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I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
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geewizNU Offline
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Post: #41
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.
02-27-2018 04:07 PM
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B_Hawk06 Offline
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Post: #42
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:00 PM)solohawks Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:51 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  When it comes to divisions, I think the majority of UNCW supporters would agree that UNCG is probably the best available for a southern school. I wonder if William and Mary or JMU fans would prefer a VA school?

GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

I'm gonna say it again, because nobody is listening.

Nobody should care what JMU or JMU fans want. The reality is they don't WANT to be in the CAA anyways. So making any moves to appease them is a mistake from the start. The second they get an opportunity they are going to bounce. Whether it turns out good or bad for them in the long run is beside the point. The fact is... they have no interest in the CAA. They want out.

I'd rather listen to WM and WM fans. They have interesting in the CAA and staying with it. I know this is all hypothetical, but they're the ones we should trust to be around a while.

I agree the fanbase may want out but the fact of the matter is they had an out to go to FBS with a Sunbelt invite and turned it down. So while their fanbase may want it, their administration is still pro FCS and therefore pro CAA.

Then again, I think we all know why you want to listen to W&M 02-13-banana

facepalm...

07-coffee3
02-27-2018 04:07 PM
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B_Hawk06 Offline
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Post: #43
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:07 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.

Honestly, and this isn't meant to slight you in any way but I'm not interested in adding anymore northern schools. It's too much of a burden on our limited athletic dept funds. I'd rather see the CAA stick with southern schools or we go to a southern-based conference that puts emphasis on basketball. Or we add football. The latter is likely to never happen at UNCW. So there we are.
02-27-2018 04:09 PM
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solohawks Offline
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Post: #44
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:07 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.

Hofstra blocked Stony Brook last merry go round.
Do you know if they still oppose them?
02-27-2018 04:13 PM
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geewizNU Offline
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Post: #45
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:13 PM)solohawks Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:07 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.

Hofstra blocked Stony Brook last merry go round.
Do you know if they still oppose them?

That might be more of a question for Evan J.
02-27-2018 04:16 PM
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Seahawkhoops Offline
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Post: #46
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:09 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:07 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.

Honestly, and this isn't meant to slight you in any way but I'm not interested in adding anymore northern schools. It's too much of a burden on our limited athletic dept funds. I'd rather see the CAA stick with southern schools or we go to a southern-based conference that puts emphasis on basketball. Or we add football. The latter is likely to never happen at UNCW. So there we are.
Right, but this comment was in regards to the discussion around making it two divisions with a North/South
02-27-2018 04:16 PM
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geewizNU Offline
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Post: #47
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:16 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:09 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:07 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.

Honestly, and this isn't meant to slight you in any way but I'm not interested in adding anymore northern schools. It's too much of a burden on our limited athletic dept funds. I'd rather see the CAA stick with southern schools or we go to a southern-based conference that puts emphasis on basketball. Or we add football. The latter is likely to never happen at UNCW. So there we are.
Right, but this comment was in regards to the discussion around making it two divisions with a North/South

This ...
02-27-2018 04:17 PM
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B_Hawk06 Offline
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Post: #48
I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:17 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:16 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:09 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:07 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 03:34 PM)solohawks Wrote:  GeewizNu - who would NE prefer to round out a northern division?

Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.

Honestly, and this isn't meant to slight you in any way but I'm not interested in adding anymore northern schools. It's too much of a burden on our limited athletic dept funds. I'd rather see the CAA stick with southern schools or we go to a southern-based conference that puts emphasis on basketball. Or we add football. The latter is likely to never happen at UNCW. So there we are.
Right, but this comment was in regards to the discussion around making it two divisions with a North/South

This ...

The CAA tried to add SB for that reason and Hofstra blocked it. So there’s at least one northern school not interested in that package, and convincing them seems a foregone conclusion. For that reason... I’m out.


