Most of the PSAC's member schools are in a crisis

[bonarae]

Because the PASSHE, the overall organization that supervises 14 of the 18 member schools, mergers between the member schools, school closures or both will possibly happen in the near future.

Will this affect scheduling by FCS teams to some extent?

http://herosports.com/news/d2-ncaa-largest-conference-pennsylvania-state-athletic-conference-danger

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

As someone who has lived in PA most of their life this is very interesting. I've always thought it was strange that PA did not have a public school playing D1 Sports/FCS football. There's certainly 4-5 PSAC schools that had the enrollment and tradition to pull it off successfully imo. However, money has always been an issue which is why the PSAC caps scholarship at fairly low level.

What I never got about the PSAC is the fact that it was built on the premise of equality among its schools. From the very beginning the schools had a wide range of identities and missions.

[dgtw]

With 18 members, 16 of them playing football, I doubt the conference is in any immediate danger. A smaller league will allow teams to play conference rivals more often.

Closing or consolidating schools is a difficult decision, but it may be an economic necessity.

[ngineer]

There are about 4-5 schools that have suffered some significant decline, and I would suspect some closure/merger occurring. Several of the PSAC's schools could have competed at FCS level if more was put into their programs (West Chester, Bloomsburg, Kutztown, Millersville, California, Indiana, Slippery Rock and East Stroudsburg). Over the years they have played FCS/IAA schools in the region. With the way finances are in this Commonwealth, there will certainly be no upgrading of athletic facilities or additional scholarship money.