FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[allsky7]

Maryville was a member of the ODAC for a period of time before a MC President ran the school in the ground causing many problems_ facilities, academics, student population, and other finicial problems.

     Oh the stories I could tell!! This period of time impacted me and my family greatly. However, the time I spent there as a member of the MC baseball and football program, "earning" a BA, and the many friendships, far outweigh the negative. I am proud to be a FIGHTING SCOT!!  8)
     I am as pumped as I have ever been anticipating my annual HC trip to TN next weekend. The Scots have an off week to heal and prep for Methodist. GO SCOTS......CRUSH THE MONARCHS!! Do not let HC 2005 repeat itself!! You have the opportunity to do something truly special in the history of MC football. Seize the opportunity. 

[allsky7]

The state of Virginia is the"Old Dominion State."E&H is located in Virginia not the state of Ohio. Hence E&H is in the  Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

The two quickest ways for Don Montgonery to get a moving van backing up to his front door are to try to convince the alumni to go to the OAC and to have E&H become known for just football( Mt. Union) and not their academic standards.
All the schools in the ODAC are known for their fine student athletes and not just for producing football players.

Google the now defunct Parsons College in Iowa and see what happens to colleges that just focus on football. Parsons was a big name in the 60's but is just a footnote in college football history today.

Last time I checked, there was more than one sport at Emory and Henry.  How do the other coaches feel about leaving their "home" conference and going somewhere else?  What will this move cost the Wasps financially in travel, hotels, and meals not to mention road time? Who is going to foot that cost?

Peace,
The E&H Dad

Mount Union may be known as a "Football School" to members of the ODAC. It is known as a fine academic school that happens to have a very good football program to the people more familiar with the institution.
Monty is well aware of the tradition in the ODAC and well admires it. You also have to realize that although the cost of joining the OAC would be prohibitive. Not to mention that joining would be stupid. There are great cost incurred by E&H as it is, in traveling to ODAC conference sites.

     Not sure where all this talk of E&H leaving the ODAC came from.  Where on earth would it make any sense at all for them to go? The USA South is the only one even close to making sense. Just like Maryville, there is no perfect fit for them as far as geography goes. Yes, I have a very strong ODAC bias but come on folks, this is a no brainer. E&H belongs in the ODAC!!
     BTW ace....I view MUC as a solid D3 institution that happens to have a very good football team. I met a young lady here in VA recently that is a MU grad.  If she is indicative of typical MU folk...I say WOO HOO....Go Purple Raiders!! 

[Oil Can]

Mount Union may be known as a "Football School" to members of the ODAC. It is known as a fine academic school that happens to have a very good football program to the people more familiar with the institution.

I agree that the two do not have to be mutually exclusive; academics and athletics. 

And I think calling MU football "a very good program" is a bit of an understatement.  I'd call them a fine academic school with an exceptional football program

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Last time I checked, there was more than one sport at Emory and Henry.

I do find it interesting that www.ehcsports.com went from promoting all the athletic teams at Emory & Henry to just football.

Was there any explanation given to the fans of why this happened? EHC.edu just has rosters, schedule, and stats. I believe EHCsports.com had archives, photos, etc.

[muchacho]

Muchacho,

From what you have read, who would actually decide which teams went d4? Do you think there would be entire conferences that would go d4 or decide as a conference to remain d3.

I'm not too up to speed on the specifics or even the probability.

If there aren't that many teams in d2, wouldn't it make sense for the NCAA to have D1, D1AA and then the equivalent of d3 and the proposed d4?

I think Pat answered that question when he posted that no team can be forced to move against their will. My thought is that conferences with like minded institutions like the NESCAC would be happy to go D-IV and maintain their conference. However, they would each make their decision independently.

I don't know much about DII athletics, but I don't see why the NCAA would want to eliminate that division either.

[algernon]

Pat ... Why would W&L be interested in joining the SCAC?

What would be the reason to leave a conference where all teams are within a 4 hour drive to compete in a conference with teams that lie in a region from Tennessee to Texas to Indiana?  How many hours would it take to get to Southwestern or Trinity?

If it's a matter of academic ranking, it would make more sense for W&L to join the Centennial.

How many years has Washington and Lee played a football game against Hampden-Sydney or Randolph-Macon?  There's a pretty long tradition, I think.

[algernon]

Why did Lynchburg College and Roanoke College give up their football programs?

[Ralph Turner]

Pat ... Why would W&L be interested in joining the SCAC?

