Hofstra explores parting ways with the CAA

[jstclmet]

This could be interesting. First Fordham, now Hofstra.....What's brewing in NY????


http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/ny-sphof0508,0,819758.story

[danefan]

Marcus = biggest Hofstra hater on the planet.

It could have been a totally routine review of expenditures and Marcus would spin it to fit his agenda, which is ant-football and anti-Hofstra.



With all that being said - come on new Northern Football Conference! xlolxxthumbsupx

[henfan]

Marcus = biggest Hofstra hater on the planet.

It could have been a totally routine review of expenditures and Marcus would spin it to fit his agenda, which is ant-football and anti-Hofstra.

Oi! Marcus is at it yet again. He's been lobbying for them to join the A-10 for years. The A-10 doesn't want Hofstra and HU doesn't want the A-10. What's not to understand?

It doesn't take mysterious "unnamed sources" to figure that out.xsmhx

[Seawolf97]

I would believe it when I see it. With ranked programs in lacrosse and wrestling , going sideways or down in conference afiliations makes no sense. Newsday strikes again.

[danefan]

I would believe it when I see it. With ranked programs in lacrosse and wrestling , going sideways or down in conference afiliations makes no sense. Newsday strikes again.


Unless money and travel costs are driving the ship. When it comes to funding mid-level DI programs with FCS football, success doesn't usually wag the tail, especially when the success is in non-revenue sports (lax and wrestling).

If success equaled funding - Albany would be in a much different place right now.

[aceinthehole]

Agreed with everyone here, the writer is not a credible source.


The Atlantic-10 is Hofstra's first choice, those close to the situation said, but no openings currently exist in that New England-based group.

Really????? I count just two A-10 members that are located in New England (UMass and URI). The 14-member conference sprawls from Kingston, RI to Olean, NY to St. Louis, MO down to Charlotte NC. Not sure this is a travel friendly conference choice anyway.

----
That being said, as unlikely as it is, I would love to see both Hofstra and CCSU join the America East. That would give the conference enough members to sposnor football: Albany, CCSU, Hofstra, Maine, UNH, Stony Brook. Add UMass, URI, and Fordham as FB-only affiliates and its a nice 9-team league.

I know its has no chance, but I can dream :)

[henfan]

Nothing to see here, guys. Just Marcus being Marcus.

[ur2k]

Didn't we have this same discussion with this writer grinding this same axe a few months ago, with nothing substantial in either article?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Hofstra apparently has no interest in returning to the America East.

``We have not had any conversations with representatives from the America East Conference regarding conference affiliation,'' Hofstra athletic director Jack Hayes said in a statement. ``That being said, conference affiliation is a subject that all institutions review on an ongoing basis. The growth of our institution and its athletics program dictates that reviews of this nature take place.''

Marcus: So you're saying you're not denying that you might just change conference affiliation?

Hayes: Um, yeah. sure. I guess.



Hofstra explores parting ways with the CAA
BY STEVEN MARCUS

Hofstra will explore moving its intercollegiate athletic program out of the southern-based Colonial Athletic Association, persons familiar with the athletic program said Thursday.

Hofstra did not say what has prompted its exploration, but it appears the university would prefer to have more of a northeast profile. The Atlantic-10 is Hofstra's first choice, those close to the situation said, but no openings currently exist in that New England-based group.

Tempest, meet teapot. xlolx

[CollegeSportsInfo]

Oi! Marcus is at it yet again. He's been lobbying for them to join the A-10 for years. The A-10 doesn't want Hofstra and HU doesn't want the A-10. What's not to understand?

It doesn't take mysterious "unnamed sources" to figure that out.xsmhx


And apparently he's convinced the NY Post since they ran their own story.

Hofstra Considers A10 (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05072009/sports/college/hofstra_considers_atlantic_10_168088.htm)

[CollegeSportsInfo]

Goes back to my Fordham/Patriot ultimatum: the Patriot could expand by 1 team, Fordham. Add a number of scholarships for football ONLY if Fordham joins for all-sports. That would create this magical A10 opening that would be needed for the 14 team A10 to even consider Hofstra (over say, Butler).

