Interesting article that focuses on the CAA and potential realignment. It sounds like there's not much common vision in the conference and a lot of the schools/presidents/ADs don't get along. Sounds the conference's days could be numbered. I hope W&M is being proactive in considering other options.

https://extrapoints.substack.com/p/a-con...M1bA6MthFQ

(10-01-2020 09:03 PM)Old tribe Wrote:  I hope W&M is being proactive in considering other options.

Naturally I hope whatever happens works out well for us. My confidence is quite low.

At one point the CAA was a Virginia centered conference so at least it made sense for us geographically.

Now, that is no longer the case.

The article was interesting. Three comments:

"Once you add in the affiliate members, things get even more complicated. Six other schools compete in the CAA in FCS football--Albany, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Richmond, Stony Brook and Villanova." Uh, hey, that totals seven.

"Perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back was the vote to postpone the fall athletics season. Multiple sources within the league told Extra Points that the CAA’s football-only affiliate membership voted to postpone the fall season before the league’s full membership had a chance to make a decision. That led to hurt feelings and damaged relationships throughout league, relationships that multiple sources told Extra Points were already strained."

I had not heard this. That's bad; in fact, associate members have some nerve voting first. The only associate members that we really need are Richmond and Villanova (although I admit that I like New Hampshire and would retain them, too, because they are good and they seem to be a class act, and because that would make 8 teams).

"As one athletic official at a CAA school put it, the league’s athletic directors just plain don’t like each other very much." How much do you want to bet that each of them was thinking about Huge when they answered that question.

This won't be a popular opinion, but leaving aside Huge's other decisions for a moment, I actually think conference realignment is an area where she would excel, at least much more than the previous AD. She is certainly forward thinking and unafraid to be constrained by tradition -- both traits which are needed if a conference change comes to fruition.

(10-02-2020 08:51 AM)Tribe2011 Wrote:  This won't be a popular opinion, but leaving aside Huge's other decisions for a moment, I actually think conference realignment is an area where she would excel, at least much more than the previous AD. She is certainly forward thinking and unafraid to be constrained by tradition -- both traits which are needed if a conference change comes to fruition.

Hahaha I agree! It was why I was excited when she came on. Either way, it's a bad time for instability at the top of the AD.

(10-01-2020 09:03 PM)Old tribe Wrote:  Interesting article that focuses on the CAA and potential realignment. It sounds like there's not much common vision in the conference and a lot of the schools/presidents/ADs don't get along. Sounds the conference's days could be numbered. I hope W&M is being proactive in considering other options.

https://extrapoints.substack.com/p/a-con...M1bA6MthFQ

Thanks for highlighting this article. Nice to see coverage of a topic that traditional media outlets, owing to unwillingness or inability, have largely abandoned.

What's interesting to me is that the reporter could only persuade one source, the CAA commissioner (whose staff, by the way, needs to give him a 3x5 card with better bullet points for the rationale of the 2020 CAA), to go on the record. Every other source chose to remain anonymous begging the why question.

There are two types of corruption in college athletics, the obvious and the insidious. The obvious manifests itself in sneaker deals and academic cheating. And the corrupt by and large profit -- the risk/reward favors the corrupt. The insidious corruption might be more damaging to mid-majors. The anonymous sources in the article know that the reason they can't align into more rational conferences is due to a lack of NCAA regulatory flexibility on conference auto-bids under normal circumstances, and now, not even in the middle of a budget gutting pandemic.

But there is no appetite on the part of mid-major ADs to go to bat publicly on behalf of their employers to obtain this flexibility, bringing us back to the why question. Enter the insidious corruption. Making noise about this issue reduces the likelihood of future Power 5 employment. Maybe making noise about this issue ought to be written into their contracts.

(10-01-2020 09:03 PM)Old tribe Wrote:  Interesting article that focuses on the CAA and potential realignment. It sounds like there's not much common vision in the conference and a lot of the schools/presidents/ADs don't get along. Sounds the conference's days could be numbered. I hope W&M is being proactive in considering other options.

If it comes to it, I wouldn't be disappointed to see W&M in the Patriot League. It' a good fit.

(10-12-2020 05:15 PM)DexterTribesman Wrote:  

(10-01-2020 09:03 PM)Old tribe Wrote:  Interesting article that focuses on the CAA and potential realignment. It sounds like there's not much common vision in the conference and a lot of the schools/presidents/ADs don't get along. Sounds the conference's days could be numbered. I hope W&M is being proactive in considering other options.

If it comes to it, I wouldn't be disappointed to see W&M in the Patriot League. It' a good fit.

It probably wouldn't please me, but I'd get over it. I guess...

This is the perfect time to blow it up and start from scratch. If ADs would get together and realize that an 8 or 9 team league would work for football and basketball we could do some damage. It would take some compromises. Below are my thoughts. Notice that we go south instead of north. I know people will hate this, but travel is lighter, weather is better in all seasons, and we're not out of out league in any sport. Clearly two hoops schools would need to swallow their pride and JMU would need to stop moving to FBS.

Tribe
Richmond - leaves A10 in hoops
Davidson - leaves Pioneer League in football and A10 in hoops
Elon
JMU
Furman - leaves southern conference
Wofford - leaves southern conference
Hampton - leaves Big south conference
Campbell - leaves Big south

(10-12-2020 05:15 PM)DexterTribesman Wrote:  

(10-01-2020 09:03 PM)Old tribe Wrote:  Interesting article that focuses on the CAA and potential realignment. It sounds like there's not much common vision in the conference and a lot of the schools/presidents/ADs don't get along. Sounds the conference's days could be numbered. I hope W&M is being proactive in considering other options.

If it comes to it, I wouldn't be disappointed to see W&M in the Patriot League. It' a good fit.

I disagree. Only football school within 3 hours is Georgetown. 60 scholarship limit and no redshirts. Zero natural rivalries. No thanks.

Nice, go from competing against JMU, UR, UD, Nova, UNCW, Elon, and CoC for the likes of Lafayette, HC, Bucknell, Colgate, and Lehigh.

And, how, exactly, would that save us money?

For football, all but say goodbye to the ACC paydays. No more day trips to UR, JMU, and UVA.

For basketball, what says fun like 9 hr bus rides and overnighters to play at Colgate in front of 300 people?

Get the PL idea out of your head and focus on what W&M can do to rebuild Tribe Athletics.

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(10-12-2020 06:06 PM)Tribe4SF Wrote:  I disagree. Only football school within 3 hours is Georgetown. 60 scholarship limit and no redshirts. Zero natural rivalries. No thanks.

I don't want to go PL either but I think Georgetown is a very natural rival. We already compete with them regionally academically and have similar student bodies. It's just too bad they're terrible and play in a middle school stadium.

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(10-12-2020 07:32 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  

(10-12-2020 06:06 PM)Tribe4SF Wrote:  I disagree. Only football school within 3 hours is Georgetown. 60 scholarship limit and no redshirts. Zero natural rivalries. No thanks.

I don't want to go PL either but I think Georgetown is a very natural rival. We already compete with them regionally academically and have similar student bodies. It's just too bad they're terrible and play in a middle school stadium.

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They do not offer football scholarships despite the change for other PL teams. If they ran their football program on a comparable footing and had any fan support and an adequate stadium it might be feasible. But it's not.