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http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/ ... -911010361

"Nobody's thinks 14 is a good number," admitted Yeager, on hand at Cowell Stadium to take in UNH's 48-21 win over Northeastern Saturday. "But, by the same token, there's a lot of benefit and commitment to making it work, as opposed to blowing it up and trying to do something else."

Short-term, here's what it means for UNH: not a whole lot.

The Wildcats will play a similar schedule in 2010 and 2011, with league games against all five of their North rivals and three in the South. Starting in 2012, they will play only one home game and one away game against South teams.

But long-term, staying in the larger-footprint CAA means making it work against more schools that are different, from enrollment to facilities to geography, all of them chasing the same annual bids to the Division I playoffs with disparate budgets.

Yeager said he is in ongoing dialogues with UNH athletics director Marty Scarano and Maine's Blake James, the league's two northernmost programs and arguably two of its biggest misfits when you gauge facilities (UNH) and distance (Maine).

"It remains an ongoing concern," said Yeager. "The good part is those two schools have great coaches and great teams that play in the mix very well."

"ongoing concern" and "ongoing dialogues"...................

America East Football coming soon...

The Wildcats will play a similar schedule in 2010 and 2011, with league games against all five of their North rivals and three in the South. Starting in 2012, they will play only one home game and one away game against South teams.

But long-term, staying in the larger-footprint CAA means making it work against more schools that are different, from enrollment to facilities to geography, all of them chasing the same annual bids to the Division I playoffs with disparate budgets.

Yeager said he is in ongoing dialogues with UNH athletics director Marty Scarano and Maine's Blake James, the league's two northernmost programs and arguably two of its biggest misfits when you gauge facilities (UNH) and distance (Maine).

They forget to mention that the 2012 schedule will be 1 and 1 with the South PLUS a possible road game in Atlanta (either UNH or Maine will get that trip).

And that last paragraph is total B.S.! Biggest "misfits"??? I'd say that URI and Northeastern fit that bill more than Maine and UNH! You would think that Durham and Orono are located in Nome, Alaska!!!

UNH
UMass
Maine
URI
Albany
CCSU
Stony Brook
Fordham

2013 Season.
Administered by the America East and its new Commissioner - Dr. Lee McElroy.

danefan wrote:UNH
UMass
Maine
URI
Albany
CCSU
Stony Brook
Fordham

2013 Season.
Administered by the America East and its new Commissioner - Dr. Lee McElroy.

that's a solid conference...

danefan wrote:UNH
UMass
Maine
URI
Albany
CCSU
Stony Brook
Fordham

2013 Season.
Administered by the America East and its new Commissioner - Dr. Lee McElroy.

Bless you!

Won't happen.

TwinTownBisonFan wrote:

danefan wrote:UNH
UMass
Maine
URI
Albany
CCSU
Stony Brook
Fordham

2013 Season.
Administered by the America East and its new Commissioner - Dr. Lee McElroy.

that's a solid conference...

And it makes it much easier for the remaining members of the NEC to secure that autobid each year

LastMinuteman wrote:Won't happen.

Something WILL happen.......but I agree that UMass will not be a part of it.

What will happen is this........

By 2012......

Northeastern drops football.

Maine, UNH, and URI leave CAA Football.

America East establishes football and invites Central Connecticut as an all-sports member, and Bryant and Monmouth as affiliate members.

America East Football line-up:

Maine
UNH
URI
Bryant
Central Connecticut
Albany
Stony Brook
Monmouth

In the meantime, the CAA drops to 10 football members and looks like this:

UMass
Hofstra
Villanova
Delaware
Towson
JMU
Richmond
W&M
ODU
Georgia State

They stay with an 8 game schedule with 1 opponent rotating off the schedule every 2 years until Georgia State leaves.......then they end up with the 9 football members that they've always wanted.

mainejeff wrote:What will happen is this........

By 2012......

Northeastern drops football.

Maine, UNH, and URI leave CAA Football.

America East establishes football and invites Central Connecticut as an all-sports member, and Bryant and Monmouth as affiliate members.