[FCS Preview]

I would love to see Hofstra stay in the CAA for football and move to the A-10 for everything else...

[bluehenbillk]

I'd venture with the direct quote from Pecora in there, that regardless of what previous posters wrote about the 1st columnist that it's a true story.

[danefan]

If it is true then it begs the question - would the CAA replace Hofstra with another all-sports member?

[andy7171]

If it is true then it begs the question - would the CAA replace Hofstra with another all-sports member?

Wishful thinking.

[henfan]

If true, I wonder why either columnist didn't mention where HU FB, LAX & wrestling would be competiting once they accept admittance into the A-10? I would have thought quotes from coaches of those squads would have made for stronger articles. Wonder if either Marcus or Robbins are aware that the A-10 doesn't sponsor these sports? Heck, quotes from anybody, anywhere addressing the topic head on would have made for better articles. How about some low level evaluation of how travel costs would be impacted? How about offering what objections or support Fordham might have for this idea, other than conjecture?

[danefan]

Wishful thinking.

you know it.xnodx:D

[henfan]

If it is true then it begs the question - would the CAA replace Hofstra with another all-sports member?

Would there really be any logical argument against adding another all sport member in the northeast? I'd expect it PDQ.

[danefan]

Would there really be any logical argument against adding another all sport member in the northeast? I'd expect it PDQ.

The only argument i can see is that the CAA just doesn't need another Northern school. But I don't anything about the CAA from a non-football sports standpoint.

[henfan]

The only argument i can see is that the CAA just doesn't need another Northern school.

NU and, to a lesser extent, Delaware & Drexel might disagree.

More specifically, maintaining some level of exposure in the country's largest media market remains important to the CAA. That desire is not going to go away if Hofstra suddenly goes out of business tomorrow. Having Boston, NYC, Philly, Bal/Washington & Atlanta in your balliwick is not insignificant when selling advertising.

[bluehenbillk]

I know that most New Yorkers are kind of ignorant about the rest of America outside the 5 boroughs plus the Island and they probably don't pay attention to Fordham, but did they call the A-10 a New England based league??


Maybe they haven't looked at the A-10 & the changes to its membership that have happened since Hofstra joined the CAA:

There are 2, count them 2 out of 14 teams in the A-10 that are from New England - UMass & URI.

Another 6 are in the general current CAA footprint: Temple, LaSalle, Richmond, St. Joe's, GW & Fordham.

The other 6 are all trips they'd have to jump on a plane for: Xavier, Dayton, Duquesne, St. Louis, St. Bonnies & Charlotte

Unless the A-10 thinks they're the Big East for hoops and wants to match their 16-team roster, I think Hofstra's boat to the A-10 already sailed half a decade ago....

[danefan]

NU and, to a lesser extent, Delaware & Drexel might disagree.

More specifically, maintaining some level of exposure in the country's largest media market remains important to the CAA. That desire is not going to go away if Hofstra suddenly goes out of business tomorrow. Having Boston, NYC, Philly, Bal/Washington & Atlanta in your balliwick is not insignificant when selling advertising.


But there really is not NYC media market for college sports. They can sell that they have the Long Island market and that can be filled by Stony Brook, but anyone in the media/advertising business would tell you that Hofstra gives the CAA little to no presence in the NYC media.

But hey, the LI market is still a 7 million person market and if a state would be the 12th largest state. Not insignifcant in any means.

The only real media market in NYC is basketball and that a market the Big East has cornered.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

And apparently he's convinced the NY Post since they ran their own story.

Hofstra Considers A10 (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05072009/sports/college/hofstra_considers_atlantic_10_168088.htm)

Oh, please. What did Pecora actually tell the Post?


"We have all the resources here at Hofstra to compete at the highest levels," Hofstra basketball coach Tom Pecora told The Post. "I think there are a lot of things Hofstra would bring to the Atlantic 10."

