MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[libero]

Once again, folks, MSOE most certainly cost the conference the automatic bid. The cause was the timing of their decision. Clarke also pulled out, but did it far enough in advance - MSOE did it too late in the process.

The NIIC did not have a bid, the LMC did. If all of the original LMC members had stayed, the bid would have remained intact.

The big issue is - why dissolve the old LMC? The NIIC schools should have had to join the existing conference. I personally believe that the answer to this question is the desire of several schools to have a new football conference. . .

[WLCALUM83]

The big issue is, why dissolve the old LMC? The NIIC schools should have had to join the existing conference. I personally believe that the answer to this question is the desire of several schools to have a new football conference. . .

That was a contributing factor, at least in WLC's case.

[libero]

It's too bad that the LMC threw away 20+ years of solid history in exchange for a football conference.

It is going to be an interesting basketball season anyway. . .

[Greek Tragedy]

It's too bad that the LMC threw away 20+ years of solid history in exchange for a football conference.

It is going to be an interesting basketball season anyway. . .

20 years is not very old, and it's football that brings in the money.  It's not like basketball is in Siberia forever when it comes to the AQ.  It's a two-year wait, right?

If I were the NIIC teams, I'd feel slighted joining the LMC and having it remain the LMC.  It's not like 1 or 2 NIIC teams joined...a lot did, they should have a say in the name as well...though they should've come up with a better name than the Northern Athletics Conference.

[John Gleich]

Come on though OS... NAthCon sounds MUCH better than anything you could come up with for EITHER of the other conference....!

[Gregory Sager]

Once again, folks, MSOE most certainly cost the conference the automatic bid. The cause was the timing of their decision. Clarke also pulled out, but did it far enough in advance - MSOE did it too late in the process.

You're wrong, Libero. According to the NCAA D3 Bylaws, 31.3.4.2 and 31.3.4.3 (which are on pages 256 and 257 of the Bylaws, if you want to go on the NCAA website and see for yourself), a conference must maintain seven participating schools in a sport in order to remain eligible for an automatic berth. (This is further referenced in the 2006-07 D3 men's basketball championship handbook on page 14.) And the LMC most certainly had seven participating schools in men's basketball, even without MSOE: Concordia (WI), Dominican, Edgewood, Lakeland, Maranatha Baptist, Marian, and Wisconsin Lutheran.

Also, as Pat said, 34.3.4.3.1 of the Bylaws allows for a two-year grace period during which a conference can keep its automatic bid as long as it retains four core members. (A core member is a school that participates in at least two sports within that conference.) The LMC, of course, had a lot more than four core members, so it wouldn't have even been necessary to invoke the grace-period clause of 34.3.4.3.1.

The reason why the automatic bid disappeared had nothing to do with the departure of MSOE, and everything to do with the decision to form a brand-new league rather than absorb the four remaining members of the defunct NIIC into the LMC fold. If the twelve schools (remember, there's a women's college in the NAthC, Alverno) had simply elected to unite under the old LMC banner, they'd be playing for an automatic bid this year -- including new members Aurora, Benedictine, Concordia (IL), and Rockford, because 31.3.4.2 (d) allows new members of a qualifying conference to be immediately eligible for the automatic bid if those new members are already full members of D3 (which those four schools are).

In other words, the blame doesn't rest on MSOE's shoulders. It rests on the shoulders of the other twelve schools, because they elected to form a brand-new conference rather than simply expand the old one. And the Bylaws require the new conference to endure a two-year waiting period before their application for an automatic bid can be considered by D3.

As for the football-conference argument, it's not particularly germane, and for the same reason. All the LMC would've had to do was add football as one of its officially-sponsored sports, and the eight schools that will field football teams in the NAthC starting in fall of 2008 (Aurora, Benedictine, Concordia IL, Concordia WI, Lakeland, Rockford, Maranatha Baptist, and Wisconsin Lutheran) could've simply taken to the gridiron two years from now under the LMC aegis.

[keith45]

Greg,
Wasn't Dominican a provisional member of the LMC? Did that have to do with it, as without MSOE being the 7th participating school, the LMC only had 6 members?

[Greek Tragedy]

Come on though OS... NAthCon sounds MUCH better than anything you could come up with for EITHER of the other conference....!

NathCon is what Pat Coleman and the rest of the d3hoopsters came up with, not the members of the combined conferences!  It conflicted with NAC. 

[WLCALUM83]

Projections for 12/2 NathCon games:

Aurora over Lakeland.
Benedictine over Concordia-Chicago
Rockford over CUW  (do the Falcons still have 2 starters out?) The Regents are due for a win.
Dominican over WLC (the Stars' overall athleticism gave the Warriors fits last season-can't see Dominican losing at home anyway. Wouldn't mind eating crow on this one if I turn out wrong because I'd be eating it with a smile.) 

(Just so it's out there, this poster doesn't intend to start a separate pick'em board. I'll leave that to someone else.)

[wizbegs1304]

Aurora over Lakeland
Benedictine over Concordia-Chicago
CUW over Rockford
WLC over Dominican (in a close one)

[WLCALUM83]

WLC/Dominican match-up joined in progress.

Dominican up early, 17-9.

[WLCALUM83]

WLC and Dominican are going into OT tied at 77!

[WLCALUM83]

Aurora up 101-94 on Lakeland with .02 left in 2nd half.

[WLCALUM83]

Another final just in:

WLC 91, Dominican 85,  OT 

WLC went on a 10-0 run to end the game

For Dominican Haiduc had a relatively quiet game scoring wise but Jose Garcia and Tonsil hit several clutch 3's in this back and forth game.

Hagel hit a couple of threes for the Warriors and they got to the line and hit their FT's in OT.

[bufan]

WOW  Benedictine defeated CUC today.  But that is not the point of this post.  This is directed at the fans of CUC.  The 13 person "student section"  displayed some of the most pathetic forms of sportsmanship I have ever seen.  I have never had a problem with heckling players, its downright fun if you keep it clean.  However, they heckled Benedictine's head coach.  Said some things that mostly were incoherent and rude.  You do not do that to a coach.  This wasnt just one or two instances.  This was virtually every single play of the game.  No exaggeration.  These kids embarrassed themsevles and their AD should be thoroughly disappointed/embarrassed with his student fans.  You wanna heckle the ref, the players, fine.  When you constantly are yelling at the coach for his actions/comments, that crosses the line for me.  This all happened directly after the Announcer read  how sportsmanlike they are at CUC and how all fans should display it.  Oh yeah, and this was going on while they were down by 24 in the first half.  Pretty disgusting performance by the fans if you ask me.