?

You're right about "likeness" until you get to their athletics budget. And that's my real point. You are also right about winning not meaning a move to the NCAA, but winning is a useful proxy for MONEY. If UC Merced spent the money to win, that would mean they have the money to shift towards other priorities (if they so chose) like the administrative overhead needed to run an NCAA program.

Both UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz, (and Cal Maritime) fit the NAIA model because they don't want to spend a lot of money on athletics. The day they decide to do so, they will be good candidates for D2.

Actually, at the D2 level Cal Baptist and Dixie both were pretty successful, and spent money to do it.

I am "why are they moving to the NCAA" when I see schools that don't have the money to be competitive. And that's most of the ones that have moved recently. For example, I think CS San Marcos moving to D2 made sense, although I wish they wouldn't have. As well, when CS Channel Island's time for athletics comes, it makes perfect sense for them to start in the NAIA, then move to D2 with the rest of their CS compatriots when they have the money and the will to do so.

BTW, how 'bout them Eagles? :D #GoEagles #BlueFlu I was tempted to take a trip to Sacto to see the CIF finals as well as the GSAC tournament in Rocklin.