You're asking a basketball coach what he thinks about moving his team to the A-10 in basketball. What's he going to say - "the A-10 is beyond our scope, we would suck there?" xcoffeex

The only - the ONLY - way this is news is if the Big East is ready to split up and there is some realignment with major Big East FB schools forming one conference and some sort of non-FB Eastern Basketball Alliance which poaches Temple, St. Joe's, Xavier, Dayton and possibly other existing A-10 schools. That would mean the A-10 might look to find replacements - would Hofstra be such a school? Maybe.

Even if the split happens, Hofstra would have poisoned the well with the CAA in all their other sports - and the CAA is turning away members, so having Hofstra leave to them undoubtedly would be no big deal - it might actually solve some problems. The Pride would need to join a new conference - but where?

America East? Yeah right. No football conference, bad blood, no interest.

The NEC? Maybe - but isn't that a huge step down for all their other sports, most notably football? Would they still allow 63 scholarships?

The Patriot League? No reason to believe that the league office is any warmer on having them join than in the late 1990s - and, of course, the "need based aid" thing, which is sitting in committee.

If the Big East/A-10 is driving this, the Patriot League had better be ready to accept football scholarships yesterday in order to lure Hofstra into their league (in all non-A-10 sports). How would Hofstra teams playing in the CAA feel about playing in the A-10, NEC or Patriot League, though, I wonder?

IMO, too many dominoes still need to fall - including the biggest one of all, the Big East thing.

[jmufan999]

i LOOOOOOOOOVE Hofstra! let's not let them go anywhere.

The Pride hasn't beaten JMU in a decade (last win was 1999). the last two contests JMU has won by a combined score of 98-10. I'm a big fan of keeping that in-conference.

[aceinthehole]

LFN - you are 100% wrong by saying "ONLY" the Big East can drive realignment!

I see no reason why the Big East will split. Many fans and commentators have come to that same conculsion. The ESPN deal is too much money for any of the schools to give up. The football schools keep the FB $$$$ and have the G-town's and Marquette's improve the baseule of the basketball side. Bottom line, there is no reason to split the BE alnong football/non-football lines.

Now, the big budget programs in the A-10 (X, Dayton, Temple, UMass, URI) have to figure out how long they will let the Fordhams, LaSalle, Duqenese, and St. Bona devalue the conference. The top schools are the "value" of any A-10 TV contract, so why should they split money with LaSalle? I could see some A-10 members leave some schools behind and form a new conference or set standards to weed out the dead weight of the A-10.

---
As for Hofstra, they are a perfect fit in the CAA right now, and this is a PC answer from an AD and coach.

1) In these economic times, the university has to look at athletics/conference conference affiliation for savings. Any decisions will be made by considering all of our resources and options.

2) We have a strong basketball programs and could compete at the higest levels of this sport.

Now what AD and coach wouldn't make these same comments from any school (except maybe the Ivys)??????

Everyone is reading too much into a hack article!

[jstclmet]

A friend of mine who's an A-10 Official just told me this all comes from the HU Basketball Coach. The A-10 does not have any info of interest from HU in joining them.

[GannonFan]

If Hofstra did leave the CAA, I doubt the CAA would look for another member, especially one in the North. Just no need to.

But as others have said, this is a Marcus-drive issue and an issue drive by Pecora. Of course the A-10 is more attractive to Hofstra as a basketball conference, there are plenty of better names in the A-10 and the A-10 is a step up from the CAA. But outside of men's basketball, the A-10 is a nothing conference. And what exactly would Hofstra do with all their non-basketball programs? Especially football, as there is no football in the A-10. I doubt the CAA would let Hofstra stay in the conference as a football-only affiliate. It's one thing to have affiliates who were part of the A-10 and Yankee but never part of the CAA, but to have a full-fledged member up and leave - well, they'd need to find a football home. Of course, there's always the Big South and Stony Brook to match up with, so maybe that's an option.

[danefan]

I've said this again, but the Big South could rebrand itself in the form of the CAA for football:

North:
Albany
Stony Brook
Fordham
Hofstra
URI maybe?

