Small Colleges Starting Football

[Knightstalker]

Here is a link my commentary on the Empire 8 opening Affiliate status to state schools for football.  Others may comment on that thread.

Here is the post...


The shuffle is amenable to the NJAC schools who now can accept the ACFC schools who apply.  The NJAC can preserve its AQ.  Wesley DE gets a home!  I expect that Wesley, FSU and Salisbury will be admitted into the NAJC.  Western Connecticut may be freed to move back to a New England conference now, if budgetary considerations warrant the move.  This also takes some of the pressure off the Capital AC to become a football conference, if Wesley and Salisbury join the NJAC.


P
Comments are greatly appreciated!

Only problem I see with a Wesley, Salisbury, Frostburg moving to the NJAC is the conference's limiting the roster to 85 players (I believe.) Both Salisbury and Wesley play JV schedules and have large rosters.

Wesley would be the only school not receiving state money in such a configuration and a loss of 30-50 players may hurt the school's bottom line.
[/quote]

I do not believe the NJAC has a roster limit of 85, Rowan has 99 kids on their 07 roster.  There may be limit to the travel team.  JV players not listed on the Varsity roster may not count if there is a limit.  I believe that if there is a limit it is 100 players, not sure though and have not been able to find out from the NJAC site.  Possibly JT would know.

[PA_wesleyfan]

Wesley had well over 100 the last couple years

[ADL70]

I see that Salisbury, Wesley, and Apprentice show up on the 2008 schedule of Lake Erie College, a DII start-up just east of Cleveland.

[Ralph Turner]

I see that Salisbury, Wesley, and Apprentice show up on the 2008 schedule of Lake Erie College, a DII start-up just east of Cleveland.

Maybe this helps tide the ACFC over until it can affiliate with the NJAC.
Lake Erie Schedule

[PA_wesleyfan]

Could be Ralph. But as is usually the case with other upstarts,after the first meeting Erie may not want to play any of them again
  All three schools played Morrisville last year and I have it on good authority that was a not an accident. Morrisville was weighing joining both the ACFC and NJAC at the time

[frank uible]

Lake Erie College is geographically located in fertile football recruiting ground, but its extremely small male enrollment works against it. The high schools of its roster members are certainly capable of producing lots of good DIII players.

[Teamski]

Great discussion folks.  I don't know where else that ACFC teams could go other than the NJAC.  Things are never that simple, though.....

Looking at Lake Erie's schedule, the travel distances are daunting!!! 

-Ski

[@d3jason]

Lake Erie College is geographically located in fertile football recruiting ground, but its extremely small male enrollment works against it.

I could see a greater female to male ratio being an assess, especially if I was an 18-year old recruit again. 

[ADL70]

Five Lake County players made big contributions to CWRU's playoff season.  Here's hoping LEC doesn't cut into that connection.

[Ralph Turner]

Anna Marie College in Paxton MA is adding football in fall 2009 in addition to M&W Tennis and M&W Lacrosse.

AMC will affiliate with the North Atlantic Conference.

[K-Mack]

Here is a link my commentary on the Empire 8 opening Affiliate status to state schools for football.  Others may comment on that thread.

Here is the post...

The shuffle is amenable to the NJAC schools who now can accept the ACFC schools who apply.  The NJAC can preserve its AQ.  Wesley DE gets a home!  I expect that Wesley, FSU and Salisbury will be admitted into the NAJC.  Western Connecticut may be freed to move back to a New England conference now, if budgetary considerations warrant the move.  This also takes some of the pressure off the Capital AC to become a football conference, if Wesley and Salisbury join the NJAC.


P
Comments are greatly appreciated!

Only problem I see with a Wesley, Salisbury, Frostburg moving to the NJAC is the conference's limiting the roster to 85 players (I believe.) Both Salisbury and Wesley play JV schedules and have large rosters.

Wesley would be the only school not receiving state money in such a configuration and a loss of 30-50 players may hurt the school's bottom line.

I do not believe the NJAC has a roster limit of 85, Rowan has 99 kids on their 07 roster.  There may be limit to the travel team.  JV players not listed on the Varsity roster may not count if there is a limit.  I believe that if there is a limit it is 100 players, not sure though and have not been able to find out from the NJAC site.  Possibly JT would know.

Going back to this topic, having speculated on this very topic in the presence of Drass and Accorsi, I can tell you that this exact thing came up.

I think there is an NJAC roster limit, though it might be 100 like the WIAC. Football coaches at private schools like Wesley, are well aware that their bread is buttered because they bring in as many male freshmen as they do.

My personal feeling is that Wesley would oppose a roster limit, but that if the powers that be would let them, the football program would sacrifice that for the ability to have a set schedule and avoid the schedule-making hassle and the travel issues (playing schools from as far away as Indiana, Carolina and Alabama).

Wesley recruits from the same pool as schools like Rowan already; adding the Maryland three to that conference would be a good start to a very competitive Southern Division.

For football, we'd love it.

[Ralph Turner]

Shenandoah and the ODAC moratorium from the Daily News Record.  (What Pat is reading...)

URL listed for archival purposes...

ODAC doesn't want to get larger.

My question is whether Shenandoah might not do as well in the MAC.  The MAC needs members to keep the Commonwealth and Freedom formats.

[Ralph Turner]

SCAC insider info confirms that Hendrix is moving forward with its plans to add football.

Hendrix press release from May 2008.

[K-Mack]

Shenandoah and the ODAC moratorium from the Daily News Record.  (What Pat is reading...)

URL listed for archival purposes...

ODAC doesn't want to get larger.

Hmm, it seems like there's more to this story. "We don't feel like lifiting the moratorium" just doesn't seem like a really good reason.

I understand that football is 1 of 22 sports and that divisional play in other sports might be a pain in the butt, but when you have a school that fits the profile and wants in, the benefits are that you add another like-minded institution in most sports (equestrian aside)

For football it not only makes sense to add the eighth for scheduling purposes, but it also helps guard against loss of the AQ should any other school, like perhaps the football-only member, depart for any reason any number of years from now. Just because it doesn't look likely at the moment doesn't mean it's not worth guarding against.

When someone does leave and the ODAC suddenly needs Shenandoah, is Shenandoah still going to be looking to get in? Maybe they'll have found a happy home by then. Maybe the ODAC feels it will cross that bridge when it gets there.

What's so bad about divisional play in field hockey or whatever anyway?

Wondering if I'm missing something here.

[Ralph Turner]

Shenandoah and the ODAC moratorium from the Daily News Record.  (What Pat is reading...)

URL listed for archival purposes...

ODAC doesn't want to get larger.

Hmm, it seems like there's more to this story. "We don't feel like lifiting the moratorium" just doesn't seem like a really good reason.

I understand that football is 1 of 22 sports and that divisional play in other sports might be a pain in the butt, but when you have a school that fits the profile and wants in, the benefits are that you add another like-minded institution in most sports (equestrian aside)

For football it not only makes sense to add the eighth for scheduling purposes, but it also helps guard against loss of the AQ should any other school, like perhaps the football-only member, depart for any reason any number of years from now. Just because it doesn't look likely at the moment doesn't mean it's not worth guarding against.

When someone does leave and the ODAC suddenly needs Shenandoah, is Shenandoah still going to be looking to get in? Maybe they'll have found a happy home by then. Maybe the ODAC feels it will cross that bridge when it gets there.

What's so bad about divisional play in field hockey or whatever anyway?

Wondering if I'm missing something here.

I defer to the ODAC alum.

Lynchburg is not adding football.

Randolph probably needs to consolidate going co-ed.

Divisional play may even cut travel expenses and time away from class.