Dear Mr. Yeager

[monarx]

I would like to let you know I do not wish to see the great strides this conference has made in basketball be thrown away by adding lousy basketball teams to the CAA, just for the sake of football. While I dont mind the idea of CAA football, watering down a decent basketball league for 1AA football isn't fair to the schools who have made a commitment to try to make the CAA a top 10 conference in hoops. Adding UNH & NE to the CAA would negate any progress made by the CAA to raise the profile of our conference. I would encourage you to only add schools who are committed to top level division 1 basketball and who have a history of success. College of Charleston, ETSU, Appalachian State, UNCC, UNCG all come to mind. If you want football so bad, bring in teams for a football only membership, or pressure ODU, GMU, VCU & UNCW to add football. Destroying the quality of CAA basketball for the sake of football will eventually drive your best basketball schools out of the conference.

[Seahawk4Him]

Ditto!!!!

[du_dragons]

I would like to let you know I do not wish to see the great strides this conference has made in basketball be thrown away by adding lousy basketball teams to the CAA, just for the sake of football.

Um, shouldn't you be writing this to John Swofford and the All Criminal Conference?

[DrexPhanatic]

Haha. 10-0 against adding UNH and NE. I would probably support their additons if there were two basketball schools added.

[PDGL Hoops]

Though I would love football for the CAA (and GMU for that matter!) I think adding these schools would not be a wise move. I think the conference has made great strides in basketball behind the success of UNCW in the NCAA tourney, the ability to get scheduled by big time programs from the ACC and Big East, and by getting more and more games on TV (Thank you VCU & UNCW for the ESPN match up). I think the CAA and Tom Yeager need to take a serious look at the programs as a whole and see if it is really worth bringing those programs. I would assume we would have a north and a south division with the following teams:

North:
Univ. North Hamp.
Northeastern Univ.
Hofstra
Delaware
Towson
Drexel

South:
GMU
JMU
VCU
ODU
W&M
UNCW

Plus it is to damn cold up there!!!

[du_dragons]

I voted yes. Three reasons:

1) I-AAA conferences get screwed out of NCAA money. We need to get to I-AA status to get a piece of the pie.

2) Every conference has weak sisters in some sports. By adding UNH and NU, we'd get some weak sisters in hoops, but decent football programs. To me, that's balance.

3) The travel costs can be mitigated by the implementation of "travelling partners." Given the fact that Durham is only 60 miles from Boston Logan, and that it's cheaper to stay outside of Boston, this arrangement really only incurs one trip to NE per year to the schools in NU/UNH's division. And divisional play means that schools like UNCW would probably only make that trip once every two years. Not a bad deal.

Given the state of the AE, and the available schools, NU and UNH would not be my first choices -- I'd rather get the two Boston schools and screw that conferences but good. But football is the motivating factor, and as such, this isn't the worst idea ever.

[Oneway]

I voted NO, adding these two and other quality bball programs ok, adding ONLY these two: Mistake. I'm not against CAA Football, I'm against it at the expense of our premier sport, basketball.

[Mac]

I vote NO. As a ODU fan I only care about basketball. We will never have football at ODU.

[JoeyBagODonuts]

Yes:

1) We can all use a few easy conference wins

2) My wife has relatives north of Boston, so she can visit with them while I go watch HU play @ UNH or NU.

[CaptLou]

NO

Unless two southern schools are also added (CofC, UNCG, Etc.)

[VRam]

I agree. I have nothing against 1-AA football for the CAA, as long as it isn't treated as any more important than say, ladies field hockey.

[VCU4LIFE]

Woah, my vote made it 38-4. I hope Yeager sees this... :shock:

[Halftime Hero]

I vote NO b/c I feel 10 teams is good. If we go to 12 we'll have to split into north/south divisions and only play half the teams once a year, I'm not a fan of that at all. The home & home is a big part of college basketball, the larger conferences have had to abandon this and I think it takes away from some rivalries.

[VCU4LIFE]

Ditto. I like the conference the way it is now. Don't expand unless it is for a legit upgrade. We just expanded what, 2-3 years ago?

[Duke Dawg]

HEY !

HOw in the heck did MaineJeff get to vote 6 times? :shock:

:wink:

[TheGodfather]

I don't even know who NE and UNH are?

[hardcoredon]

I don't even know who NE and UNH are?

You don't want to know either, trust me.

[igor]

1) I-AAA conferences get screwed out of NCAA money. We need to get to I-AA status to get a piece of the pie.

2) Every conference has weak sisters in some sports. By adding UNH and NU, we'd get some weak sisters in hoops, but decent football programs. To me, that's balance.

