Conference changes

[jlog3000]

With the addition of Berea and the departure of Defiance, the HCAC will still have ten members. Talk about an offset, after many fans of the conference thought of hopeful expansion.

[Ralph Turner]

With the addition of Berea and the departure of Defiance, the HCAC will still have ten members. Talk about an offset, after many fans of the conference thought of hopeful expansion.

Which schools were rumored as candidates for expansion of the HCAC?
Thanks

[jlog3000]

Which schools were rumored as candidates for expansion of the HCAC?
Thanks

I was just saying in hindsight as a figure of speech.

[Gregory Sager]

With the addition of Berea and the departure of Defiance, the HCAC will still have ten members. Talk about an offset, after many fans of the conference thought of hopeful expansion.

Which schools were rumored as candidates for expansion of the HCAC?
Thanks

Asbury's been mentioned a number of times, since, as a Kentucky school (like Berea) it's a geographic fit for the HCAC.

[Ralph Turner]

With the addition of Berea and the departure of Defiance, the HCAC will still have ten members. Talk about an offset, after many fans of the conference thought of hopeful expansion.

Which schools were rumored as candidates for expansion of the HCAC?
Thanks

Asbury's been mentioned a number of times, since, as a Kentucky school (like Berea) it's a geographic fit for the HCAC.

... a travel partner...

[Caz Bombers]

Conference Changes Starting in 2024-2025
Berea leaves the CCS for the HCAC
Brockport leaves the SUNYAC for the E8
Cabrini (AEC) closes
Concordia (Texas) leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Johnson & Wales leaves the GNAC for the CCC
McMurry leaves the ASC for the SCAC
NVU-Johnson (NAC) leaves D3 for the USCAA [ON HOLD?]
Pratt leaves the C2C for the AEC
SUNY Geneseo leaves the SUNYAC for the E8
Texas-Dallas leaves the ASC for D2 (application process pending)
University of the Ozarks leaves the ASC for the SCAC
CCS expected to gain Pool A bid
Expecting 43 Pool A bids, 0 Pool B bids, 21 Pool C bids

I found an article from May detailing that VTSU Johnson (no hyphen and NVU no longer exists) will remain in the NCAA for at least 3 years while they "gather data." So I would say they're not going anywhere until at least 2026-27.

https://www.vtcng.com/news_and_citizen/news/local_news/after-shaking-athletes-vermont-state-university-reaffirms-commitment-to-ncaa/article_decf66de-f00e-11ed-b8be-e339c9daa645.html

[Caz Bombers]

2025-26: Anna Maria from GNAC to MASCAC

[KnightSlappy]

Provisional Pipeline for 2023-24 (Expected)
Full membership fall 2023: MUW
3rd year provisional members (full membership fall 2024): Asbury, Warren Wilson
2nd year provisional members: Hartford, Lyon
1st year provisional members: Carlow
Exploratory: Penn State-Brandywine

* Games against Year 3 provisional members count the same as games against full-members for regional-ranking and tournament selection purposes

Provisional Pipeline for 2024-25
Exploratory: Regent

Conference Changes Starting in 2023-2024
Bryn Athyn leaves the CSAC for the UEC
Cairn leaves the CSAC for the UEC
Carlow joins the AMCC
Cazenovia (NAC) closes
Cedar Crest leaves the CSAC for the UEC (sponsor women's sports only)
Clarks Summit leaves the CSAC for the UEC
Eastern Nazarene leaves the NECC for the NAC
Finlandia (C2C) closes
Hartford joins the CCC
Keystone leaves the CSAC for the UEC
Lebanon Valley shifts from the MAC Commonwealth to the MAC Freedom
Lesley leaves the NECC for the NAC
Lycoming leaves the MAC Freedom for the Landmark
Lyon joins the SLIAC
Medaille (E8) closes
Mississippi University for Women (MUW) joins the SLIAC
Mitchell leaves the NECC for the GNAC
Morrisville State leaves the UEC for the NAC
New England College leaves the NECC for the GNAC
Notre Dame (MD) adds men's sports and competes in the UEC
Rosemont leaves the CSAC for the UEC
St. Elizabeth leaves the CSAC for the UEC
Salve Regina leaves the CCC for the NEWMAC
Sul Ross State (ASC) begins reclassification period to D2 (waiver allows them to count for primary criteria, ineligible for postseason)
Valley Forge leaves the CSAC for the UEC
Wells leaves the UEC for the AMCC
Wilkes leaves the MAC Freedom for the Landmark
Wilson leaves the CSAC for the UEC
NECC no longer a basketball conference due to losing all members (Pool A goes away)
CSAC dissolves (Pool A bid goes away)
Expecting 42 Pool A bids, 0 Pool B bids, 22 Pool C bids

Conference Changes Starting in 2024-2025
Asbury joins the CCS
Berea leaves the CCS for the HCAC
Brockport leaves the SUNYAC for the E8
Cabrini (AEC) closes
Concordia (Texas) leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Defiance (HCAC) leaves D3 for NAIA.
Johnson & Wales leaves the GNAC for the CCC
McMurry leaves the ASC for the SCAC
Morrisville State leaves the UEC for the SUNYAC
Pratt leaves the C2C for the AEC
SUNY Canton leaves the NAC for the SUNYAC
SUNY Geneseo leaves the SUNYAC for the E8
Texas-Dallas leaves the ASC for D2 (application process pending)
University of the Ozarks leaves the ASC for the SCAC
CCS expected to gain Pool A bid
Expecting 43 Pool A bids, 0 Pool B bids, 21 Pool C bids

