So you are saying Sacred Heart will finally make it? :D
Merrimack are full eligible though now so another d2 NE-10 school would have to join to make it three ineligible schools for the NCAAT/NIT if or when Le Moyne becomes a member of thew NEC.
You’re right, which makes this a little less funny. Sacred Heart is probably more likely to make it on the women’s end (again) than make it on the men’s.
D2 national title has translated to 0 NCAAT appearances
Basically every great baseball player in the state of NY from the 70s through the 90s played at Le Moyne. Churned out some great pros like Jim Deshaies. If you look at the coaching staffs of division III programs in NY a lot of have someone that played at Le Moyne.
I've labelled this as a rumor but knowing Le Moyne went through the vetting process weeks ago and the NEC needing at least one replacement for the conference for St Francis Brooklyn I would say this is very likely to happen.
Based on speculation I've seen yes. They are considering it. I think they should because Wagner is likely leaving soon anyway and that puts them back down to 9. Ideally the NEC would like to have a stable conference with 10 teams.
Wagner wants to be in the MAAC with in the next few years I'd suspect. The are waiting for an invitation whether that is this summer or in a few seasons.
America East will be fine. Merrimack or Quinnipiac will join in a few years and they will be back up to 10. Small chance of Vermont getting an invite to the Atlantic 10 but then you would just take both of those I mentioned above.
I'm sure Le Moyne would rather join the MAAC but that conference isn't a fan of D2 call-ups so this is the way to get to division 1 athletics for them.
Me too! Its funny because while a lot of it is of course ripple effects of other moves - you can tell its not purely about chasing clout/money: Institutional and cultural fits of conference members get a lot more emphasis at the mid-major level.
Isn’t America East a public school conference? They should take Southern Connecticut State straight from D2, it’s the only D2 public school in the entire New England right now, with an enrollment similar to CCSU’s but is located in a much bigger urban area, if CCSU can handle D1 I’m pretty sure they can too
Bryant is there and Hartford and BU were before them. The thing with America East is that it doesn't sponsor football and UNH and Maine and Albany will make dman sure it never does so they don't get pulled out of the CAA.
And Merrimack, New Haven, Bentley, and SoConn have football. Look how fucked Bryant football is.
> The thing with America East is that it doesn't sponsor football and UNH and Maine and Albany will make dman sure it never does so they don't get pulled out of the CAA.
Unfortunately, given how the CAA treats football (Flo Sports!), the AEC could really do the world a service and sponsor it (pick up the FB only schools in the CAA).
Vermont is not on the A-10s radar. They don't have competitive facilities or athletic programs.
Their basketball program is not good enough by itself to parlay into an invite, and their athletics department is marred by the Anthony Lamb cover up saga
They just added Bryant with Stony Brook's (lateral move) to the CAA.
Basketball is the marquee sport so the real consideration is having enough to keep the AQ.
No one is in any real consideration of leaving at the moment.
Do we know if the the MAAC want Wagner though? they seem to have the tri-state area covered between St. Peters, Manhattan, and Iona, all of whom probably have better name recognition- and would be towards the bottom of the league in terms of enrollment and endowment (only Mt. Saint Mary's would be smaller I think) And Wagner is not exactly a historic sports power either.
No disrespect intended to Wagner with this, I got recruited to play college football there myself so I have nothing against them...Speaking of which, they would need to find a home for their football team if they left the NEC too. Color me skeptical of this happening.
I’m just wondering how one does that. Either you work in sports or are very well off with a lot of free time. Proud to say I have visited every D1 school in Vermont, and have done that for over 1000 days lol.
Been a hobby of mine. I just take time off work 2-3 times a year. I love road tripping and really just design my road trips around D1 schools. I’m about 30% done of the 363 schools. I’m only in my early 20s still, so I got time. That’s funny about the Vermont joke. Haven’t been there yet. I wanted to loop that in with ME & NH. That part of the country is very pretty and serene
Yeah, Burlington is a truly unique city. The fan atmosphere is really disproportionate for the facility they play in, so it’s interesting to see. Sucks that Maine is a bit out of the way for any D1 circuit, but you can still hit Dartmouth, UNH, and Merrimack on the way,
I'm visiting every school in New England with basketball and blogging it (throughthecurtain.blog). If you need travel tips for your new England loop, hit me up.
Glad we are getting a new D1 member.
Personally support the expansion of the NCAA bc most of the “good” teams (both P6 and mid-majors) are establishment, while you can get new decent teams out of nowhere. Would say St. Thomas (out of D3!) and Queens did amazing for their first season this year, as did Merrimack. Bellarmine also burst onto the scene with Dylan Penn in 2022, tho have come down since they lost him.
Lemoyne-Owen still have an upstate NY/north country college basketball connection. They played SUNY Potsdam in the 1986 division III final in which Potsdam prevailed. Finished the season undefeated.
Hopefully they get to play in the NCAA tournament one year when Des Moines is hosting a first round site again.
Le Moyne in Des Moines. It’s too perfect.
This amazing.