3) The travel costs can be mitigated by the implementation of "travelling partners." Given the fact that Durham is only 60 miles from Boston Logan, and that it's cheaper to stay outside of Boston, this arrangement really only incurs one trip to NE per year to the schools in NU/UNH's division. And divisional play means that schools like UNCW would probably only make that trip once every two years. Not a bad deal.



1 - The bigger piece of the pie will be eaten up by extra dues from the schools and watered down payments from the conference to two more schools

2 - Two more "weak sisters" mean a weaker RPI

3 - First you are not thinking of the other sports having to travel. Second the league would not be balanced. The south would beat up on each other and the north would have a cake walk. Not just in basketball but all other sports.

[Oneway]

I don't even know who NE and UNH are?

You don't want to know either, trust me.


Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[DarthDave]

Who beat you guys in the last AE tourney we were all in?

I have no problem adding NU to the CAA..I think they are quite similar to Drexel as far as makeup. UNH is another story.

[hardcoredon]

Two words: Steve Seymour.

[DarthDave]

Are you saying with the right coach, NU could be competitive in the CAA?

[hardcoredon]

No, I'm saying Steve Seymour is the reason we lost to NU in the tourney. Only he could have messed that season up.

[Derb]

Ditto. I like the conference the way it is now. Don't expand unless it is for a legit upgrade. We just expanded what, 2-3 years ago?

The CAA had no choice but to expand 3 years ago. It was expand or lose the autobid for the NCAA tourny.


No, I'm saying Steve Seymour is the reason we lost to NU in the tourney. Only he could have messed that season up.

Well it saved you guys the trouble of getting beat by us in the second round. 8)


Anyway I voted yes mainly because CAA football is going to happen. UD would not have made the switch without assurances that CAA would become a reality. So what does that mean? We have to add a couple schools who have football and are somewhat close to our area who would also be interested in joining the CAA (a list that I imagine is fairly short.) NU and UNH fit that bill and travel costs really won't be as bad as some of you are making them out to be since the likely result will be the CAA splitting into 2 divisions and the southern schools will only ahve to go up there every other year (assuming the scheduling is logical and makes the UNH and NU games happen in the same year within a couple days of each other so it's just 1 trip to hit both schools.) This will also mean that the southern division will only have to go to Hempstead once every other year (which is probably about as expensive as going to UNH/NU.) I agree that they aren't the ideal programs to be adding, but given the options I'll take them over pretty much anyone else.


And those of you who say only take UNH and NU if they add 2 southern schools are crazy. Anyone who wants to be in a 1 bid (maybe 2 in a good year) 14 team mid-major bball conference is nuts.

[CAAFan]

This is a bad deal for the non-football schools!!! And the numbers prove it:

Conferences rankings based on Sagarin Ratings today:

#10 Atlantic 10 (77.71)
#11 CAA Non-Football Schools (77.49)
#13 CAA (74.48)
#18 CAA with UNH & N'eastern (72.81)
#22 CAA Football Schools (70.23)
#24 CAA Football Schools with UNH & N'eastern (69.46)
#25 American East (67.85)

So by adding UNH & N'eastern the conference drops from #13 to #18.


GMU, VCU, ODU, UNCW and Drexel should leave and get non-football schools Charleston, GW and Davidson to join them in forming a new league that would be ranked #10.

[mainejeff]

You can whine all you want, but in the end, Delaware rules the day in the CAA. They will get their way.......guaranteed.

[fmrick]

Woah, my vote made it 38-4. I hope Yeager sees this... :shock:

Yeager told me- "Don't tell me, tell it to your President, they he has the vote, not me".

So do it. Everyone should let their school know how they feel.

[BradMan]

If all they are going to do is add two crappy schools from the north (crappy as in bball) then I vote no! That would drag our bball programs (the flagship of the CAA) down - the flagship program of the CAA. We have already done that that with the addition of the AE4 (of which drexel is the only school competing at the top - UD in the middle).

gotta at least balance it out with some decent bball schools. That is the only way I can see the bball only schools accepting the deal. If VCU votes for the North only addition, Trani will certainly get a letter from me.

And how dare Yeager blow you off like that and say that he doesn't have the vote, talk with your president. That is a "I don't give a crap what the CAA fans think" type statement! :?
-----

and if UD, towson, Hofstra fans are all huffy about my AE4 statement then too bad. When you bring in teams to a conference you at least want them to be competetive...in the middle of the pack. Yeah I know Hofstra beat VCU this season....but it is how you do over the entire season that counts. And most of the AE4 are still working their way up.......that drags down the bball conference. Do you really want to add two more bottom feeders to the basketball mix?

[CAAFan]

As the largest critic of MaineJeff - let me say he is appearing to be more and more right about Delaware.

After N'eastern & UNH join, the CAA will be nothing more than a new version of the AEC - minus Vermont & Maine.