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02-27-2018 04:28 PM
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TribePride91 Offline
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Post: #49
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
I agree with CG on JMU. But, while the angst is enormous over on their site over every rumor of a new conference affiliation, I am not sure that the administration is as on board to move to FBS. Again you have to have a better place to go to. Simply moving is not as great as it seems. ODU and App St are great examples. ODU had no significant football success and moved up which has damaged every other sport they have. They along with VCU were the best programs for basketball in the CAA for many years. They do get a game with Va Tech at ODU in football soon. Not sure if that one opportunity is worth the damage in the other sports. Their travel is also awful. App St fits closer to JMU's current spot. Super competitive and right at the top of FCS. Not sure it is ultimately worth it if you don't really get to the P5 level which none of these schools will. JMU is totally loaded in football and could win 3-4 more national titles in FCS if they stay. Or, they can possibly move to G5. But, there is an excellent chance that G5 eventually becomes FCS again(i.e all teams playing a playoff that are not part of the roughly 64 spots at the big money table). All of the football moves seem to have hurt basketball at the respective schools. It was a good move for VCU(but they don't have football). It was a bad move for George Mason. But, the other reality is that if the P5 conferences continue to refuse to play the mid-major conferences and the committee continues to change the criteria to further reward mediocre play from P5 teams, basketball could be the same scenario as football of P5 and then scraps. 20+ leagues get only the auto bid, including the CAA. How much longer before the NCAA(or the P5 themselves) either completely phases out the auto bid, or makes 16+ of the midmajors play a play in game to get into the tourney and sticks it to the survivors in the real 1st round against p5 schools. At least in baseball, the smaller conferences still have a shot.

Could Charleston have competed last year in the NCAA tournament? Yes. It was not 20+ years ago when the CAA got multiple bids, it was 2011 and VCU went to the final four. George Mason went in 2006. But, the deck is now stacked to prevent it from happening. VCU would have had no chance for their run in 2011 now because they were an at large. They won 5 games as it was to get to the final four that year. I would even argue that the selection committee stuck it to UNCW by putting them against UVA and Duke in successive years. Many matchups would have been better, but they put UNCW against the ACC in back to back years. Let's just say the calls in those games were not down the middle....

So, for now, all we have is the tournament in Charleston and the round robin 18 game regular season. But, it will be a fun 4 days and it was another competitive fun season. The only thing that might help is a better TV deal. Watching some past tourney action on youtube that NBCSN covered was pretty good coverage. I cannot even find the coverage to watch last year's final.
(This post was last modified: 02-27-2018 06:23 PM by TribePride91.)
02-27-2018 06:00 PM
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Seahawk Nation 08 Offline
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Post: #50
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
There's no ideal fit for any of the CAA schools if a move up is not possible. But the premise of this thread is that all it will take is a couple schools to leave for the league to start to fragment. Once 2+ schools leave, other schools will consider other options. It may not happen in the immediate future. But the current setup just isn't sustainable.
(This post was last modified: 02-27-2018 08:38 PM by Seahawk Nation 08.)
02-27-2018 08:38 PM
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82hawk Offline
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Post: #51
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 04:28 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:17 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:16 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:09 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:07 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  Obviously it’s been discussed here but Albany and Stony Brook come to mind.

Honestly, and this isn't meant to slight you in any way but I'm not interested in adding anymore northern schools. It's too much of a burden on our limited athletic dept funds. I'd rather see the CAA stick with southern schools or we go to a southern-based conference that puts emphasis on basketball. Or we add football. The latter is likely to never happen at UNCW. So there we are.
Right, but this comment was in regards to the discussion around making it two divisions with a North/South

This ...

The CAA tried to add SB for that reason and Hofstra blocked it. So there’s at least one northern school not interested in that package, and convincing them seems a foregone conclusion. For that reason... I’m out.


