Quote from: CNU85 on May 30, 2025, 01:34:00 PMI don't recall seeing this on the boards. My apologies if I'm bringing up old news. Endowment now down to $1.9 Million.

Averett Sues former CFO

Good gosh.  That's a troubling financial picture.  Wow.

It's the ability to combine into one for sports sponsored by fewer schools that irks people.  Nobody else gets that option, they have to align as affiliates or create single sport conferences, all of which cost more money.  The MAC should be two conferences and, if they get to 20 teams, the NCAA should force them to split permanently.  I doubt that happens, but it really isn't a level playing field.

Even if they want to remain two parts of one big conference and share administration like they do now, that's fine with me, so long as they operate as two separate conferences for all sport AQs.  That's the real inequity to be addressed.

You're also going to see increased pressure to justify athletic spending at schools far more concerned with academics.  The NESCAC might be wealthy, but the money's not unlimited.  I think you're going to see more questions about whether robust intercollegiate athletics is as much an asset to the institution as it used to be.  Media coverage of D1 is certainly not helping any.

Do teams use that bye for non-conference games?  That could be why they keep it on a Saturday - much easier to schedule something.

Quote from: jmcozenlaw on May 15, 2025, 05:00:24 PM1. The MAC might very well end up, in time for the Fall of 2027, as a 20 team conference, with two, 10 team divisions. This would put an end to the "MAC should not have two automatic qualifiers" noise once and for all.

The issue with the grandfathered two AQs is not about number of teams, but that the MAC participates as one conference for some sports and two conference for others.  Nobody else gets that flexibility.

This is entirely from my impressions in conversation with Vanderwal and nothing he's specifically said, but as much as he and his family appreciated Marietta, the school and the town, and all the things they've done to welcome and appreciate him, he's still a Michigan kid at heart and if the right MIAA job came open, it always felt like he'd have a hard time saying no.

Now, couple that with the financial issues Marietta's been having and the fact that his kids are just getting to HS age - timing makes sense.  Trine is a better gig is pretty much every conceivable way, closer to home, more room for advancement, if he's still thinking about coaching at a higher level someday.

Heck, he's already had some success recruiting kids from NW Ohio down to Marietta.  Really, really tough to say no to that one - especially when it sounds like Trine went after him pretty hard.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on May 10, 2025, 03:19:03 PMhttps://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2025/5/9/the-thunder-mens-basketball-program-announces-seven-newcomers-for-the-2025-26-season.aspx

Wheaton announces their incoming class...all freshmen. Up to 10 now.

Maybe the AD allocated additional resources to MBB recruiting?

The reality is, though, the only way any NESCAC school is in real danger is if they try to keep pace with richer peers beyond their means.  Middlebury is still working with a huge endowment and a 14% acceptance rate.  For elite institutions, there will always be students out there who want to attend - they just need to be smart about what they can offer as the landscape changes.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on May 09, 2025, 09:43:57 AM^^^ There seems to be an issue over resource allocation between the Vermont campus and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA.

I mean, they acquired an institution that wasn't making money and they seem to be trying to make it worthwhile.  I'm sure a difference of opinion on that is inevitable.  Always more difficult to admit a mistake (if it is indeed a mistake) than to keep trying to make it work.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on May 09, 2025, 01:21:22 AMMiddlebury seems to be in a bit of turmoil: https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/05/hundreds-attend-faculty-staff-led-walkout-to-protest-budget-cuts

https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/05/let-them-eat-cake

This has been ongoing for several years now.  I was on campus there a year and a half ago, maybe - most of the student newspaper was devoted to faculty/staff/housing issues on campus - I had a lot of conversations that weekend.  Definitely doesn't seem like the kind of existential financial issue troubling other schools - much more about how resources are being allocated and different visions of priority.

Not that it isn't a thing.  I know the percentage they're pulling from endowment affects academic rankings and such, which is, of course, very important in NESCAC world.

The housing piece seems to be adjacent, but separate, too.  They've been over-enrolling for a while on a campus and in a town with a HUGE housing crunch, which isn't going to get better with the current economic climate.

I do wonder if it's a similar kind of issue to things schools deal with on a regular basis (especially with staff and junior faculty concerns), but the Middlebury folks have done a better job with media coverage.  I'm curious to see how it plays out.

Quote from: nescac1 on May 06, 2025, 11:19:15 AMHampton Sanders transfers to Columbia - at least the fifth D3 to D1 transfer this year, including three from the UAA, which has really been hit hard by the portal after benefiting so extensively from it over the past few seasons. 

We assume its a done deal, but he's only committed to the admissions process.  You can never be 100% sure the Ivies.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on May 04, 2025, 09:36:27 PMBeen awhile. Any news on the 2025 edition? Teams, matchups?

I have no inside information on teams or matchups, but I believe you can expect an announcement pretty soon.  I think almost everything is finalized or close to it.

Quote from: Caz Bombers on May 01, 2025, 02:41:48 PMthis Saint Elizabeth addition will allow the AEC to keep its automatic berths for baseball and softball but does nothing to keep them afloat in m/w lacrosse, m/w tennis, or field hockey. They were in the grace period for those sports already (because of Cabrini's closure) before Neumann even announced they were leaving in 2026.

And I can't imagine Pratt is a forever member, especially with changes to the CUNYAC/Skyline potentially on the horizon.

The press release did mention the Catholic roots of the league.  I wonder if Notre Dame would also jump across?

AEC lost no time finding a replacement school for THIS fall!

https://d3sports.com/notables/2025/05/st-elizabeth-moving-east

I think he'll fit in very well with the culture that's been developed.  I overheard him pitch a recruit at the very first Great Lakes Invitational.  There was no pandering or selling involved.  Lots of "this is going to be the hardest thing you ever do.  We're going to push you.  You might hate me.  You're not going to enjoy all of it, but we're going to get the most out of you."  Not difficult to figure out how he actually tends to get the most out of his players.  Great hire.