(05-11-2021 08:05 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

I would guess Howard and South Carolina St are pushing back against CSU. Howard for academic reasons, SC State because Orangeburg is probably the hardest location to fly to Chicago from.

It's only an hour on the bus from Columbia or Charleston.

(05-11-2021 08:05 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

I would guess Howard and South Carolina St are pushing back against CSU. Howard for academic reasons, SC State because Orangeburg is probably the hardest location to fly to Chicago from.

I don't think I can handicap which schools feel this way, but the way this was explained to me by people who would know, the bigger concern is about Chicago State's financial situation, high level institutional leadership, and simple administrative capacity.

Right now, Chicago State's *operations*, from media relations to athletic training to scouting to sponsorships are not developed enough to be attractive to a majority of members of ANY D-I conference.

If anybody ends up taking them, I would be very surprised if it isn't on a temporary, quasi-affiliate basis, so the league would have time to make sure their infrastructure was ready.

(05-12-2021 08:28 PM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  

(05-11-2021 08:05 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

I would guess Howard and South Carolina St are pushing back against CSU. Howard for academic reasons, SC State because Orangeburg is probably the hardest location to fly to Chicago from.

I don't think I can handicap which schools feel this way, but the way this was explained to me by people who would know, the bigger concern is about Chicago State's financial situation, high level institutional leadership, and simple administrative capacity.

Right now, Chicago State's *operations*, from media relations to athletic training to scouting to sponsorships are not developed enough to be attractive to a majority of members of ANY D-I conference.

If anybody ends up taking them, I would be very surprised if it isn't on a temporary, quasi-affiliate basis, so the league would have time to make sure their infrastructure was ready.

Right—I highly doubt that Chicago St will be anything more than a contract member of a D1 conference.

(05-11-2021 08:05 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

I would guess Howard and South Carolina St are pushing back against CSU. Howard for academic reasons, SC State because Orangeburg is probably the hardest location to fly to Chicago from.

My guess is there's only one school that wants CSU in the conference and it's a pretty good educated guess!

Chicago State moved up to D-I in 1984, so the exemption doesn't apply. If they move down, all sports have to move down.

I would think being in Chicago would help MEAC recruit students & athletes.

(05-15-2021 06:40 AM)templefootballfan Wrote:  I would think being in Chicago would help MEAC recruit students & athletes.

On the other hand, it's not doing Chicago State much good

(05-12-2021 12:51 PM)whittx Wrote:  

(05-12-2021 12:36 PM)ccd494 Wrote:  Since 2007, if your main division is D-II or D-III AND the NCAA offers a championship at that level, you cannot move up to D-I. If you are D-II or D-III and the NCAA does not offer a championship (like D-II hockey), you can play D-I.

D-2 can play up. D-3 has a hockey championship. A better analogy would be women's bowling.

So, he says "like D-II hockey" and you "correct" him by explaining that he is 100% correct?

As he explained, if your main division is D-II or D-III, and you are not grandfathered in, you can only opt to play a sport in D-I if there is no championship in your division. There is no D-II hockey championship, so D-II hockey is a perfectly correct example.

(05-15-2021 07:09 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(05-15-2021 06:40 AM)templefootballfan Wrote:  I would think being in Chicago would help MEAC recruit students & athletes.

On the other hand, it's not doing Chicago State much good

There's a push to support HBCUs, and you can sell black athletes on being able to do so while being home once a year. Students as a whole generally don't stay in Illinois unless they have to, let alone athletes.

Looks like the MEAC and SWAC have extended their agreement with ESPN/Celebration Bowl through 2026

https://twitter.com/SamHerderFCS/status/...8422062080

I've said it many times before, but at this point the big discussion around CSU shouldn't be where their athletic department belongs (they should drop sports altogether like NE Illinois did a few decades ago, or go to the NAIA Chicagoland Conference at the minimum) but how they can sustainably operate as a university. One could argue that they're beyond repair, should dissolve, and the campus is turned over to nearby Olive-Harvey College in the city community college system. I think it's not impossible for things to improve since there is a demand for quality higher ed on the south side, but they need to find a niche and fast.

Politically speaking however CSU is basically untouchable. Even though the mayor/governor/house speaker aren't south siders (Mike Madigan is out) there's a lot of racial politics at play. It'll probably stay alive indefinitely even if it's a zombie institution.