FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 05:04:27 AM

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Ryan Stoppable

Quote from: Ryan Stoppable on November 16, 2017, 09:01:53 PM
Quote from: badgerwarhawk on November 16, 2017, 11:18:59 AM
It's going to be a long day Ryan.   ;)

Maybe it will, heck, probably it will. But maybe it won't. As the old saying goes, that's why they don't play games on paper. :P

NCAA Playoffs First Round:

Lakeland 0
#3 UW-Oshkosh 63

Just so the record is complete, it was in fact a long day for the Muskies.
Lakeland Muskies: Fear the Fish!

NCAA Appearances
Football: 17, 16, 15, 09, 05
MBB: 04
WBB: 17, 10, 06, 04, 02, 01, 99
Baseball: 03, 02 (College World Series)

Pat Coleman

This is not new as a concept, but Benedictine's dalliance with Division II is moving forward in the process:
http://www.d3sports.com/notables/2018/01/benedictine-looking-to-d2
Publisher. Questions? Check our FAQ for D3f, D3h.
Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

formerd3db

Quote from: Pat Coleman on January 16, 2018, 11:48:29 AM
This is not new as a concept, but Benedictine's dalliance with Division II is moving forward in the process:
http://www.d3sports.com/notables/2018/01/benedictine-looking-to-d2

Pat:
What is your "gut feeling" on this? Do you think a) the NCAA will actually approve their application and b) is this really a realistic move for Benedictine? Not to be negative towards them, but they can't even draw large attendance at their football games at the DIII level, although, we could say that also applies to most of the other DII schools in the Midwest as many of them have even less attendance than a great number of the DIII schools everywhere. What do you ( and anyone else here) think?

"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

FYI - the DII application process is complicated and a lot of it has to do with parts of the application that no one sees... so I'd argue hard to calculate. It is a multi-month process including on site visit(s).

As for attendance... never known that to be a determining factor in anything. D1 schools shouldn't be in their division if that is factor.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

formerd3db

I'm well aware that the application process for transition to DII is extremely complicated.  You are correct that there are a lot of factors that are part of it and evaluated.  The same is true for transitioning down to DIII and/or a school establishing a DIII program  or an NAIA school that petitions to transition to DIII.

Regarding the attendance issue, certainly it is not a factor, rather I was just commenting on/referring to how it is somewhat not what one would might expect, although it obviously is not what occurs (and we know that in some years, for example in the DI MAC, DIII schools have outdrawn them in attendance for certain single games). Just an observation.  Yet in one sense, I would think that an institution would prefer to have increased attendance since they had made the decision to shell out $ for scholarships.  Ideally, that would be the desire/best scenario, although again, we know that doesn't happen.     
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

Gregory Sager

In order to draw well at any small-college level you need townie support; you can't simply rely upon students and the people who have a connection to the school (alunni, faculty, staff, relatives, etc.) to fill the stands. I've never seen any hugely-attended BU athletics events in Lisle, which doesn't come as any surprise; small-college athletics are completely swallowed up in Chicagoland by a million other things going on that are of interest to the public. There may be exceptions, but it's my observation that townie support is restricted to schools located in small cities and medium-sized or large villages that are far away from major urban areas.

Again, a look at Lewis is informative, since Lewis is a D2 school that's only a dozen miles away from Benedictine. Last season the Flyers had a pretty good year in men's basketball, winning 19 games while playing in one of D2's better men's basketball leagues, the GLVC; they drew an average of a little less than 600 fans per home game, which meant that they were outdrawn by four CCIW teams, while another four CCIW came pretty close to Lewis's average. This year the Flyers are down, and they're being outdrawn by eight CCIW teams.