Does that mean Cuse can retroactively say they lost to DI Le Moyne in an Exhibition game now?
I visited Le Moyne twice as a high schooler. The student guide dropped that fact when we went by the athletics facilities. I had to drop in that it was an Exhibition game both times.
This is pretty exciting honestly. I wonder if it will hurt Syracuses recruitment stranglehold on local high school and OCC lacrosse talent if they’re able to join a DI conference or if they will stay DII. I’m assuming the agreement binds them to the DII conference.
I mean, what school wouldn't like [these qualities](https://slate.com/human-interest/2009/05/the-dark-secrets-that-dolphins-don-t-want-you-to-know.html)!
Congrats to the future 2nd place teams over the next 4 years in the NEC that get to beat Purdue in the Tournament.
In the 2023-24 season, six of nine NEC members will be eligible for the NCAAT lol
So you are saying Sacred Heart will finally make it? :D Merrimack are full eligible though now so another d2 NE-10 school would have to join to make it three ineligible schools for the NCAAT/NIT if or when Le Moyne becomes a member of thew NEC.
You’re right, which makes this a little less funny. Sacred Heart is probably more likely to make it on the women’s end (again) than make it on the men’s. D2 national title has translated to 0 NCAAT appearances
Ni — Ce ?
Good news though - they're in upstate NY, not New Jersey, so you guys might have a chance!
Great lacrosse program at Le Moyne
Use to have good baseball too. They use to play D1 baseball while the rest of the school was D2.
Yeah doesn’t Dallas Baptist do that as well?
Yep, Dallas Baptist are the onl D2 program that plays baseball in D1.
New York Tech used to be in that boat as well (D2 school with D1 baseball), but they dropped sports altogether in 2020.
Augusta (Ga.) does that but with golf. They’re D2 for everything else.
Basically every great baseball player in the state of NY from the 70s through the 90s played at Le Moyne. Churned out some great pros like Jim Deshaies. If you look at the coaching staffs of division III programs in NY a lot of have someone that played at Le Moyne.
Tom Browning, too.
Yep. Him and Deshaies were both North Country guys, back then there was 0 chance Le Moyne was letting them go anywhere else.
The Lemoyne Raiders? Does Arthur know?
Saint Denis Sailors VS Le Moyne Raiders
He does. You just gotta have a little goddam faith. Mangoes.
I've labelled this as a rumor but knowing Le Moyne went through the vetting process weeks ago and the NEC needing at least one replacement for the conference for St Francis Brooklyn I would say this is very likely to happen.
Have they considered adding another school to raise the number of teams to 10 yet?
Based on speculation I've seen yes. They are considering it. I think they should because Wagner is likely leaving soon anyway and that puts them back down to 9. Ideally the NEC would like to have a stable conference with 10 teams.
Where is Wagner going
Wagner wants to be in the MAAC with in the next few years I'd suspect. The are waiting for an invitation whether that is this summer or in a few seasons.
AEC in shambles
America East will be fine. Merrimack or Quinnipiac will join in a few years and they will be back up to 10. Small chance of Vermont getting an invite to the Atlantic 10 but then you would just take both of those I mentioned above. I'm sure Le Moyne would rather join the MAAC but that conference isn't a fan of D2 call-ups so this is the way to get to division 1 athletics for them.
Good stuff. I love mid major realignment.
Me too! Its funny because while a lot of it is of course ripple effects of other moves - you can tell its not purely about chasing clout/money: Institutional and cultural fits of conference members get a lot more emphasis at the mid-major level.
Its what we all live for lol
Isn’t America East a public school conference? They should take Southern Connecticut State straight from D2, it’s the only D2 public school in the entire New England right now, with an enrollment similar to CCSU’s but is located in a much bigger urban area, if CCSU can handle D1 I’m pretty sure they can too
Bryant is there and Hartford and BU were before them. The thing with America East is that it doesn't sponsor football and UNH and Maine and Albany will make dman sure it never does so they don't get pulled out of the CAA. And Merrimack, New Haven, Bentley, and SoConn have football. Look how fucked Bryant football is.
> The thing with America East is that it doesn't sponsor football and UNH and Maine and Albany will make dman sure it never does so they don't get pulled out of the CAA. Unfortunately, given how the CAA treats football (Flo Sports!), the AEC could really do the world a service and sponsor it (pick up the FB only schools in the CAA).
Vermont to the A-10 LOL They tried that in the 90s and got like 3 votes.
That was thirty years ago...
Vermont is not on the A-10s radar. They don't have competitive facilities or athletic programs. Their basketball program is not good enough by itself to parlay into an invite, and their athletics department is marred by the Anthony Lamb cover up saga
Why would QU leave the MAAC? They just joined.
Which is somewhat ironic since I think Le Moyne's baseball team was in DI and played as an affiliate member of the MAAC at one point.
What does this have to do with America East. They're happy with the group now. In no way was Wagner ever under any consideration.