Conference Changes Starting in 2025-2026
Anna Maria leaves GNAC for the MASCAC
Southwestern leaves the SCAC for the SAA
Trinity (Texas) leaves the SCAC for the SAA
Expecting 43 Pool A bids, 0 Pool B bids, 21 Pool C bids

[jlog3000]

2025-26: Anna Maria from GNAC to MASCAC

Talk about another surprise move. And that would be the first time that the MASCAC has added a private school (or a school that is not a public state university (either regional or municipal named)) in its history.

[Ralph Turner]

2025-26: Anna Maria from GNAC to MASCAC

Talk about another surprise move. And that would be the first time that the MASCAC has added a private school (or a school that is not a public state university (either regional or municipal named)) in its history.

Survival of the conference...

I anticipate that the MASCAC is well aware of the "Baby Bust" that is anticipated starting in 2026.  State legislatures and private university Boards of Trustees are confronting demographic challenges of not enough high school graduates. How many of the current D3 membership will not be with us in 2023?

[jlog3000]

How many of the current D3 membership will not be with us in 2023?

To be honest, that's a fair and honest question. So far, like many others, I might not have a valid answer. However, is being within D-III very worth it (from a general standpoint)? Are they content to not have any scholarships and all the hard work and effort by the student-athletes on the field (depending on the sport) with the success and dominance may all be there for nothing, especially them to not even making a shot at the pros? Would any of the schools within athletic conferences (or even the conferences themselves) and independent schools either move a step up (being D-II) or a step down (being the NAIA or the USCAA) in order to compete for scholarship college sports?

[KnightSlappy]

SUNYAC is adding SUNY Canton and Morrisville State. (Updated list above).

https://www.sunyacsports.com/general/2023-24/releases/20231005jcgtfr

[Gregory Sager]

2025-26: Anna Maria from GNAC to MASCAC

Talk about another surprise move. And that would be the first time that the MASCAC has added a private school (or a school that is not a public state university (either regional or municipal named)) in its history.

Survival of the conference...

I anticipate that the MASCAC is well aware of the "Baby Bust" that is anticipated starting in 2026.  State legislatures and private university Boards of Trustees are confronting demographic challenges of not enough high school graduates. How many of the current D3 membership will not be with us in 2023?

It's one thing to concede to the tenor of the times and opt for a mixed-polity (both public and private) league. It's another thing entirely when your very name -- the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference -- indicates that it's a collective of state institutions within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Of course, what's in a name? We live in an era in which the Big Ten is up to, what, 27 schools now? And the Pac-10, so named because of the proximity of its schools to the Pacific Ocean, is likely to add Toledo, Boston College, and Georgia Tech to its ranks any day now.

How many of the current D3 membership will not be with us in 2023?

To be honest, that's a fair and honest question. So far, like many others, I might not have a valid answer. However, is being within D-III very worth it (from a general standpoint)? Are they content to not have any scholarships and all the hard work and effort by the student-athletes on the field (depending on the sport) with the success and dominance may all be there for nothing, especially them to not even making a shot at the pros? Would any of the schools within athletic conferences (or even the conferences themselves) and independent schools either move a step up (being D-II) or a step down (being the NAIA or the USCAA) in order to compete for scholarship college sports?

On the contrary, for several years now D3 schools have been noting a rise in the proportion of student-athletes to the general undergrad population, and responding accordingly by adding more sports. A pretty significant percentage of American high-school athletes want to have the chance to compete on the intercollegiate level after they graduate, and they're willing to pay tuition for that chance (the vast majority of NAIA student-athletes pay for most of their schooling, too, if not all of it). Athletics has become a big draw, even a necessary one, for D3 admissions departments, aside from those at the more wealthy and academically elite institutions -- and even some of those schools have a bewilderingly large menu of intercollegiate sports that they sponsor.

[jlog3000]

SUNYAC is adding SUNY Canton and Morrisville State. (Updated list above).

https://www.sunyacsports.com/general/2023-24/releases/20231005jcgtfr

This has turned things around. So the NAC will only have SUNY Morrisville for just one athletics season, once spring 2024 ends. Meaning that SUNY Morrisville will rejoin the SUNYAC after an early stint before moving to the NEAC (now the United East) in the late 2000's.

For SUNY Canton, who also competes in the NAC, this is new to them, when it comes to joining the SUNYAC. Now the only SUNY schools to not being a part of that conference are SUNY Cobleskill (NAC), SUNY Delhi (NAC), SUNY Maritime (Skyline), SUNY Old Westbury (Skyline), SUNY Poly [formerly SUNYIT] (NAC) and SUNY Purchase (Skyline).

In the end of the day, this would offset the losses of SUNY Brockport and SUNY Geneseo.

[Caz Bombers]

more of a football question, but clearly the ECFC is going the way of the dodo. Castleton is joining the MASCAC next year and Anna Maria in 2025. They were already in the AQ grace period.

Which conferences do you think will take in Alfred State, Dean, and Gallaudet football?