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it makes zero sense for any northern school to block another. I mean, why? What are the trying to protect? Nobody is going to the games anyhow, so it regional matchups will bring out more fans, everybody wins. Look at the triangle in the ACC, those rivalries are fantastic. Maybe they have a bit more perspective with some time in the CAA and would have a different opinion now?
02-27-2018 09:15 PM
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solohawks Offline
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Post: #52
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-27-2018 09:15 PM)82hawk Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:28 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:17 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:16 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:09 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  Honestly, and this isn't meant to slight you in any way but I'm not interested in adding anymore northern schools. It's too much of a burden on our limited athletic dept funds. I'd rather see the CAA stick with southern schools or we go to a southern-based conference that puts emphasis on basketball. Or we add football. The latter is likely to never happen at UNCW. So there we are.
Right, but this comment was in regards to the discussion around making it two divisions with a North/South

This ...

The CAA tried to add SB for that reason and Hofstra blocked it. So there’s at least one northern school not interested in that package, and convincing them seems a foregone conclusion. For that reason... I’m out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it makes zero sense for any northern school to block another. I mean, why? What are the trying to protect? Nobody is going to the games anyhow, so it regional matchups will bring out more fans, everybody wins. Look at the triangle in the ACC, those rivalries are fantastic. Maybe they have a bit more perspective with some time in the CAA and would have a different opinion now?

You're right, but they did. William and Mary sports blog did an excellent writeup about it several years ago, using information obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.

While the blog is no longer active here is a summary of what they found
http://collegesportsinfo.com/2013/08/09/...caa-notes/
02-28-2018 12:16 AM
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B_Hawk06 Offline
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Post: #53
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-28-2018 12:16 AM)solohawks Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 09:15 PM)82hawk Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:28 PM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:17 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  
(02-27-2018 04:16 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  Right, but this comment was in regards to the discussion around making it two divisions with a North/South

This ...

The CAA tried to add SB for that reason and Hofstra blocked it. So there’s at least one northern school not interested in that package, and convincing them seems a foregone conclusion. For that reason... I’m out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it makes zero sense for any northern school to block another. I mean, why? What are the trying to protect? Nobody is going to the games anyhow, so it regional matchups will bring out more fans, everybody wins. Look at the triangle in the ACC, those rivalries are fantastic. Maybe they have a bit more perspective with some time in the CAA and would have a different opinion now?

You're right, but they did. William and Mary sports blog did an excellent writeup about it several years ago, using information obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.

While the blog is no longer active here is a summary of what they found
http://collegesportsinfo.com/2013/08/09/...caa-notes/

They're still active, I think they've just shifted to other media outlets. They post on our board somewhat regularly, and just put a post up the other day. I'm sure they're probably available for comment on the matter if you hit them up.
02-28-2018 12:20 AM
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solohawks Offline
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Post: #54
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
Here is the information via the internet archive. The site that hosted the original material is no longer active

https://web.archive.org/web/201504290711...n-efforts/
02-28-2018 12:25 AM
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70shawk Offline
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Post: #55
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-28-2018 12:25 AM)solohawks Wrote:  Here is the information via the internet archive. The site that hosted the original material is no longer active

https://web.archive.org/web/201504290711...n-efforts/

That's a great find and an impressive e-mail trail.

It seems to reinforce my thinking about how dependent the school presidents were on Tom Yeager for information (and how Yeager asked them to disregard "rumors" - ie, information that didn't come from him), and little Yeager really knew about the shifting state of conference realignment and about him being "blind sided" by where particular schools were coming from during the process.

It also seemed to me that the CAA office had an unrealistically exalted view of how attractive a home the CAA might be to various institutions. Yeager never could do anything to get TV deals and TV money to the CAA, and conference realignment has been basically all about trying to get more money. So it looks like he was talking to all kinds of schools, clueless that he was a lot of peoples' second or third option - and taken aback when at least one of the CAA schools left for more A-10 money and exposure.
02-28-2018 09:35 AM
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solohawks Offline
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Post: #56
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-28-2018 09:35 AM)70shawk Wrote:  
(02-28-2018 12:25 AM)solohawks Wrote:  Here is the information via the internet archive. The site that hosted the original material is no longer active

https://web.archive.org/web/201504290711...n-efforts/

That's a great find and an impressive e-mail trail.

It seems to reinforce my thinking about how dependent the school presidents were on Tom Yeager for information (and how Yeager asked them to disregard "rumors" - ie, information that didn't come from him), and little Yeager really knew about the shifting state of conference realignment and about him being "blind sided" by where particular schools were coming from during the process.

