A Look Back: Colonial League Expansion

[DFW HOYA]

No, not the CAA...but the incarnation of the Patriot League, circa 1985.

In the link below, this quote: "Countering [the announcement that William & Mary was not joining the league] was the Rev. John E. Brooks, president of Holy Cross and chairman of the president's council that formulates policy for the Colonial League. Brooks said that William & Mary's action "does not threaten" the Colonial League and that several colleges were being considered as a replacement."

Who were these "several colleges"?

http://articles.mcall.com/1985-02-12/sports/2458691_1_william-mary-ivy-league-lehigh

[Go...gate]

Boston University was one.

[henfan]

Delaware, Richmond and VMI were part of earlier discussions with the yet-to-be-named league. Ultimately, UD & UR joined the Yankee Conference.

[danefan]

Good read!



Media covering some of the would-be Colonials has generally perceived an alliance with the Ivy League as a step down. The University of Pennsylvania has emerged as a force, but most of the other Ivies have taken a beating whenever they have stepped outside their special circle. A good case also can be made that the Ivy League needs the Colonials more than the Colonials need the Ivy, so why are the Colonials making - or thinking of making - concessions?

- Jon Stein, who covers Yale football for the New Haven Register, wrote: "The reason the Ivies are looking for this relationship is they have stopped being competitive outside the League, and now they need to find people they can play."


Looks like the biggest winners in the formation of the PL was the Ivy league........


Without athletic scholarships of its own, Lehigh would be at an ever- increasing disadvantage both on the field and on the recruiting trail. Many of the current crop of Lehigh's top football prospects, for instance, have turned to a revitalized Villanova program or to other Yankee Conference schools.

[Go...gate]

Delaware, Richmond and VMI were part of earlier discussions with the yet-to-be-named league. Ultimately, UD & UR joined the Yankee Conference.

If we want to get hyper-technical, Rider College (now University) of Lawrenceville, NJ, about four miles away from Princeton and then in the ECC for basketball with LU, LC and Bucknell, expressed interest at that time (1984-85) if the Colonial became an all-sports conference.

[TheValleyRaider]

Looks like the biggest winners in the formation of the PL was the Ivy league........

Sounds about right, so make of that what you will....

[Go...gate]

Hard to believe how much has changed since then. It was like a different world.

[carney2]

Hard to believe how much has changed since then. It was like a different world.

What's so different?!

For at least another week, there are no football scholarships.

Even when/if schoalrships are approved, the League will still have an elitist attitude and the (in its current version) stifling AI.

The Patriot League continues to be led around on a leash by the Ivies.

"Best match" schools like William & Mary, Richmond and Villanova want nothing to do with the Patriot League - and I assume that will not change with the addition of scholarships.

The Patriot League has become a second tier FCS conference, and anyone who thinks that scholarships will make the League competitive with the CAA and the SoCon is delusional.

[Go...gate]

Take it easy, Carney2. I meant that a lot has changed around us....