What would be the reason to leave a conference where all teams are within a 4 hour drive to compete in a conference with teams that lie in a region from Tennessee to Texas to Indiana?  How many hours would it take to get to Southwestern or Trinity?

If it's a matter of academic ranking, it would make more sense for W&L to join the Centennial.

How many years has Washington and Lee played a football game against Hampden-Sydney or Randolph-Macon?  There's a pretty long tradition, I think.

Because W&L is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South.   

http://www.colleges.org/

[algernon]

Pat ... Why would W&L be interested in joining the SCAC?

What would be the reason to leave a conference where all teams are within a 4 hour drive to compete in a conference with teams that lie in a region from Tennessee to Texas to Indiana?  How many hours would it take to get to Southwestern or Trinity?

If it's a matter of academic ranking, it would make more sense for W&L to join the Centennial.

How many years has Washington and Lee played a football game against Hampden-Sydney or Randolph-Macon?  There's a pretty long tradition, I think.

Because W&L is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South.

http://www.colleges.org/

W&L's membership in the ACS is interesting but doesn't make much of a case for its athletic affiliation with SCAC, in my opinion.

ACS mission:  "Incorporated in August of 1991, the Associated Colleges of the South has a mission to make the case for liberal arts education and to strengthen academic programs of the member institutions. The consortium articulates to many publics the nature of liberal learning and the vital role it plays."

ACS has 16 members, including Davidson, Rollins, Furman, Morehouse, and the University of Richmond.

ACS seems to be an organization with an educational mission .... and its members have athletic affiliation with various different NCAA divisions and conferences.  7 of the 16 ACS members compete in the SCAC.  7 of the 10 members of the SCAC are members of the ACS.

Washington & Lee is geographically much closer to the Centennial Conference.  No competitor would be more than a 5-hour drive.  And, academically, the Centennial Conference includes a distinguished group of academic institutions.

[algernon]

The first HSC vs. W&L game was in 1930.

The Tigers and Generals have faced each other every year since 1955.  Last Saturday, they played for the 53rd consecutive time.

[hasanova]

Doesn't the SCAC now also include Colorado College?  If so, it extends east-west from Tennessee to Colorado and north-south from Indiana to Texas.  That range rivals the UAA.

[Ralph Turner]

With the addition of Birmingham-Southern (BSC) to the SCAC this year, it is now 8 of 12.

The Membership document in the D-III/D-IV discussions also mentions Centenary LA's investigations of D-III from D-I non-football.

I think that W&L suffers from geographic isolation that the Centennial schools don't want the 5-hour drive the other way.

Travel in the SCAC is a way of life.  Finding schools to join the SCAC is not a problem.  If Centenary wishes to re-classify to D-III (seeing what success that BSC has), if the University of Dallas can configure themselves (Phi Beta Kappa Chapter and all) to the SCAC's satisfaction, if Oglethorpe cannot increase the number of sports necessary (M&W Swimming and Diving?) to move to D-IV, then we may see some movement in the SCAC membership.

[algernon]

I think that W&L suffers from geographic isolation that the Centennial schools don't want the 5-hour drive the other way.

Washington and Lee's membership in the ODAC is perfect, in terms of history and tradition.  The Generals have long-time rivalries with other ODAC schools in various sports and that makes the competition more intense.

Geographically, the Generals are able to compete with DIII programs of similar athletic quality while staying close enough to home to stay on top of academics.  They have 8 ODAC competitors within 2 hours (Roanoke, Bridgewater, EMU, Hollins, Sweet Briar, Lynchburg, Randolph, and Hampden-Sydney) and another 4 ODAC competitors within 4 hours (Emory & Henry, Guilford, Randolph-Macon, and Virginia Wesleyan).  That's pretty nice.

If the Generals were to move to another conference, the Centennial Conference would make sense in some ways, but it's true that they'd be 4-6 hours from all of their opponents and would be the geographical anomaly in that conference.  Are they really interested in leaving the ODAC?

[Ralph Turner]

I don't think that the Generals want to move.  They are very competitive in the ODAC.

I am interested to see how they exert their influence in the discussions that arise from the D-IV/D-III issues.

[Pat Coleman]

I don't think that the Generals want to move.  They are very competitive in the ODAC.

For years I heard nothing from W&L leadership other than wanting to move. Admittedly, some posts have changed, but I am not sure the sentiment has. We certainly have seen a lot of W&L complaining on this board in the past about how their academic standards are so much different than the rest of the ODAC.