It also seemed to me that the CAA office had an unrealistically exalted view of how attractive a home the CAA might be to various institutions. Yeager never could do anything to get TV deals and TV money to the CAA, and conference realignment has been basically all about trying to get more money. So it looks like he was talking to all kinds of schools, clueless that he was a lot of peoples' second or third option - and taken aback when at least one of the CAA schools left for more A-10 money and exposure.

I took it kind of the other way. It seemed to me the Presidents were directing Yeager to look at unrealistic candidates like George Washington and getting Richmond and VCU to return. For all his faults, I think Yeager did a good job considering the tools he had to work with. Every time he had something put together, something happened, like Richmond going to the A10 has the CAA was literally about to announce an major expansion with SoCon schools. He kept the league alive when it was down to 6 members and got football under the CAA banner to provide stability to schools like JMU and William and Mary. We had excellent TV coverage for a league of our stature under his tenure. His biggest fault, in my opinion, was that he could never land Davidson.

Had the schools listened to Yeager we would have divisions by now and wouldn't be such a mishmash of schools trying to make it work.
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2018 09:57 AM by solohawks.)
02-28-2018 09:50 AM
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Seahawk Nation 08 Offline
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Post: #57
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-28-2018 09:50 AM)solohawks Wrote:  
(02-28-2018 09:35 AM)70shawk Wrote:  
(02-28-2018 12:25 AM)solohawks Wrote:  Here is the information via the internet archive. The site that hosted the original material is no longer active

https://web.archive.org/web/201504290711...n-efforts/

That's a great find and an impressive e-mail trail.

It seems to reinforce my thinking about how dependent the school presidents were on Tom Yeager for information (and how Yeager asked them to disregard "rumors" - ie, information that didn't come from him), and little Yeager really knew about the shifting state of conference realignment and about him being "blind sided" by where particular schools were coming from during the process.

It also seemed to me that the CAA office had an unrealistically exalted view of how attractive a home the CAA might be to various institutions. Yeager never could do anything to get TV deals and TV money to the CAA, and conference realignment has been basically all about trying to get more money. So it looks like he was talking to all kinds of schools, clueless that he was a lot of peoples' second or third option - and taken aback when at least one of the CAA schools left for more A-10 money and exposure.

I took it kind of the other way. It seemed to me the Presidents were directing Yeager to look at unrealistic candidates like George Washington and getting Richmond and VCU to return. For all his faults, I think Yeager did a good job considering the tools he had to work with. Every time he had something put together, something happened, like Richmond going to the A10 has the CAA was literally about to announce an major expansion with SoCon schools. He kept the league alive when it was down to 6 members and got football under the CAA banner to provide stability to schools like JMU and William and Mary. We had excellent TV coverage for a league of our stature under his tenure. His biggest fault, in my opinion, was that he could never land Davidson.

Had the schools listened to Yeager we would have divisions by now and wouldn't be such a mishmash of schools trying to make it work.


Meh. If preserving a league with an acceptable slate of decent teams is considered a success story, I guess Yeager is a success. But that seems like his main job. Preventing a league from breaking up is not particularly easy, but it isn't a reason to really praise him.

The league never got the media exposure it COULD have because his vision for the league was skewed towards schools in big media markets. Sure, there was a high ceiling there IF the teams were wildly successful, but also a very low floor, which we're seeing today.

Yeager also never could decide whether to put most of the eggs in the football or basketball basket. Clearly, the latter should have been the case, since very few people care about FCS Football. When you have FCS schools desperately trying to get into the FBS any way they can, that's evidence enough that the FCS is not desirable.

