MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

fishguy · August 19, 2005, 05:09:56 PM

Well, Bennett turned down Condordia's offer and retired. So, the Falcons go to plan B - it'll be interesting to see who they hire. They have some good talent coming back, and they're always in the league title mix. I think it's a really good job for someone.

Cardinalboy · August 19, 2005, 05:46:11 PM

Why is this board always dead during the off season. Are LMC fans only good during the school year?
Come on fish guy...get these people awake around here!!

John Gleich · August 20, 2005, 01:32:27 AM

Is that merge official now? I remember conversations about it last year, but nothing had been finalized...

Greek Tragedy · August 20, 2005, 04:44:37 PM

Cardinal Boy,

This page is sometimes dead IN-season. There's probably only a half dozen regular posters; pannounce, Bust Ya'll, and maybe a couple of others that just trash talk the whole year and yell about the 6th man, the Edgedome, and stuff like that.

So, what is Plan B at CUW? Will they just hire a guy for a year and hope Bennett comes out of retirement after a year?

fishguy · August 20, 2005, 06:37:25 PM

I heard from a friend today that used to go to Wis Lutheran. He said that Concordia has offered the job to Lutheran's top assistant, Wayne Rasmussen. Apparently he used to coach at Concordia, maybe was even head coach? But I just can't believe Wayne would be interested in being a head coach at this point in his career, but who knows. Plus I can't believe Skip Noon is thrilled with the prospect of losing Wayne this close to the start of school.

John Gleich · August 23, 2005, 12:40:53 AM

Does anyone here know about the merger with the NIIC and the LMC? There was talk about it last season, but I hadn't heard anything official...

fishguy · August 23, 2005, 10:35:34 AM

The two leagues are officially merged beginning with the 06-07 season. Football will be added likely in 08 (Wis Lutheran is under contract with its league through 07). I have not heard a new name for the league yet - not sure if they have one, or just haven't announced it. MSOE from the LMC and Clarke and Eureka from the NIIC are not joining the new league. Everyone else from the LMC and NIIC are in. No idea how they will do schedules. This all comes from a good buddy who coaches at an LMC school.

shuutr10 · August 24, 2005, 11:21:47 AM

Heard from a reliable source that CUW did offer the job to Ras from Whiskey Lutheran. Also heard that he accepted the position. He was a coach there previous so maybe he wanted to go back.

Big_Uns · August 26, 2005, 10:35:42 PM

A release from CUW SID Rick Riehl stated that all members of the LMC and all members of the NIIC except Eureka (who joins the SLIAC) merged. I knew about the merger about a week before it actually happened and all reports afterward said Alverno, Aurora, Benedictine, Clark, Concordia-RF, Concordia-Wisconsin, Dominican, Edgewood, Lakeland, Maranatha, Marian, MSOE, Rockford and Wisconsin Lutheran College.

That's 14 institutions, and the original plan was to split it into divisions. As far as I know, there hasn't been a name given to it, but there have been three committees set up (not sure who is included) to set up by-laws and all that stuff.

I wasn't aware of any change about MSOE and Clarke not joining because from all accounts I heard, they were involved when the merger went down.

fishguy · August 28, 2005, 04:09:50 PM

The release came out when the leagues agreed to merge - not when the schools formally had to decide if they were in or out. When that deadline came, MSOE and Clarke decided not to join the new league. MSOE will play as an independent in 2006-2007 and has applied for membership in the Midwest Conference.

Pat Coleman · August 28, 2005, 04:27:16 PM

If only there were some actual reliable publicity on this subject we could write about it more. But considering the schools and conferences involved, I'm not surprised. These are intriguing developments that might spur some interest in the league, but oh well.

Ralph Turner · August 28, 2005, 06:37:41 PM

Fishguy and Big Uns, thanks for the update.

Eureka's decision to move to the SLIAC makes sense for travel reasons. With Lincoln College's coming on as a Provisional in 2006-07 and the likely travel partner for Eureka, the SLIAC will be a 10-team conference.

The rumor for MSOE is interesting. Would they be more competitive in the Midwest Conference?

The first thought that I have for Clarke in Dubuque is whether they would ask to join the 9-member IIAC. Wouldn't they have to add several sports, including Football, Men's and Women's Swimming and Men's Wrestling?

They might fill the "bye" for the teams in the 9-member IIAC, but going as an independent would be tough.

Pat Coleman · August 28, 2005, 06:58:24 PM

Currently, as I understand it, IIAC members are required to sponsor all 18 of the conference's sports.

petemcb · August 30, 2005, 06:23:17 AM

Ralph, with teams like Lawrence, Grinnell, Lake Forest, Carroll, St. Norbert, etc., it's tough to see MSOE doing as well if they do join the MWC. I believe they used to play in an NAIA conference with schools like Trinity in Deerfield and other like schools. I wonder if a return to a conference like that might work better for them.

da_foreigner · August 30, 2005, 05:00:55 PM

Pete,

I think the reasoning behind MSOE moving to the MWC is that it would be aligning itself with private schools of similar size and academic caliber. Clearly the MWC is a step up from the LMC basketball wise; however I feel that with the new athletic facilities we have here and our President's keen interest to expand the schools spectrum of academic programs further into the medical field, within a few years I think MSOE will be in a position to recruit well on a consistent basis. I can definitely see in the very near future a team from here more than up to the challenge of competing with the likes of Lawrence and Carroll College.

A quick question; how does qualifying for the National Tournament work as an independent school? Are there allocated places or are you left to fight for an at large bid?