South:
Liberty
Charleston Southern
Gardner Webb
VMI
Coastal Carolina

Big America Conference. A smaller version of the CAA.

[GannonFan]

I've said this again, but the Big South could rebrand itself in the form of the CAA for football:

North:
Albany
Stony Brook
Fordham
Hofstra
URI maybe?

South:
Liberty
Charleston Southern
Gardner Webb
VMI
Coastal Carolina

Big America Conference. A smaller version of the CAA.


Not outside the realm of possibility.

[ur2k]

The a10 is not looking for more members. It's at 14 now - the best thing for the a10 would be to shed some of the dead weight at the bottom - but that's not happening.

Hofstra is not joining the a10 just b/c the Hofstra b-ball coach and this Newsday writer wants to be in the conference. If they want to go to the NCAA tourney - win the d@mn CAA conference tournament.

[henfan]

A friend of mine who's an A-10 Official just told me this all comes from the HU Basketball Coach. The A-10 does not have any info of interest from HU in joining them.

Again, nothing new on this front. Pecora has floated his desire for his program to compete in the A-10 on at least one other occaision. The real question is why the sports editors of two metropolitan newspapers would allow this tripe to be published as news. Well, OK, in Marcus' case, it's opinion disguised as a news story.

If Pecora's the source, then HU AD & CEO had better put his nuts in a vice. This isn't likely to cause good will with other conference members, especially those who went to bat for HU when they were stranded without a FB affiliation.

[henfan]

But there really is not NYC media market for college sports. They can sell that they have the Long Island market and that can be filled by Stony Brook, but anyone in the media/advertising business would tell you that Hofstra gives the CAA little to no presence in the NYC media.

We're talking about the CAA here, not the ACC. If you're the CAA person in charge of advertising attempting to lure national clients or those with significant presence in the NE, is it better to have or not have at least some footing in the NYC area? While not significant compared with pro franchises or big time D-I sports, Hofstra gets enough ink and TV time to matter to advertisers. Again, this is the CAA, not the ACC, that we're selling. Every little bit counts. We can argue value until we're blue in the face. I'd venture a guess that anyone in the CAA front office would tell you that a CAA with HU is an easier sell than a CAA without HU.

[DFW HOYA]

The next big thing in conference changes won't be Hofstra shopping for a conference or an America East football hybrid. It might come with some group of schools forming a low-level I-A conference akin to the Sun Belt (the "Rust Belt") that will not be BCS level but secure a bowl bid or two. Conceptually, that's Temple, Buffalo, and 4-8 schools TBA. Who knows, maybe Fordham evisions itself in that scenario.

[aceinthehole]

The a10 is not looking for more members. It's at 14 now - the best thing for the a10 would be to shed some of the dead weight at the bottom - but that's not happening.

Hofstra is not joining the a10 just b/c the Hofstra b-ball coach and this Newsday writer wants to be in the conference. If they want to go to the NCAA tourney - win the d@mn CAA conference tournament.

Exactly! The A-10 has to take a long, hard look at its current memebership.

This whole thing is kinda funny. It reminds me of the big stink that Quinnipiac made when they publicly stated that they wanted to join the A-10. When QU interviewed candidates for their men's basketball coach, they dangled $300k, a new arena, and "promises" of A-10 memebrship in the future.

The A-10 leadership went on record to squash those rumors. We'll see if the A-10 responds to this latest rumor.

[Fordham]

The next big thing in conference changes won't be Hofstra shopping for a conference or an America East football hybrid. It might come with some group of schools forming a low-level I-A conference akin to the Sun Belt (the "Rust Belt") that will not be BCS level but secure a bowl bid or two. Conceptually, that's Temple, Buffalo, and 4-8 schools TBA. Who knows, maybe Fordham evisions itself in that scenario.

Nope

[DFW HOYA]

Nope

OK, then, but where does a 57-63 scholarship Fordham envision itself in 5-10 years?

PL? No.
NEC? No.
CAA? Full.
Big South: Filling up.
Independent?

