Quote from: ziggy on June 27, 2025, 09:28:55 AM

Quote from: Ralph Turner on June 26, 2025, 03:30:44 PMWith Marywood moving to the MAC, where do the remaining teams in the AEC assimilate? In the pecking order of the Mid-Atlantic states, I peruse the AEC not to be a destination for neighboring schools in the shuffle and Marywood and Neumann were happy to be invited.
Please comment and advise.

The movement of St. Elizabeth into the AEC tells me they are a rung above the UEC in the conference ladder. I think the large UEC move with the CSAC a couple years ago was a smart pre-emptive strike against the forces we've seen at play in recent years but take a look at our running list here and it's only been bad news for the conference since.

Surely there will some kind of next move coming for the AEC and I'm interested to see what it is. Might Marymount be attractive to the ODAC should they want to replace Ferrum? Would Marymount consider the C2C as that conference starts to look more regional?

Even with a Marymount (or other) move out, maybe other UEC schools follow St. Elizabeth to keep the AEC afloat.

Interesting thought. I don't think the ODAC particularly needs to replace Ferrum at the moment, especially with Roanoke now sponsoring football and Marymount not having a football program. I also have to admit that I don't know a lot about the dynamics of conference memberships, but my guess is that Marymount doesn't quite fit the profile of the rest of the ODAC members. But with so much happening in higher ed right now, there may be some ODAC schools that won't survive over the next 5-10 years, which could result in a need to find new members. At the moment, though, I'd say if Marymount were looking for a new conference the C2C might be the place. 

Quote from: jknezek on June 24, 2025, 10:31:39 AMSadly many schools are... not good... at fundraising. FLO provides a solid, dependable (provided Flo stays in business), small revenue stream. For many schools, that is probably attractive. For schools like those in the UAA? Yeah, I don't get it at all.

Personally I hate this model. Monetizing D3 sports is a bad idea. Not only is it a bad idea, it's a loser of an idea. These aren't scholarship kids. They are paying to play. Now parents have to pay to watch? I just want to grab these admin heads and bang them together and point out how stupid this is.

Either your athletics department makes money because you bring in student athletes that pay tuition, adding numbers to your student body, or it brings in prestige because it brings in student athletes that otherwise would have gone elsewhere for a better experience. Either way, the school benefits from the athletic department and shouldn't be nickel and diming these kids and parents to squeeze even more blood from the stone.

If your athletic department does neither of those things, if it costs you money or doesn't add value to your student body, and you feel the need to nickel and dime student athletes, then it is time to give up on your athletics department.

Higher education needs to realize their value proposition is getting thinner and thinner. Small, expensive, not highly regarded liberal arts schools, the type that make up a good percent of D3, are especially vulnerable. Nickel and diming students and parents even more is not going to fix that, and only makes it more expensive. Stop betting on losing models.

As for the UAA schools, which are some of the cream of D3 institutions, you are just cutting off your nose to spite your face and no amount of justifying how much they will make can change my mind on this. There is 0 reason to put your sports behind a paywall. You are some of the best, and most expensive, schools in the country. You choose to associate with a very expensive, geographically diverse, conference, for prestige purposes. This is a pathetic slap in the face to student athlete parents and the few alums that support and love student athletes.

And when the ODAC takes this path, as I suspect most D3 conferences will eventually, I will be just as scathing about W&L, though far more understanding, even if I think it's still a bad idea, for other schools in the ODAC.

I hope you are wrong about the ODAC. Like W&L, RMC shouldn't need the revenue. But I suspect some of the ODAC schools might. If the ODAC goes this route I won't subscribe. If there is still separate audio available for RMC games I'll probably tune in for some of them. But I'm just as likely to do something else with my time.

As I said in an earlier post in this discussion: "I'd be very interested in having someone from one of the conferences or schools that has signed on with FloSports come on here and explain in some detail (not a "Tweet") the rationale for the decision, the pros and cons that were weighed in making it, the perceived benefits to the conference/institution and athletes, how/why they think it will be better for fans/viewers, and some information about the dollars and cents of the deal -- does it represent an actual increase in revenue for the athletic department/conference, etc., etc.."

Quote from: deiscanton on June 22, 2025, 09:03:14 AMThe UAA has decided to go with the Flo for the next 5 years.   On June 20, the UAA announced an exclusive 5 year deal to have all of their teams exclusively streamed on FloSports.   Which means that I will have to buy FloCollege as a necessary streaming package for at least the fall soccer and winter basketball seasons.   