THIS LEAGUE GOT HIJACKED BY A BUNCH OF YANKEES!!!!

[DarthDave]

and if UD, towson, Hofstra fans are all huffy about my AE4 statement then too bad. When you bring in teams to a conference you at least want them to be competetive...in the middle of the pack. Yeah I know Hofstra beat VCU this season....but it is how you do over the entire season that counts. And most of the AE4 are still working their way up.......that drags down the bball conference. Do you really want to add two more bottom feeders to the basketball mix?

I guess I should add my thoughts before hitting submit ...so here goes.

I agree somewhat with what you said(some AE teams have not been competitive) but what has VCU done since joining the CAA...1 CAA title with players that were recruited originally for a better league.

And does it reaaly matter how you do over an entire season when this is a one bid league? I think what matters is that weekend in March.

[JonP]

THIS LEAGUE GOT HIJACKED BY A BUNCH OF YANKEES!!!!

Delaware is below the Mason-Dixon line, as are three other football-playing schools.

I say take Northeastern, not UNH. Wait it out another year for a southern member and convince Villanova to come along for football. That would keep everybody content. No one would be ecstatic about NE hoops, but at least they have upside. UNH hoops is awful, awful, awful.

[Dukie]

Bradman,
You are way off base on this one. Yeager is an administrator for the conference Presidents. He is a resource to them for making these type of decisions but that is the extent of his political power. His statement was not a blow off at all. He was simply telling the truth.

As far as the AE4 goes, who is in first place right now....Drexel. UD has never been worse than middle of the pack. Drexel has been in the top tier all three years since coming to the conference. Hofstra and Towson have been in the playin game with two CAA schools (JMU being one of them) each year. Looks like to me that the AE4 have competed well and that the CAA has made their programs stronger. The CAA programs are certainly not weaker due to the AE4. VCU continues to have a good bball program and ODU has actually gotten stronger since the AE4 joined. JMU has only itself to blame for the state of its bball program.

I think all of you put too much significance on what two schools are brought in to the conference. Half of the A10 schools have terrible basketball programs and yet they are rated higher than the CAA. It is all about tv markets. The larger the geographical area of the conference and the number of major markets in which the CAA is located will determine tv exposure to a great extent. Get on tv more often and everyone's talent level will improve.

In the meantime, each school is responsible for its own RPI. Play a good OOC schedule and win. Then do well in conference. That is the key to at large bids. What the conference really needs to secure multiple NCAA bids is for two schools to end the year 15-3 or 14-4 in conference and have some quality OOC wins. I agree C of C is a more attractive bball program but adding them to the conference won't secure multiple bids. The conference is already highly competitive internally and that has more to do with no multiple bids than the AE4 addition. Adding two poor bball programs will not hurt the conference overall if the existing schools beat them and win OOC.


NE brings the Boston tv market. The CAA already has a presence in NY, Philly, Balt., DC, Rich., and Norfolk. That is seven major tv markets all on the east coast. The only major markets missing are Atlanta & Charlotte. Don't you think corporate sponsorship will improve with adding another major tv market? Isn't that where the real money is? If the CAA can secure corporate dollars to market their product on television more often, that will increase exposure to the conference schools. This will bring in a larger applicant pool to choose students from and also allow alumni living in other areas an opportunity to see their programs on tv.

If you look only to the quality of the teams as they are today, you are right that NE & UNH are poor additions to the conference. If you consider the potential of their addition to the future, maybe they are not such a bad addition afterall. The CAA gives NE & UNH a better conference to recruit better athletes and they give the CAA a major tv market. Perhaps these two schools will improve in the CAA just as Drexel has done. In the meantime, I don't see them hurting any of the existing schools programs. There are enough existing quality programs to keep the conference strong for many years to come.

[BradMan]

I agree somewhat with what you said(some AE teams have not been competitive) but what has VCU done since joining the CAA...1 CAA title with players that were recruited originally for a better league.

And does it reaaly matter how you do over an entire season when this is a one bid league? I think what matters is that weekend in March.

For some reason I knew the 'what has VCU done' comment would come up. But the question should be...what has it NOT done....and that would be (for the most part)....NOT pull the conference down. We may not have always been at the top be we aren't/haven't languished at the bottom either. This isn't a "VCU is superior and you aren't" type arguement. This is a "lets bring in teams (bball) that are immediately competitive with at least the top 5 CAA teams". Every team has their ups and down....we certainly have but why bring in teams that are going to have to probably struggle mightily just to be a marginal CAA team. And if we are going to bring in those types of teams then lets at least balance it out with a couple of competitive teams.

If you are an office manager and have a couple of open positions are you going to hire just anyone to fill the positions or are you going to hire individuals that are going to help your office?