Had we decided early on to be a basketball-first conference, while also making baseball a priority, we'd probably be in much better shape. We'd be more of a poor man's A-10 instead of a conference that's basically in no-man's land today. Instead of competing for multiple bids on a consistent basis, we're just a plain old 1-bid league. That's not a great legacy he left behind.
02-28-2018 10:34 AM
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solohawks Offline
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Post: #58
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-28-2018 10:34 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  
(02-28-2018 09:50 AM)solohawks Wrote:  
(02-28-2018 09:35 AM)70shawk Wrote:  
(02-28-2018 12:25 AM)solohawks Wrote:  Here is the information via the internet archive. The site that hosted the original material is no longer active

https://web.archive.org/web/201504290711...n-efforts/

That's a great find and an impressive e-mail trail.

It seems to reinforce my thinking about how dependent the school presidents were on Tom Yeager for information (and how Yeager asked them to disregard "rumors" - ie, information that didn't come from him), and little Yeager really knew about the shifting state of conference realignment and about him being "blind sided" by where particular schools were coming from during the process.

It also seemed to me that the CAA office had an unrealistically exalted view of how attractive a home the CAA might be to various institutions. Yeager never could do anything to get TV deals and TV money to the CAA, and conference realignment has been basically all about trying to get more money. So it looks like he was talking to all kinds of schools, clueless that he was a lot of peoples' second or third option - and taken aback when at least one of the CAA schools left for more A-10 money and exposure.

I took it kind of the other way. It seemed to me the Presidents were directing Yeager to look at unrealistic candidates like George Washington and getting Richmond and VCU to return. For all his faults, I think Yeager did a good job considering the tools he had to work with. Every time he had something put together, something happened, like Richmond going to the A10 has the CAA was literally about to announce an major expansion with SoCon schools. He kept the league alive when it was down to 6 members and got football under the CAA banner to provide stability to schools like JMU and William and Mary. We had excellent TV coverage for a league of our stature under his tenure. His biggest fault, in my opinion, was that he could never land Davidson.

Had the schools listened to Yeager we would have divisions by now and wouldn't be such a mishmash of schools trying to make it work.


Meh. If preserving a league with an acceptable slate of decent teams is considered a success story, I guess Yeager is a success. But that seems like his main job. Preventing a league from breaking up is not particularly easy, but it isn't a reason to really praise him.

The league never got the media exposure it COULD have because his vision for the league was skewed towards schools in big media markets. Sure, there was a high ceiling there IF the teams were wildly successful, but also a very low floor, which we're seeing today.

Yeager also never could decide whether to put most of the eggs in the football or basketball basket. Clearly, the latter should have been the case, since very few people care about FCS Football. When you have FCS schools desperately trying to get into the FBS any way they can, that's evidence enough that the FCS is not desirable.

Had we decided early on to be a basketball-first conference, while also making baseball a priority, we'd probably be in much better shape. We'd be more of a poor man's A-10 instead of a conference that's basically in no-man's land today. Instead of competing for multiple bids on a consistent basis, we're just a plain old 1-bid league. That's not a great legacy he left behind.

I gotta dispute that. Overall, Yeager did a good job. Look at what we have now for a bad job. Yeager would not have allowed the embarrassment that was this season's media deal to happen.

When Richmond slammed a chair in the back of the CAA's head when they weren't looking, the SoCon merger fell apart and the CAA was in a bad spot. No SoCon school was going to join at that point. The remaining 6 tried to merge with the American East and got rejected. While the league wasn't in trouble of losing its auto bid, as 6 teams was the minimum required at the time, a 6 team league that just lost 3 members does not breed stability. They had to act.

Who would have joined the CAA in the early 2000's. Not SoCon schools, not CUSA schools, not A10 schools. I guess we could have taken on schools like Liberty, Coastal, Radford, Winthrop and Ashville from the Big South, but I don't think that would have inspired any stability, particularly with football schools JMU and W&M. Hampton was out there too but again, the pickings to stay below the Mason Dixon line were very very slim.

Getting American East schools was literally the only realistic option, and Delaware was the kingmaker. Looking back UNCW was extremely lucky the American East turned down the merger or would either be making annual trips to Maine or be in the Big South. If we were in the Big South during our prime period, I don't think it would have turned out as well as it did as our NCAA seeding would have been horrendous.

