CAA's Anxious Times

[superman7515]

http://weblogs.dailypress.com/sports/etcblog/2012/05/caas_anxious_times.html


CAA football is about as good as it gets at the FCS level. But remember that FCS football provides only so much bang for the buck.

Yeager said Tuesday that football-playing schools do not have an advantage as the league considers expansion. Though UNH and Maine have been successful, will their respective administrations continue to underwrite programs that spend far more than they make, if they’re increasingly isolated?

Speaking of isolated, what of James Madison and its busting-at-the-seams FCS program and showplace stadium? Or academic outlier William and Mary, which will have to decide if the CAA’s future direction and membership match its mission.

And there’s the small matter of the CAA’s new TV deal with the NBCSports network. The Peacock thought it was getting a league with a recent Final Four program and its hot young coach. Instead, they’re gone, as might be another of the league’s signature hoops and burgeoning football programs.

[aceinthehole]

Yeager said Tuesday that football-playing schools do not have an advantage as the league considers expansion.

Well that doesn't sound very encouraging for UD, Towson, W&M, or JMU.

Considering that one of the CAA's last additions - Northeastern - actualys helps CAA basketball (although the orginal purpose was to gain control of A-10 Football), it is likely that hoops remains very important to the CAA memebrship. The 3 most Northern members, (NU, HU, Drexel - all former AE teams) have strong hoops programs and no football.

Stony Brook may have an edge over Coastal Carolina and be a compromise for the basketball and football interests. In the past 3 seasons, SBU men's hoops has finished #1 in the AE twice, reached 2 AE Tourney Finals, and earned 2 NIT bids. The football team has done well in thge Big South and reached the playoffs last year.

But if basketball remains very important to the league, I'd expect Winthrop and Davidson to also be in the mix.

[bandit]

I've seen Davidson and Charleston mentioned previously, and they certainly make sense - but LIU-Brooklyn? That's an odd one for the columnist to mention. They play in a very small venue, as I recall. Not really likely to improve the CAA's situation in BB.

Davidson and Charleston are no-brainers. I'd think w/ the FB losses and potential losses that Coastal Carolina, Stony Brook and Albany also have to be at the top of the list.

[NHwildEcat]

I've seen Davidson and Charleston mentioned previously, and they certainly make sense - but LIU-Brooklyn? That's an odd one for the columnist to mention. They play in a very small venue, as I recall. Not really likely to improve the CAA's situation in BB.

Davidson and Charleston are no-brainers. I'd think w/ the FB losses and potential losses that Coastal Carolina, Stony Brook and Albany also have to be at the top of the list.

I say add all 5!

[aceinthehole]

I've seen Davidson and Charleston mentioned previously, and they certainly make sense - but LIU-Brooklyn? That's an odd one for the columnist to mention. They play in a very small venue, as I recall. Not really likely to improve the CAA's situation in BB.

Davidson and Charleston are no-brainers. I'd think w/ the FB losses and potential losses that Coastal Carolina, Stony Brook and Albany also have to be at the top of the list.

If Hofstra has a problem with SBU, I can't imagine they would want LIU with a better location in the City. That being said, LIU is not an awful choice, although I would have to think they are very much a darkhorse and not a real target whatsoever.

LIU has tons of hoops history both good and bad (Clair Bee and later the infamous point shaving), and as you can see the past few years with the right coach, they can recruit some very good players to Brooklyn. They have a deal with the Barclays Center, so they get to play a few games there as part of double-headers in the years to come. But they are an urban university with a huge international and non-tradition, non-residential student body. They are way outside of the academic profile of any CAA school, so I find that hard to think the Presidents would ever approve them.

[bandit]

I wonder if someone like Siena might be a possibility, especially if Albany is brought in. Siena plays in a really nice arena and has had a good deal of success in BB.

[UAalum72]

I wonder if someone like Siena might be a possibility, especially if Albany is brought in. Siena plays in a really nice arena and has had a good deal of success in BB.
Siena would hate that. They might be forced to play Albany in Albany's gym once a year.

Other than men's basketball, golf, and men's lacrosse (in a weak league) Siena's Olympic sports are just horrible.

Besides, their fans see the CAA as only a lateral move from the MAAC anyway. They think they deserve at least moving to the A-10.

[aceinthehole]

Siena would hate that. They might be forced to play Albany in Albany's gym once a year.

Other than men's basketball, golf, and men's lacrosse (in a weak league) Siena's Olympic sports are just horrible.

Besides, their fans think they deserve at least moving to the A-10.

Yep, MAAC programs are all pretty weak in olympic sports. Marist is probably the strongest, and Fairfield is likely 2nd.

Schools like Siena, Iona, and St. Peter's are basically basketball programs that must carry other sports in order to maintain NCAA memebrship. Although Siena does draw well in a downtown arena and has had some success, it's not a program of CAA caliber or profile in any other sense.

Fairfield, who also plays off-campus in a downtown areana (but doens't draw well there at all), may have a better athletic program and academics than Siena, but they too would likely struggle in most CAA sports.

I can't imagine any MAAC school fitting the profile the CAA memebrship is likely looking for. Holy Cross out of the Patriot League would probably be a better choice than Siena or Fairfield.

[henfan]

Well that doesn't sound very encouraging for UD, Towson, W&M, or JMU.

Perspective is needed here. This is an editorial piece written by a columnist without any real insight on the needs/desires of conference CEO's and someone apparently unaware of SBU and CCU.

[aceinthehole]

Perspective is needed here. This is an editorial piece written by a columnist without any real insight on the needs/desires of conference CEO's and someone apparently unaware of SBU and CCU.

I agree, but that specific line in the editorial suggest that Yeager himself made a statement on the topic. If that is true (and I don't know that it is), then the commissioner suggesting that football schools don't have an 'advantage' in considering replacements would probably be cause for concern to UD fans, right?

[bandit]

I agree, but that specific line in the editorial suggest that Yeager himself made a statement on the topic. If that is true (and I don't know that it is), then the commissioner suggesting that football schools don't have an 'advantage' in considering replacements would probably be cause for concern to UD fans, right?


It may just reflect the reality that both BB and FB schools will need to be added, so one doesn't really have an advantage over the other since both will be considered.

[henfan]

I agree, but that specific line in the editorial suggest that Yeager himself made a statement on the topic. If that is true (and I don't know that it is), then the commissioner suggesting that football schools don't have an 'advantage' in considering replacements would probably be cause for concern to UD fans, right?

Not necessarily a cause for concern, though I'd personally prefer schools with FB. FB is such a transformative sport in terms of financing AD's. Schools without FB have the advantage of diverting resources to specific Olympic sports, creating the potential for unfair balance across a league.

I think everyone realizes that expansion will take place to bolster both the CAA's Olympic sport and FB leagues. Unless the CAA intends to get out of the FB business, it will be necessarily to include a school or schools with FCS FB. What I think Yeager meant to suggest was that schools without FB won't be excluded consideration. In other words, FB alone isn't any guarantee. A school with modest Olympic sports and FCS FB wouldn't have an advantage over a school with stronger Olympic sports and favorable geography, etc. Is that a fair read?