[RichH2]

I do not think they have a real clue, seems they figure something will turn up that is better than the PL

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Exactly! The A-10 has to take a long, hard look at its current memebership.

I think the A-10 is thrilled with having Temple, Xavier and Dayton make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament every year, and would like nothing better to have them around for a long time to come. It's only if some larger league gobbles them up that they need a backup plan to replace lost members.

[DFW HOYA]

I think the A-10 is thrilled with having Temple, Xavier and Dayton make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament every year, and would like nothing better to have them around for a long time to come. It's only if some larger league gobbles them up that they need a backup plan to replace lost members.

Imagine if the early A-10 (the Eastern Eight) had stayed together:

Duquesne
George Washington
Massachusetts
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Villanova
West Virginia

[CRAZY_DANE]

But there really is not NYC media market for college sports. They can sell that they have the Long Island market and that can be filled by Stony Brook, but anyone in the media/advertising business would tell you that Hofstra gives the CAA little to no presence in the NYC media.

But hey, the LI market is still a 7 million person market and if a state would be the 12th largest state. Not insignifcant in any means.

The only real media market in NYC is basketball and that a market the Big East has cornered.

I agree. Hofstra and the CAA have very little impact in the NYC market. I live in Atlanta and Georgia State has the same problem. There are diminishing returns to being in a big market like NYC or Atlanta. Eventually the market is too big to care about a mid level D1 program. Heck, Georgia Tech even has problems filling its stadium. The best formula is a medium sized market.

The CAA should check out the country's 57th largest media market (New York's Capitol City) xsmiley_wix

[Redwyn]

It should be interesting in 2011 when Stony Brook's Big South contract is up. There's a shakeup of sorts coming, it's just a matter of when. It'd be great to see SBU in the CAA Football Conference, but that's being almost impossibly optimistic. It's unlikely to happen unless they take SBU for all sports, and we're not even close to their level yet. SBU's other sports (besides softball/baseball and lacrosse) have some work to do.

Regarding the A-10 for Hofstra....The team went 1-1 against the A-10 last year, getting dumped on by U Mass (who had a losing conference record) and torching last place Fordham. Overall Hofstra had a pretty unglamorous OOC schedule, which included foes from "powerhouse" conferences such as the NEC, MAAC (besides Siena, who Hofstra did not play), and the bottom of the Mid American Conference. They had a big name opener, getting trumped by Clemson in a big way. To compare to the OOC of a mid-level A-10 school, St. Joseph's (PA) had opponents from the Big 12, Siena, Big East, Big 10, and the top of the Patriot League. The higher end of the conference played every high major conference, winning a decent percentage of those games.

To get noticed you have to do something worth noticing. Hofstra is improving in its current environment, but not even close to where it needs to be to get to the A-10. This is also assuming the A-10 will take a school that doesn't have a varsity rowing program (if you check the websites of every member with perhaps one exception at least women's rowing is sponsored, often men's as an IRA/EARC member as well. Temple basically invented the sport, U Mass and St. Joes dominate in it, and it's quite important to the conference).

[Go...gate]

Imagine if the early A-10 (the Eastern Eight) had stayed together:

Duquesne
George Washington
Massachusetts
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Villanova
West Virginia

Those were the days. Started as the EIBL right after Rutgers went to its only Men's Final Four in 1976. Rutgers really pushed for it, too, as did Joe Paterno, who saw it as the precursor of an Eastern "Superconference", as it was called in those days.

[Dane96]

Exactly Redwyn--

Example: UA hoops for 2010 plays UNC, UCF, SYRACUSE, SIENA, FAU, Iona, UPENN, NEC Champ Robert Morris, etc...

Add BYU as a possibility...at home.

That....is a schedule.

[Redwyn]

Exactly Redwyn--

Example: UA hoops for 2010 plays UNC, UCF, SYRACUSE, SIENA, FAU, Iona, UPENN, NEC Champ Robert Morris, etc...

Add BYU as a possibility...at home.

That....is a schedule.