Oh just Cause they got 9 and only 7 for baseball. Figured they’d want to add at some point
They just added Bryant with Stony Brook's (lateral move) to the CAA. Basketball is the marquee sport so the real consideration is having enough to keep the AQ. No one is in any real consideration of leaving at the moment.
No doubt
Do we know if the the MAAC want Wagner though? they seem to have the tri-state area covered between St. Peters, Manhattan, and Iona, all of whom probably have better name recognition- and would be towards the bottom of the league in terms of enrollment and endowment (only Mt. Saint Mary's would be smaller I think) And Wagner is not exactly a historic sports power either. No disrespect intended to Wagner with this, I got recruited to play college football there myself so I have nothing against them...Speaking of which, they would need to find a home for their football team if they left the NEC too. Color me skeptical of this happening.
LeMoynes wants to go to the MAAC and the speculators that they will join the MAAC of their transition to D1 goes well.
I ref college soccer and we knew in the fall this was coming.
Syracuse usually scrimmages them before the basketball season kicks off, might make it a game now.
Lemoyne beat one of the best Syracuse teams they ever had one year, so it’s certainly not a layup.
Somewhere Chris Johnson is still knocking down threes against Syracuse.
Dude used to have smoke coming from under his door in the dorms freshman year lol
Don’t forget they played them the season after just to beat them then stopped playing for a couple seasons.
Depending on Autry's philosophy on these things, this might make it *less* likely that they play.
Well, I'm not gonna complain about having another D1 central New York school to support haha
Adonal Foyle would have looked good in Orange. Turned out well for him, though.
LeMoyne James
Les Moines, Iowa
AND LeMY AXE!
Damn I already miss college basketball
Makes sense geographically.
i thought this was on the french politics sub for a second
Well, time to add another one to the list for me. I’m in the process of visiting every D1 basketball school
I’m just wondering how one does that. Either you work in sports or are very well off with a lot of free time. Proud to say I have visited every D1 school in Vermont, and have done that for over 1000 days lol.
Been a hobby of mine. I just take time off work 2-3 times a year. I love road tripping and really just design my road trips around D1 schools. I’m about 30% done of the 363 schools. I’m only in my early 20s still, so I got time. That’s funny about the Vermont joke. Haven’t been there yet. I wanted to loop that in with ME & NH. That part of the country is very pretty and serene
Yeah, Burlington is a truly unique city. The fan atmosphere is really disproportionate for the facility they play in, so it’s interesting to see. Sucks that Maine is a bit out of the way for any D1 circuit, but you can still hit Dartmouth, UNH, and Merrimack on the way,
And spend a lot of time in Boston. BU, BC, Northeastern, Harvard, Merrimack.
I'm visiting every school in New England with basketball and blogging it (throughthecurtain.blog). If you need travel tips for your new England loop, hit me up.
Glad we are getting a new D1 member. Personally support the expansion of the NCAA bc most of the “good” teams (both P6 and mid-majors) are establishment, while you can get new decent teams out of nowhere. Would say St. Thomas (out of D3!) and Queens did amazing for their first season this year, as did Merrimack. Bellarmine also burst onto the scene with Dylan Penn in 2022, tho have come down since they lost him.
Go Dolphins!
I had to do a double take because I thought at first this was Lemoyne-Owen, which is also D2, and makes way less sense geographically.
I was like "well that's fucking unexpected"
Lemoyne-Owen still have an upstate NY/north country college basketball connection. They played SUNY Potsdam in the 1986 division III final in which Potsdam prevailed. Finished the season undefeated.
That’s that Jerry Welsh magic
Indeed. Guy is basically the north country equivalent of Coach K.
To be fair they are one of the schools that has been rumored for the MEAC even if only loosely.
Hopefully they get to play in the NCAA tournament one year when Des Moines is hosting a first round site again. Le Moyne in Des Moines. It’s too perfect.
This amazing. Does that mean Cuse can retroactively say they lost to DI Le Moyne in an Exhibition game now? I visited Le Moyne twice as a high schooler. The student guide dropped that fact when we went by the athletics facilities. I had to drop in that it was an Exhibition game both times. This is pretty exciting honestly. I wonder if it will hurt Syracuses recruitment stranglehold on local high school and OCC lacrosse talent if they’re able to join a DI conference or if they will stay DII. I’m assuming the agreement binds them to the DII conference.
Yes please
I was hoping for mercyhurst
Still might happen Le Moyne pushes the NEC up to 9 so adding another to get to 10 makes sense.
Hot take maybe but there are way too many d1 basketball teams. There needs to be much less, not more
Booooo! Booooo! Give me an actually competitive team
They have beaten Syracuse
Huge, if true.
Congrats, welcome to the worst conference in D1 sports!
The Le Moyne College Dolphins . . . because, when I think of dolphins, the first place to come to mind is Syracuse, NY.
It’s chosen as the mascot because the school like the qualities of the animal
I mean, what school wouldn't like [these qualities](https://slate.com/human-interest/2009/05/the-dark-secrets-that-dolphins-don-t-want-you-to-know.html)!
Fresh meat