WBB: Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Dave alluded to new ACAA/CAC merger may be called CAC.  I hope so.  He also said CAC may add a few more schools as well.
I think CAC will employ ACAA conference championship tournament (seeding by massey ratings) for basketball.

Actually, what I said was it would probably hold the structure and status of the CAC because it has the AQs and such in place. The ACAA does not. I didn't venture a guess on what the name of the conference would be.

I also said the conference would be in place for schools transitioning from outside of DIII in. I know of one, for example, that has applied and was apparently eyeing the ACAA to join until they were solidly in DIII ... and then they would leave for another conference. This conference has the ability, easily, to being a transitional ground for a lot of schools. I am not sure where they would add any significant members at this time.

And I said, I suspect the new conference will take on the ACAA's model when it comes to handing out it's AQs since the mandate of playing conference games in season seems to have died on the vine.

Just to be clear ... these are my speculations. While I have sources confirm a meeting took place and the merger was agreed to, I don't have information on the make-up and such. And things could change. I had MANY sources confirm Arcadia was going to join the new AEC. That started to fluctuate and I had many sources over the course of 18 months say Arcadia was out, then back in, and then ultimately out.

[VT-Alum-NOVA]

as an "insider", I enjoy hearing your "speculations".  or is that another way to say you spoke to someone "off the record"?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

as an "insider", I enjoy hearing your "speculations".  or is that another way to say you spoke to someone "off the record"?

It is a mix of 20+ years covering Division III basketball and the division as a whole, spending countless hours talking to people around the country about things like this, and getting people to also confide in me on what is or isn't happening.

When I have something sourced, I indicate that clearly. When I have something I think is brewing, I will indicate that. And when I am going off of what I am piecing together, I indicate that.

[Swish3]

"And I said, I suspect the new conference will take on the ACAA's model when it comes to handing out it's AQs since the mandate of playing conference games in season seems to have died on the vine."

What does that mean, Dave?

[Swish3]

"And I said, I suspect the new conference will take on the ACAA's model when it comes to handing out it's AQs since the mandate of playing conference games in season seems to have died on the vine."

What does that mean, Dave?

I've managed to catch up some by reading the "Conference changes" discussion, but this potential merger would be weird for me...I might rather take my chances in Pool B until something better came along.

[VT-Alum-NOVA]

This merger (ACAA+CAC) buys CAC time to lure schools from nearby conferences to join CAC without losing AQ?  I hear it takes a lot of cajoling to get schools to leave a conference for another.

[CNU85]

"And I said, I suspect the new conference will take on the ACAA's model when it comes to handing out it's AQs since the mandate of playing conference games in season seems to have died on the vine."

What does that mean, Dave?

I believe they use Massey ratings (). Something like that.

[Pat Coleman]

The ACAA model is no regular season play, and using Massey Ratings to create seedings for the postseason tournament bracket.

[VT-Alum-NOVA]

The ACAA model is no regular season play, and using Massey Ratings to create seedings for the postseason tournament bracket.

Do you know how they determine host team for postseason tournament?

[Pat Coleman]

The ACAA model is no regular season play, and using Massey Ratings to create seedings for the postseason tournament bracket.

Do you know how they determine host team for postseason tournament?

Heh -- the ACAA has had a predetermined host, and the host team got an automatic bid, so even if the host school was not among the best four teams, they still qualified, and bumped someone else.

That has fewer ramifications when an automatic bid is not on the line, of course.

[VT-Alum-NOVA]

next year's tournament exact structure could be interesting.  With tournament bracket and Massey seeding, I could see change to #1 seed hosting entire weekend to cut down on travel costs.  Frankly, I see the 5 CAC teams (in 20-21) getting seeds #1-4.  Then a weekend tournament would be low cost (travel wise).

[Pat Coleman]

That certainly seems quite likely, based on the relative strength of the teams. Perhaps with a larger conference, they will expand to six tournament teams in order to guarantee at least one former ACAA team having a shot at the AQ.

[Swish3]

The ACAA model is no regular season play, and using Massey Ratings to create seedings for the postseason tournament bracket.

Do you know how they determine host team for postseason tournament?

Heh -- the ACAA has had a predetermined host, and the host team got an automatic bid, so even if the host school was not among the best four teams, they still qualified, and bumped someone else.

That has fewer ramifications when an automatic bid is not on the line, of course.

Does the CAC really want/need to get involved w/a conference this horrible?  If it does happen, thank God they likely wouldn't play each other in the regular season!  The travel budget alone would probably nix any thought of that, but even if they did play, I wouldn't waste one second of my time and money to watch any of the current ACAA teams.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The ACAA model is no regular season play, and using Massey Ratings to create seedings for the postseason tournament bracket.

Do you know how they determine host team for postseason tournament?

Heh -- the ACAA has had a predetermined host, and the host team got an automatic bid, so even if the host school was not among the best four teams, they still qualified, and bumped someone else.

Does the CAC really want/need to get involved w/a conference this horrible?  If it does happen, thank God they likely wouldn't play each other in the regular season!  The travel budget alone would probably nix any thought of that, but even if they did, I wouldn't waste one second of my time and money to watch any of the current ACAA teams play. 

That has fewer ramifications when an automatic bid is not on the line, of course.

The bottom line is protecting the AQ - this gives them at least an extra year to figure out their future without losing their conference and AQ status.  That's huge.

Most of the ACAA teams will be finding homes elsewhere anyway.  Delhi and UVF are already leaving, Pratt will get into another conference at some point - likely the same with Pine Manor.  Finlandia has been working towards the UMAC for a while.  Most of those teams were pulled together out of convenience anyway - if the CAC gets to a place where they want to do a real conference schedule again, probably the outliers will just move on.

It's not ideal, for sure, but it's in everyone's best interest for the short term.

[Swish3]

The ACAA model is no regular season play, and using Massey Ratings to create seedings for the postseason tournament bracket.

Do you know how they determine host team for postseason tournament?

Heh -- the ACAA has had a predetermined host, and the host team got an automatic bid, so even if the host school was not among the best four teams, they still qualified, and bumped someone else.

Does the CAC really want/need to get involved w/a conference this horrible?  If it does happen, thank God they likely wouldn't play each other in the regular season!  The travel budget alone would probably nix any thought of that, but even if they did, I wouldn't waste one second of my time and money to watch any of the current ACAA teams play. 

That has fewer ramifications when an automatic bid is not on the line, of course.

The bottom line is protecting the AQ - this gives them at least an extra year to figure out their future without losing their conference and AQ status.  That's huge.

Most of the ACAA teams will be finding homes elsewhere anyway.  Delhi and UVF are already leaving, Pratt will get into another conference at some point - likely the same with Pine Manor.  Finlandia has been working towards the UMAC for a while.  Most of those teams were pulled together out of convenience anyway - if the CAC gets to a place where they want to do a real conference schedule again, probably the outliers will just move on.

It's not ideal, for sure, but it's in everyone's best interest for the short term.

Didn't Dave think the CAC would fare well in Pool B?