That is a schedule indeed. Should be interesting to see how Albany makes out. Just shows you how fast the AE is improving, especially at the top with Albany, BU, and Vermont.

[CollegeSportsInfo]

Oh, please. What did Pecora actually tell the Post?



You're asking a basketball coach what he thinks about moving his team to the A-10 in basketball. What's he going to say - "the A-10 is beyond our scope, we would suck there?" xcoffeex

The only - the ONLY - way this is news is if the Big East is ready to split up and there is some realignment with major Big East FB schools forming one conference and some sort of non-FB Eastern Basketball Alliance which poaches Temple, St. Joe's, Xavier, Dayton and possibly other existing A-10 schools. That would mean the A-10 might look to find replacements - would Hofstra be such a school? Maybe.

Even if the split happens, Hofstra would have poisoned the well with the CAA in all their other sports - and the CAA is turning away members, so having Hofstra leave to them undoubtedly would be no big deal - it might actually solve some problems. The Pride would need to join a new conference - but where?

America East? Yeah right. No football conference, bad blood, no interest.

The NEC? Maybe - but isn't that a huge step down for all their other sports, most notably football? Would they still allow 63 scholarships?

The Patriot League? No reason to believe that the league office is any warmer on having them join than in the late 1990s - and, of course, the "need based aid" thing, which is sitting in committee.

If the Big East/A-10 is driving this, the Patriot League had better be ready to accept football scholarships yesterday in order to lure Hofstra into their league (in all non-A-10 sports). How would Hofstra teams playing in the CAA feel about playing in the A-10, NEC or Patriot League, though, I wonder?

IMO, too many dominoes still need to fall - including the biggest one of all, the Big East thing.

Last I checked (in both my original post and the article) Marcus wrote the piece, not Pecora. Perhaps I should have put lots and lots of ;) ; ) ;) :) ;0 :) to clarify what i was saying.

See, the earlier posts were all anti-Marcus. So I posted a SECOND story that WAS NOT written by Marcus. So I said "he convinced the NY POST" as a way to indicate that this story is NOT likely a Stonybrook grad Hofstra bash by a single individual and instead a story that has at least some background to it...enough that 2 people at 2 different papers felt the need to write about it.

I hope that clarifies things for you.

[Go...gate]

I'm inclined to think the Hofstra thing may have traction on economics alone. Do they have to fly a lot in their present conference affiliation(s)? If so, the cost must be a challenge.

[aceinthehole]

I'm inclined to think the Hofstra thing may have traction on economics alone. Do they have to fly a lot in their present conference affiliation(s)? If so, the cost must be a challenge.

IMO - That reasoning is flawed.

I assume Hofstra flys to Georgia State, UNCW, and possibly into Richmond. That's probably it.

In the A-10 they'd have to fly to St. Louis, Cincy/Dayton, Charlotte, Richmond, and probably St. Bona. The A-10 travel would be much more EXPENSIVE change in than the CAA.

And there is still the problem that the A-10 has 14 teams and NO PLANS to add any members! Hofstra administrators may actually want to leave the CAA for the A-10 (although I highly doubt that), but there is ZERO chance of that happening without the A-10 consent.

Reporters should be asking the A-10 and PL about the recent reports from Fordham and Hofstra. Until I hear something remotely about expansion from these conference expansion, this all is just wild fantasy.

[mainejeff]

It'd be great to see SBU in the CAA Football Conference, but that's being almost impossibly optimistic. It's unlikely to happen unless they take SBU for all sports, and we're not even close to their level yet. SBU's other sports (besides softball/baseball and lacrosse) have some work to do.

Yeah......Stony Brook's athletic program isn't close to the quality that we see with Drexel, Towson, Northeastern, Hofstra and Delaware. xrolleyesx

[Redwyn]

Yeah......Stony Brook's athletic program isn't close to the quality that we see with Drexel, Towson, Northeastern, Hofstra and Delaware. xrolleyesx

Well yeah, it is comparable to those schools, but a conference typically tries to add to improve itself. SBU would have to compare favorably to the top of the conference on a consistent basis to even have a prayer at moving up. Personally with the size of the school it's not a good CAA fit. I think it'd be a better addition to Conference USA or the Big East, but that change would depend on a massive reorganization of the major conferences, so would be easily a decade or two out.

