MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[tigerfanalso]

Hasa

I'm with you, Guilford belongs in the ODAC and should remain for all of the reasons you mentioned plus some. I don't see the conference changing for years to come unless Catholic pulls out. That would force the ODAC to make adjustments.

[hasanova]

Hasa

I'm with you, Guilford belongs in the ODAC and should remain for all of the reasons you mentioned plus some. I don't see the conference changing for years to come unless Catholic pulls out. That would force the ODAC to make adjustments.

Hey, tfa.  I think there are also some legitimate concerns that W&L might take its money and academic ranking to "another level."  If it weren't for the obvious geographic issue, I think W&L would (not so) secretly like to be in the Centennial.  I hope they don't, but out of my hands.

I make no secret that I think Guilford's best reasonable conference fit is the ODAC.   As far as I know, Guilford and Greensboro, for example, have never been in the same conference despite their intracity proximity.  Historically, Guilford was affiliated at various times with WCU, ECU, Appalachian, Catawba, Elon, Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill, UNC-P, Barton, High Point, Newberry, Presbyterian and Carson-Newman.  Boy, has the athletic landscape changed!  Granted, Greensboro (1838) was all women for much of its history and Guilford has been co-ed since its inception in 1837, but if geography were the only factor it would be a no-brainer.  In this case, however, travel is clearly not the only parameter used to decide conference affiliation.  In addition to the 16 branches of the UNC system, there are 38 or so private 4-year colleges and universities in NC.  Arguably, Guilford's in the top five, behind frontrunners Duke, Wake Forest and Davidson, but ahead of most.   I've read this before (and I personally agree) that Guilford and Elon hold the next two spots in terms of quality private education in NC.

I'm not so naive as to compare Guilford's acadamic standing to W&L, but I think the data are reputable to support Guilford's philosophical and academic position in the ODAC, the region and the country.  Guilford is very well regarded and the ODAC is very well regarded.  The relationship is symbiotic and should continue.

[jdubyadubya]

Hasa - I think you are "safe." Maybe E&H, W&L, and VWC are in the bottom three. I think VWC was the last school to join the ODAC.....LIFO?

[Jacketlawyer]

Hasa - I think you are "safe." Maybe E&H, W&L, and VWC are in the bottom three. I think VWC was the last school to join the ODAC.....LIFO?

I agree that Guilford's "safe."

I've forgotten: when did Maryville leave the ODAC?  Talk about a long ride.

[hasanova]

Hasa - I think you are "safe." Maybe E&H, W&L, and VWC are in the bottom three. I think VWC was the last school to join the ODAC.....LIFO?

Yeah, I know.  lol  Your post reminds me of a former coworker who was chronically late by 15-20 minutes every day and then always "found" a reason she had to leave early.  It was so bad, the rest of the department started calling her "LIFO".  She didn't have any background in accounting, so after a fews months she finally asked us what it meant.  She was so embarrassed she actually showed up on time for, oh, about a week and a half!  lol  She couldn't maintain it, however, and soon returned to her unique sense of timing! 

[hasanova]

Hasa - I think you are "safe." Maybe E&H, W&L, and VWC are in the bottom three. I think VWC was the last school to join the ODAC.....LIFO?

I agree that Guilford's "safe."

I've forgotten: when did Maryville leave the ODAC?  Talk about a long ride.

I don't think the Scots have been a member since the 1980's.

[Jacketlawyer]

Hasa - I think you are "safe." Maybe E&H, W&L, and VWC are in the bottom three. I think VWC was the last school to join the ODAC.....LIFO?

I agree that Guilford's "safe."

I've forgotten: when did Maryville leave the ODAC?  Talk about a long ride.

I don't think the Scots have been a member since the 1980's.

Yeah, that much I know, good buddy!  If I had to guess, I'd say their last year was 1984.  We're gonna have to get Allsky on that one!

[hasanova]

Hasa - I think you are "safe." Maybe E&H, W&L, and VWC are in the bottom three. I think VWC was the last school to join the ODAC.....LIFO?

I agree that Guilford's "safe."

I've forgotten: when did Maryville leave the ODAC?  Talk about a long ride.

I don't think the Scots have been a member since the 1980's.

Yeah, that much I know, good buddy!  If I had to guess, I'd say their last year was 1984.  We're gonna have to get Allsky on that one!