In order to get Delaware you had to make a push to get football, as that is why they wanted out of the American East. Delaware wanted to be in an all sports conference that included football. That meant taking on Hofstra (a football school at the time) and Towson as well as Delaware's little buddy Drexel. I imagine there was push to go ahead and add Northeastern (another football school at the time) initially as well so football could be launched right away. I suspect UNCW got that delayed until another southern school could be added. This makes sense as Northeastern was added as soon as Ga St became the southern school willing to join. I suspect UNCW really wanted Charleston but had to compromise once Charleston made it clear they wanted to stay in the SoCon with Davidson.

Understanding all this and what Yeager was left with, its no wonder he emphasized major markets. Its the only card he had. I don't believe that was his goal in expansion initially, it is just how it turned out. It actually worked out for a while on the TV front as the majority of our schools were in Comcast markets, making it a great fit for their RSN's, thereby keeping the CAA's solid regional TV footprint and eventually some national coverage on NBC Sports Network.

What sucks is their are now better options for all CAA schools. But that would require the American East and CAA to work together, along with the SoCong taking a hit, which just isn't going to happen.

The American East should take the 5 northern CAA schools and Monmouth and become a 14 team all sports conference that is the king of FCS football in the Northeast.

The 5 remaining CAA schools should then add Furman, Wofford, UNCG, UNCA, and Winthrop. With Richmond as an affiliate an FCS football league could be formed and the CAA would be in the dominant FCS conference in VA, NC, and SC with a major focus on basketball being maintained.
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2018 11:11 AM by solohawks.)
02-28-2018 10:57 AM
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EvanJ Offline
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Post: #59
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-26-2018 01:49 PM)TribePride91 Wrote:  As for the Big South, it is absolutely terrible(usually in the bottom 5 leagues).
The Big South is bad, but not normally in the bottom 5. It had the fifth worst Conference RPI in 2013-2014. In the four seasons since then including this season, it had been eighth or ninth worst. There are conferences close enough that it has a tiny chance of falling into the bottom 5, but that would probably require teams from the Horizon League (which has fallen far), Northeast, and Patriot winning postseason games.

(02-26-2018 01:54 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  
(02-26-2018 12:56 PM)EvanJ Wrote:  I understand how you feel, and Hofstra has long travel also, but if the CAA breaks up, where would every team go?

The first dominos to fall would probably be some of the northern schools, who would be "package deals" together. They'd leave for a league whose top teams got poached by a bigger league.

I can't see the America East being an option, after the mass exodus by current CAA schools from that league previously. But certainly the MAAC would be a strong option. If just one MAAC school leaves, they're down to 10. And even if they don't, do you think they'd turn down adding, say, Northeastern or Hofstra, if they came calling?

Drexel wouldn't be a bad fit in the NEC. Could the Patriot League be an option too?

I know there was talk of JMU trying to get into the MAC, but I don't see that happening, ever. In the unlikely event that ever happened, Delaware would try to go with them.
The MAAC might take Hofstra and Northeastern. The MAAC has plenty of teams in and near New York City without Hofstra. I don't know if they would value having a team in Boston. Has Boston University helped the Patriot League? As for the amount of teams, the MAAC used to make teams play 20 conference games to play everybody twice. This season they decreased it to 18 with two opponents you play once, so I don't know if they want more teams. They don't need an unbalanced schedule to reduce travel because other than Canisius and Niagara, you can bus from any MAAC team to any other team in under five hours without traffic. All the conferences other than the CAA with teams in the northeast are either at least 40% Christian (Big East, Atlantic 10, Northeast, MAAC, and Patriot), almost all public (Hartford is the only private school in the America East), or not accepting new teams (Ivy).

(02-27-2018 04:16 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  That might be more of a question for Evan J.
I don't have inside information.