[Dane96]

Conference USA...Stony Brook.....???????

[Redwyn]

Conference USA...Stony Brook.....???????

It will, in all likelihood, NEVER happen, but the size and stature of the schools in the conference, plus the added factors of SBU's willingness to play at distances and the lack of a northeast demographic in the conference....can't say that it would be the worst move for a team on Earth. Given the high likelihood of Memphis leaving the conference in a reorganization, SBU with its strong baseball program (a conference focus) would be an interesting move.

Now this would require a move to FBS football....which is unlikely at best, certainly not in the next decade or two. However, there are few indications that with the current investment in sports (SBU is right in the gut with C-USA schools according to the list from the other thread), SBU wouldn't be potentially interested in the move as the program matures. This would require attendance and outside interest it has been shown to me the NYC/LI demographic rarely provides, let alone to SBU. But is it truly bad to be one to wish? xwhistlex

(Plus, it's about the same chance Hofstra will switch to the A-10 any time soon)

[BearsCountry]

If say Xavier, Dayton, Temple, and SLU leave the A-10 maybe a little switch a roo with CAA could work Richmond and Charlotte for Hofstra and Northeastern. Could work makes both leagues a little more geographically better. Add Albany and Stony Brook to the A-10 then and they are back in the football game. Unlikely of course but who knows.

[CollegeSportsInfo]

If say Xavier, Dayton, Temple, and SLU leave the A-10 maybe a little switch a roo with CAA could work Richmond and Charlotte for Hofstra and Northeastern. Could work makes both leagues a little more geographically better. Add Albany and Stony Brook to the A-10 then and they are back in the football game. Unlikely of course but who knows.

If regions were the only factor, DePaul and Marquette would be in the MVC, not the Big East. You're not going to EVER see big budget A10 programs leave for lesser conferences. Seeing a Fordham, Duquesne, LaSalle of St. Bonaventure leave for a league they fit in better (Patriot, MAAC, NEC), that's one thing.

[89Hen]

Nothing to see here, guys. Just Marcus being Marcus.
xnodx xlolx xnodx xnodx This guy is a tool with a captial T... Tool

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/ny-sphof0513,0,623146.story


Hofstra's interest in exploring membership in the Atlantic 10 conference has been derailed days after the university said it would be reviewing conference affiliation.

``At this time I have no indication from my membership that they are interested in expanding,'' A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said in a statement. The A-10 has 14 institutions.

Of course, this wouldn't preclude them considering Hofstra if the A-10 is raided by the Big East, but this does tamp down the talk a little bit.

[ur2k]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/ny-sphof0513,0,623146.story



Of course, this wouldn't preclude them considering Hofstra if the A-10 is raided by the Big East, but this does tamp down the talk a little bit.



I'm amazed this guy gets paid to write non-stories like this. How many months until another one appears? My guess is right before football season starts, or will he wait until basketball season?

[GannonFan]

I'm amazed this guy gets paid to write non-stories like this. How many months until another one appears? My guess is right before football season starts, or will he wait until basketball season?

I agree - makes up a story, and then makes the rebuttal of that non-story into another story. Hofstra's "reviewing" of conference affiliation has been "derailed". Please, we should have a rule that no threads are to be started based on any story connected to this guy. Just brutal. xnodx

[henfan]

"Those close to the situation", "a spokesman", etc. Does Marcus expect anyone to take his stories seriously if he can't get at least one HU official to go on the record in support of his long-fought personal agenda to get HU into the A-10?

This entire chapter is just weird.xeekx

[ur2k]

Looks like the last time we went through this exercise was Feb 09, so by that pace - the next get Hofstra out of the CAA article by this guy will be August.

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55993

I had to dig that thread up since it's the exact same non-story as what is being discussed here now.