MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[d3bballinboston]

gnac discussions have begun today at the Radisson INN in Warwick RI.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

gnac discussions have begun today at the Radisson INN in Warwick RI.

Nothing but first rate accomodations for the GNAC.

[d3bballinboston]

hhaha it is the hotel owned by JWU

[d3bballinboston]

St. Joe's of Maine, Lasell and Mt. Ida all were offered a spot in the GNAC for Fall of 2007

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Good for them.  Those are good choices.  The GNAC should earn some respect over those; at least for basketball.

[GnacAlum55]

Ok, so NOW how are they going to split it up.  By my count, there will be 12 teams on each side.  Does this make sense?

East
Emerson
Emmanuel
Suffolk
Mt. Ida
Lasell
Johnson and Wales

West
Norwich
Southern Vermont
Daniel Webster
Rivier
Albertus Magnus
St. Joe's

It's not a true East / West, or North / South for that matter.  It seems like Albertus gets screwed any way you look at it.  Any suggestions?
As an alum, it's pretty cool to see that the league has gotten so big.  I can't wait for 07-08!!!!!!

[CCCalum2]

Don't forget about the all-female institutions on the women's side of things.  Don't know how that would impact your divisions, just wanted to bring that up.  I think your divisions could work, not sure what the GNAC is thinking, but time will tell. 

[GnacAlum55]

Good point about the women.  The new league would give the women 15 teams (right?).  Traditionally they have played each other once, while the men have played each other twice.  If anything, this helps the women if they continue to play each other once - 2 less non-conf. games to schedule.  If the men played only once, it wouldn't be enough - 12 conf. games, 13 non-conf.  Not sure what to make of all of this!!!!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I can't wait for 07-08!!!!!!

I think you may see the numbers dropping back down again.  There are clearly some teams in the new GNAC that are put in serious difficulty in terms of travel and insitutional compatibility.  We spent a long time on the NAC board (I think) going over possible restructuring scenarios.  I see the GNAC getting smaller and focusing more on the Metro area; I doubt Magnus sticks around too long; they just don't fit in well in the conference.

[d3bballinboston]

i see SVC, Albertus, and DWEB all spearheading a new league in New England.  Possible schools as well would be (mitchell, newbury, becker, regis, lesley and green mountain.)

[CCCalum2]

i see SVC, Albertus, and DWEB all spearheading a new league in New England. Possible schools as well would be (mitchell, newbury, becker, regis, lesley and green mountain.)

I"m sure the NCAA can't wait until the athletic prowess of this league gets an AQ. 
Is this just hearsay or do you that something is brewing?  More shake up in NE?  Could be interesting.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Something is definately brewing, but we won't know a whole lot until this next group (whoever they may be) makes their intentions known.

There's a lot of speculation on previous pages of the NAC board; go check them out.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

SVC out...effective immediately.  Who called it?


This is where things begin to get interesting.

[Ralph Turner]

SVC out...effective immediately. Who called it?


This is where things begin to get interesting.

Gotta give you a +1 there, Hoops Fan.

I went back to your most exhasustive posting on the NAC board to figure where the Northeast is going.

You are right.  This will get interesting.  To achieve the AQ in all of the desired sports, I think that a conference membership of 10-12 is probably the most favorable, considering the options that exist in that region.  The NAC is at 12 and is seeing fluctuations.

As you stated:
NESCAC--stable
NEWMAC--only 7 men's and 10 women's programs; could add one coed and another women's.
LEC--Public schools; stable and successful in their core sports.
MASCAC--Public schools; Massachusetts; stable; common mission and vision.

Up for grabs:
CCC
GNAC
NAC
NE New Conference?

Does male volleyball form the core for any of these conferences?

Is there any chance that a new football AQ arises from the independents?

[d3bballinboston]

SVC, Green Mountain, Newbury, Mitchell, Elms, Lesley, Wheelock, Becker, Daniel Webster and Anna Maria all supposdeldy have met last week in the very early discussions of a new league.

This is going to get interesting to say the least.