Actually, jacketlawyer, I had just finished looking it up on the ODAC website:  Maryville was listed in the final standings in men's basketball for eight years, 1981-88.

[Ralph Turner]

I think that Divisions make sense, especially if there are travel advantages.

Please answer these questions.

Now that the the ODAC will have 11 men's programs and 11 women's programs, does it make sense to split into divisions for the sake of geography, travel and missed classtime?  6 & 5 for each?

That would give double-round-robin intra-division and single round robin inter-division or 15 and 14 conference games.

The Tourney seedings could seed #1's with play-in games.

I may have missed this, but is anyone adding football in the next 2 years?

Thanks

[hasanova]

I've heard rumors of football being added at a few schools.  Surprisingly, the one with some credible evidence is EMU.  Personally, I'd like to see RC start a team.  There are teams at higher levels in the area (such as VPI), but no small college football in the Roanoke/Salem area.

Just to start discussion, what about these proposed (by me) divisions:

Women East (5):  VWC, RMC, LC, RaC, GC
Women West(6): BC, EMU, W&L, HU, RoC, E&H

Men East (6):  VWC, RMC, LC, RaC, HSC, GC
Men West (5): BC, EMU, W&L, RoC, E&H

Road trips could have the Saturday/Sunday pairings of LC/RaC; HU/RoC; RMC/VWC and BC/EMU.  As needed, GC/E&H, GC/HSC, W&L/E&H and others could also be combined.

[Ralph Turner]

Is there any way to make Hollins and HSC travel partners so the other 10 men's and women's teams can share the bus trip?

The ASC has the men and women playing together as do the SCAC and UAA teams.

[algernon]

I think there are also some legitimate concerns that W&L might take its money and academic ranking to "another level."  If it weren't for the obvious geographic issue, I think W&L would (not so) secretly like to be in the Centennial.  I hope they don't, but out of my hands.

That was my thinking, with regard to W&L, that they might be interested in joining the Centennial Conference, but the CC already has 10 basketball teams itself and the Generals would be spending a lot of time on the road, traveling to Baltimore and Philadelphia for basketball games.

My wondering about Guilford, Emory & Henry, and Virginia Wesleyan was due to geographic considerations.  However, I don't really expect any of these teams to leave the ODAC .... I just wondered about it.

Guilford fits with the ODAC very well, academically and athletically.  And, as Hasa says, Guilford also fits well based on geography, even if it is not as geographically central to the ODAC as Hampden-Sydney, Lynchburg, or Roanoke.

The two teams that are geographically Close to the Edge are Emory & Henry and Virginia Wesleyan.  Emory & Henry was an original member of the ODAC and it's hard to imagine the Wasps in any other conference, really.  Virginia Wesleyan might fit with the USA South Conference reasonably well, but why should they leave?

The ODAC is a 13-team conference.  There are 11 women's basketball teams and they play a 20-game ODAC schedule.  My bet is that the men, like the women, will play 20-games in conference and only 5 games out-of-conference.

[Ralph Turner]

   Here is something even weirder!

I just got thru faxing a document to the 703 area code in Virginia and the number sounded "Yankee Doodle"!


1-703-768-844X 

[Brian Hamilton]

I for one hope we just do a 20 game conference schedule and don't do Divisions.  Hasanovas divisions appear pretty close to the way that they would be broken up by geography and the East division would be much tougher than the west division. (One man's opinion.)  I have never liked the idea of not playing the same teams in a conference and I am totally opposed to a single game against conference opponents like the NESCAC does.  It is more fun to play teams that you are familiar with and have history with.

[hasanova]

I for one hope we just do a 20 game conference schedule and don't do Divisions.  Hasanovas divisions appear pretty close to the way that they would be broken up by geography and the East division would be much tougher than the west division. (One man's opinion.)  I have never liked the idea of not playing the same teams in a conference and I am totally opposed to a single game against conference opponents like the NESCAC does.  It is more fun to play teams that you are familiar with and have history with.

Brian, I agree with you 100%.  Personally, I only see the ODAC needing to go divisions if it enlists at least 12 teams such as the SEC, Big 12 and ACC.  Home and away in basketball gives the truest picture of who should be champion.  I'm glad you mentioned the way I structured the proposed divisions.  They were based on geography, minimum travel and the fact that one member is all men and one all female.  Right now, the East Division would be dominant in men's basketball, but league power shifts go in cycles.  It wouldn't necessarily stay that way forever!