If there is one silver lining to this, it will be that I can finally watch all Brandeis home games on my Roku TV again provided that I pay the FloCollege subscription fees.

http://uaasports.info/news/2025/6/20/general-uaa-and-flosports-enter-exclusive-media-rights-agreement.aspx

FYI -- in case you aren't aware. An active discussion of the whole FloSports/D3 matter is taking place in "General/General Division III issues/Re: Flo Sports" at the top of the boards.

I'd be very interested in having someone from one of the conferences or schools that has signed on with FloSports come on here and explain in some detail (not a "Tweet") the rationale for the decision, the pros and cons that were weighed in making it, the perceived benefits to the conference/institution and athletes, how/why they think it will be better for fans/viewers, and some information about the dollars and cents of the deal -- does it represent an actual increase in revenue for the athletic department/conference, etc., etc..

I went to check out the FloSports subscriptions and discovered my email address is already registered with them (since 2018). I have a vague memory of that, but I'm not sure what for. Was FloSports broadcasting stuff for free back then? I know I never paid them for anything as I've never been hit up for any kind of renewal.

Anyway, the two subscription options -- $29.99/month billed monthly or $12.49/month billed as $149.88 annually -- are more than I'd be willing to pay no matter how much stuff I could watch, since my interests are limited. Maybe this will work out for any schools/conferences that sign on, but if I have to start paying to watch things I've previously been able to watch for free, then I'll just stop watching. If my alma mater and its conference go this route it will also adversely affect my charitable giving -- which isn't a whole lot, but has been consistent for decades.

Quote from: jknezek on May 30, 2025, 02:30:33 PMODAC has some problem children between Averett and Guilford. There are a few others that I would look real closely at before writing a check for my kid.

It was this past fall, I think, that there were some posts on the ODAC boards about financial issues and personnel discontent at Lynchburg. Are you thinking of any others?

^^^ That's a REALLY long article. I read the first part, then scrolled down and kept scrolling and scrolling. Sure hope Guilford comes out of this ok.

Quote from: stlawus on May 19, 2025, 05:57:52 PMOnly team in the UAA I would definitely bet against is Rochester.  An already bad team that loses their best player.  Coach seems to be recruiting size for the sake of size which rarely works out in d3 and resulted in the nadir of his tenure thus far.

Agreed. Randolph-Macon had a 7-footer about 10 years ago who only saw the court in mop up minutes over four years. Wash U had a 7-footer maybe 15 years ago who only became a starter as a senior and was never a dominant player. Players with that kind of size, who also have skill, will certainly end up in D2 or D1. In fact, I'd say size alone rarely woks out at any level.

^^^ There seems to be an issue over resource allocation between the Vermont campus and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA.

Middlebury 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

Quote from: el_jefe_90 on April 15, 2025, 11:47:15 AMAccording to HoopDirt on X, NYU Head Coach is heading to Florida:

https://x.com/HoopDirt/status/1912154266807984636

Transfer portal for coaches.

No mention of a specific impact on athletics in this article, but there is bound to be a trickle down effect: https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/04/middlebury-slashes-budget-by-over-10-million-imposes-partial-hiring-freeze

Macon, it's fascinating that you posted about the schools in the final four and their endowments. I was literally just looking up that info and had decided to root for the school with the smallest endowment -- Trinity. I do have a soft spot for Wash U, since I live in Saint Louis, but I'll stick with Trinity this time.

As for next season, RMC definitely needs to add some players with size who are good enough to give at least 15 minutes a game.

Quote from: HoopsDad34 on March 09, 2025, 12:10:30 PMIf you had told me two weeks ago that UMW was going to the Sweet 16 and CNU and RMU were not, I would have asked, "What are you smoking?" Sorry to see those programs out but beyond happy that UMW is still dancing.

It's interesting that UMW defeated Drew. Drew handed Catholic three of its losses this year. Catholic, of course just topped RMC. RMC beat UMW early in the season. There's a vast difference between November and March when it comes to basketball, even if the weather is often similar.

RMC advances to the Sweet Sixteen with a 62-56 win over Elizabethtown. The Jackets get a chance to avenge their 32 point loss to Gettysburg in their second game of the season. That's also RMC's only loss of the season. They are on a 28 game win streak.