(02-27-2018 09:15 PM)82hawk Wrote:  it makes zero sense for any northern school to block another. I mean, why? What are the trying to protect? Nobody is going to the games anyhow, so it regional matchups will bring out more fans, everybody wins. Look at the triangle in the ACC, those rivalries are fantastic. Maybe they have a bit more perspective with some time in the CAA and would have a different opinion now?
Just because you think it makes zero sense doesn't mean it didn't happen.
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2018 11:13 AM by EvanJ.)
02-28-2018 11:10 AM
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Seahawk Nation 08 Offline
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Post: #60
RE: I'll say it. It's time for the CAA to break up.
(02-28-2018 10:57 AM)solohawks Wrote:  I gotta dispute that. Overall, Yeager did a good job. Look at what we have now for a bad job. Yeager would not have allowed the embarrassment that was this season's media deal to happen.

When Richmond slammed a chair in the back of the CAA's head when they weren't looking, the SoCon merger fell apart and the CAA was in a bad spot. No SoCon school was going to join at that point. The remaining 6 tried to merge with the American East and got rejected. While the league wasn't in trouble of losing its auto bid, as 6 teams was the minimum required at the time, a 6 team league that just lost 3 members does not breed stability. They had to act.

Who would have joined the CAA in the early 2000's. Not SoCon schools, not CUSA schools, not A10 schools. I guess we could have taken on schools like Liberty, Coastal, Radford, Winthrop and Ashville from the Big South, but I don't think that would have inspired any stability, particularly with football schools JMU and W&M. Hampton was out there too but again, the pickings to stay below the Mason Dixon line were very very slim.

Getting American East schools was literally the only realistic option, and Delaware was the kingmaker. Looking back UNCW was extremely lucky the American East turned down the merger or would either be making annual trips to Maine or be in the Big South. If we were in the Big South during our prime period, I don't think it would have turned out as well as it did as our NCAA seeding would have been horrendous.

In order to get Delaware you had to make a push to get football, as that is why they wanted out of the American East. Delaware wanted to be in an all sports conference that included football. That meant taking on Hofstra (a football school at the time) and Towson as well as Delaware's little buddy Drexel. I imagine there was push to go ahead and add Northeastern (another football school at the time) initially as well so football could be launched right away. I suspect UNCW got that delayed until another southern school could be added. This makes sense as Northeastern was added as soon as Ga St became the southern school willing to join. I suspect UNCW really wanted Charleston but had to compromise once Charleston made it clear they wanted to stay in the SoCon with Davidson.

Understanding all this and what Yeager was left with, its no wonder he emphasized major markets. Its the only card he had. I don't believe that was his goal in expansion initially, it is just how it turned out. It actually worked out for a while on the TV front as the majority of our schools were in Comcast markets, making it a great fit for their RSN's, thereby keeping the CAA's solid regional TV footprint and eventually some national coverage on NBC Sports Network.

What sucks is their are now better options for all CAA schools. But that would require the American East and CAA to work together, along with the SoCong taking a hit, which just isn't going to happen.

The American East should take the 5 northern CAA schools and Monmouth and become a 14 team all sports conference that is the king of FCS football in the Northeast.

The 5 remaining CAA schools should then add Furman, Wofford, UNCG, UNCA, and Winthrop. With Richmond as an affiliate an FCS football league could be formed and the CAA would be in the dominant FCS conference in VA, NC, and SC with a major focus on basketball being maintained.

The mess we're in with the media deal we have now is due to Yeager not joining the 21st century and failing to show any innovation or urgency. He should have laid the groundwork for his successor, but he didn't. The current regime being terrible in that aspect is as much on Yeager as it is on the people in charge. These were people who worked under Yeager for years.

Every conference in America has had to deal with teams backstabbing them and going against their promises. Every school is out for their best interests. I'm not sympathetic when it happens anywhere, including the CAA.

Maybe I'm being unfairly critical, because Yeager always rubbed me the wrong way. Those who spent any time with him knew he was a bit of a jerk, and that's probably an understatement. Maybe he had to be that way to do the job for as many years as he did...I don't know. He also didn't give two sh*ts about Baseball, and he also never really did anything to do UNCW any favors. He never went out of his way to hurt us either, true. But I dunno, he rubbed me the wrong way throughout his tenure.
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2018 11:34 AM by Seahawk Nation 08.)
02-28-2018 11:32 AM
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