Bottom line: I don't think that Benedictine sports will draw any better for D2 events than the Bennies have had for D3 events.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

formerd3db

Quote from: Gregory Sager on January 26, 2018, 12:12:48 PM
In order to draw well at any small-college level you need townie support; you can't simply rely upon students and the people who have a connection to the school (alunni, faculty, staff, relatives, etc.) to fill the stands. I've never seen any hugely-attended BU athletics events in Lisle, which doesn't come as any surprise; small-college athletics are completely swallowed up in Chicagoland by a million other things going on that are of interest to the public. There may be exceptions, but it's my observation that townie support is restricted to schools located in small cities and medium-sized or large villages that are far away from major urban areas.

Again, a look at Lewis is informative, since Lewis is a D2 school that's only a dozen miles away from Benedictine. Last season the Flyers had a pretty good year in men's basketball, winning 19 games while playing in one of D2's better men's basketball leagues, the GLVC; they drew an average of a little less than 600 fans per home game, which meant that they were outdrawn by four CCIW teams, while another four CCIW came pretty close to Lewis's average. This year the Flyers are down, and they're being outdrawn by eight CCIW teams.

Bottom line: I don't think that Benedictine sports will draw any better for D2 events than the Bennies have had for D3 events.

Excellent comments/analysis, Gregory.  I agree with you 100% that town support is a big plus factor and, for sure, your Chicagoland is a somewhat "different animal" in that regard.  There are, though as you and I know, a few times when some temporary "abnormalities" occur and I'll use my Hope as an example.  For the most part, even "way back when" in my own playing days there, Hope has had excellent attendance and extremely high town/community support in attendance (I'm not including basketball here, even though this applies to that sport there also) even in tough times.  However, once in awhile, what I will call some "strange or slightly surprising" situations occur such as these past two years.  With the change to HC alum Stuursma and his new staff, which has brought a change in direction and Hope returning to consecutive winning seasons (7-3 in his first year and 8-2 this past season), I have been disappointed in what I would call somewhat dismal attendance.  This is certainly not what I would expect for a winning program and in view of the history as I've mentioned.  However, perhaps this will improve (as it often does in these situations) if Hope's teams continue in this current vein and returning back to consistent/annual "high" winning seasons in the W-L column. 

Anyway, I will be anxious to see how this might play out this fall in 2019, although if the attendance trend continues as it has, I will admittedly be disappointed.  Hopefully (no pun intended), times have not changed that much. ???  And...we'll see how it plays out with regard to BU as you have mentioned (if they are successful in their application for transition to DII.)
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

WW

My guess is the BU switch is more motivated by empty dorm rooms than empty seats in the stands. They had 77 guys on 2017 roster, 101 five years ago. Perhaps enrollment trends are reflected in those numbers. Even if that decline is just football-specific, if seven full equivalency skollies (on average per year) restore football roster to previous numbers, the switch to D2 will have paid for itself — and then some.

I think they also recognize a market opportunity there. Lots of Chicagoland/SE Wisconsin D2-level players end up at area D3s simply for lack of another regional option. I think they'll get the pick of those kids. Grants and academic skollies are being given away by many small private schools (such as BU) like it's Halloween candy.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

FYI - a source confirms that Benedictine did officially apply for DII membership. We won't know an answer until June at the earliest from the NCAA/DII.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

USee

Josiah Sears has left Benedictine to become Offensive Coordinator at IMG Academy in Florida

https://twitter.com/Jason__Dill/status/968922536976187393



WW

Interesting move. IMG Academy is (ostensibly) a high school.

dachampishere

Any news on the new Benedictine head football coach or who the candidates might be or when they will be interviewing them????

WW

No but they do have a new OC — Pat McAvoy former OC at St Norbert

dachampishere

That's till the new head coach comes in and wants to hire his own people. The reality of college football

WW

Quote from: dachampishere on March 31, 2018, 01:48:57 AM
Any news on the new Benedictine head football coach or who the candidates might be or when they will be interviewing them????

Benedictine makes a hire.

http://benueagles.com/news/2018/4/24/mccaslin-tabbed-as-next-leader-of-benedictine-football.aspx