As I said, I'm not asking that we only bring in the elite (like that would happen anyway). But I do want competitive teams (bball) brought in. If they are middle of the pack fine. If they are top of the pack, even better. But if they are going to be bottom feeders for 3-4 years and we bring in two of them...then NO.

I'm not saying we throw out Hofstra or Towson....they are here and I want them to get better. I just don't think it would be wise to bring in 2 additional teams that aren't going to be competitive (without balancing it out).

And it does matter how you do throughout the season as well as the OOC. It matters where the NCAA automatic winner gets placed in the tourney and it matters for an NIT bid, who you are pitted against, and whether you are going to play at home or away. It matters for a conference TV contract. It matters for tournament appearances during the season or at the beginning of the season. And it matters fro where your conference is ranked with respect to all the other conferences.

Sure there are always going to be teams at the bottom (JMU, W&M, Towson this year) and there will always be teams at the top (Drexel, VCU, ODU this year) but why do you want to bring in only teams that are going to add to the bottom....how is that going to help?

[Derb]

JonP, Delaware is actually east of the Mason-Dixon line. It divides MD and PA and sthen runs down the DE/MD border. :)

[Timer]

JonP, Delaware is actually east of the Mason-Dixon line. It divides MD and PA and sthen runs down the DE/MD border. :)

Whew, I've heard of nitpicking and all, Derb.....take a stand man!!!!

[irshawk]

I agree that the conference has been taken over by a "bunch of Yankees".
And yes, that includes Delaware! ...It is like when they all move South to get away from the crime, taxes & traffic - and then complain when they get here that "we didn't do it that way up north". Well then - GO HOME! The same can be said for the conference. Take your sorry teams back to the American East!!! WE DON"T WANT NORTHEASTERN OR UNH!!!!!

[igor]

Hold on there Jed. I agree the NH/NE addition is a mistake, but there may be some other schools north of the mason dixon that would be worthy.

[JonP]

JonP, Delaware is actually east of the Mason-Dixon line. It divides MD and PA and sthen runs down the DE/MD border. :)

Hey you learn something new every day.

I guess the conference is getting taken over by a bunch of Yankees, since, you know, we all want UNH.

* * *

Dukie, I disagree with you on one thing. I think UNH will never improve in basketball. Basketball is flat-out unimportant there. They simply don't care about it. Like Maine, it's hockey, hockey, hockey. Basketball is way farther down the list and I cannot imagine joining a better mid-major league will change that. (I've been to a hoops game at UNH and it's just sad.)

Let me state it plainly: UNH would be a terrible addition.

[mainejeff]

Please don't compare UNH to Maine.......that's like a slap in the face.

[JonP]

Please don't compare UNH to Maine.......that's like a slap in the face.

To Maine or New Hampshire?
:wink:

[J.B.]

Please don't compare UNH to Maine.......that's like a slap in the face.

1. UNH and Maine are both New England State Schools.
2. Neither school's basketball team has ever been to the NCAA Tournament.
3. Both schools play in America East, one of the worst Div I conferences in the country.
4. Both have 1AA football teams.
5. Both have pretty good Div I hockey teams, I think?
6. Both SUCK at basketball.
7. Both play basketball on HOCKEY RINKS built in the 1990's.
8. Neither team will EVER make the NCAA Tournament in Men's basketball.
9. Both schools should probably drop to Divison III in basketball.
10. Nobody in the country south of Massachusetts, gives a crap about either school.


SLAP SLAP SLAP

[93Ram]

Adding NU and UNH is a disaster. Basketball is the flagship sport for the conference. I can't believe that VCU, ODU, UNCW , GMU, and DU are going to make a decision that benefits them in no way whatsoever. I'd rather form a new league and go without the automatic bid for the 2 years or so it takes to get a new one than turn the CAA into a bottom feeder.

[CAAFan]

AMEN!!!

[Dukie]

93Ram,
I guess I have a lot more confidence in the existing CAA schools than you do. I don't see how any two schools the CAA adds will have a negative impact on the existing 10 schools. Every conference has its bottom feeders. When Drexel was part of the AE addition three years ago, I thought great the sixth best school in Philly is going to help the CAA? They have been in the top 4 every year since joining the conference.

Going further back. I thought UNCW was a weak addition as well. There were many more established schools in NC that I thought would make better additions to the conference. Now look at them. When VCU joined the league, I thought they would win the conference tourney at least every other year. So far they have only won one title. My point is we just don't know how these schools will pan out after joining the conference.

All of us have said that we are happy with the 10 teams we now have in the conference but many of us felt differently when those teams first joined. NE and UNH may not appear to good additions now but who knows what the future will be. In the meantime, I don't see how they could have the devastating blow to the conference that many are suggesting. I have more confidence in the other 10 schools ability to recruit and compete with other mid major conferences.