America East Football line-up:

Maine
UNH
URI
Bryant
Central Connecticut
Albany
Stony Brook
Monmouth

In the meantime, the CAA drops to 10 football members and looks like this:

UMass
Hofstra
Villanova
Delaware
Towson
JMU
Richmond
W&M
ODU
Georgia State

They stay with an 8 game schedule with 1 opponent rotating off the schedule every 2 years until Georgia State leaves.......then they end up with the 9 football members that they've always wanted.

I think mj might be on to something here...I agree with his assessment that UMass won't follow to the AE...

UNH, URI and Maine would be regular OOC games (long time rivals)...

I posted this before, but I have it on good solid word that UMass HAD agreed to leave the CAA football conference for an America East-run conference, but backed out when Albany's President Kermit Hall died suddenly.

Is the Admin at UMass the same as it was in 2006?

Jeff, I agree to an extent, except I'd make one slight adjustment:

Norhteastern will actually be a Patriot League all-sports member by 2012 and Fordham will be in the new America East league instead of Bryant.

Maine
UNH
URI
Fordham
Central Connecticut
Albany
Stony Brook

I don't really see Monmouth either, unless they leave the NEC in all-sports.

This leaves the potential for additional add-ons if the pop-up in 10 years or so (e.g. Vermont).

That is a viable league with, or without UMass, although I would be willing to bet that UNH can talk Umass into it.

danefan wrote:I posted this before, but I have it on good solid word that UMass HAD agreed to leave the CAA football conference for an America East-run conference, but backed out when Albany's President Kermit Hall died suddenly.

Is the Admin at UMass the same as it was in 2006?

The AD is (John McCutcheon has been AD since 2004)...

If you're asking about the President & Chancellor, I know the Chancellor changed about 14 months ago...and I believe the President has too, but I don't follow that stuff that close...

danefan wrote:Jeff, I agree to an extent, except I'd make one slight adjustment:

Norhteastern will actually be a Patriot League all-sports member by 2012 and Fordham will be in the new America East league instead of Bryant.

Maine
UNH
URI
Fordham
Central Connecticut
Albany
Stony Brook

I don't really see Monmouth either, unless they leave the NEC in all-sports.

This leaves the potential for additional add-ons if the pop-up in 10 years or so (e.g. Vermont).

That is a viable league with, or without UMass, although I would be willing to bet that UNH can talk Umass into it.

I do not know much about Monmouth, but knowing a bit about Bryant I say you are right. Bryant offers less than 10 scholarships (I believe only 7 spread out through quite a few players) and if CCSU and Albany left it makes it much easier for Bryant to recruit and win in the NEC. If they can guarantee being a top 2 or 3 team each year with a shot for the playoffs they will be happy.

Col Hogan wrote:UNH, URI and Maine would be regular OOC games (long time rivals)...

Make that UNH and URI. UMass will NEVER play Maine once they aren't forced to.

danefan wrote:I posted this before, but I have it on good solid word that UMass HAD agreed to leave the CAA football conference for an America East-run conference, but backed out when Albany's President Kermit Hall died suddenly.

Is the Admin at UMass the same as it was in 2006?

I'm sure UMass was involved in the talks back then, but that had as much if not more to do with insecurity and uncertainty about how the CAA would take over the league than about desiring a new affiliation. Flash forward a couple years with all the playoff bids and the great job the CAA office has done compared to the A10 on the TV deal and media exposure, and there's just no way they'd make that decision now. I don't think the state of Albany's program really had that much to do with the decision. While a more ambitious-looking Albany would have helped, it wouldn't have shifted the overall average level of facilities in that conference that much, and still would have been an unknown quantity. I don't have any inside info or anything, but I'd wager gaining a comfort level with the CAA was really the biggest issue, though the situation at Albany may have been cited as well.

It does look like a pretty well-balanced conference without UMass though. Very similar in terms of facilities, expected crowds, institutional profiles and so forth. Except that I'd expect Fordham to push very hard to get into the CAA beside perceived private university peers Villanova and Richmond first. The CAA would have to turn them down before they'd consider the New YanCon.

mainejeff wrote:

Col Hogan wrote:UNH, URI and Maine would be regular OOC games (long time rivals)...

Make that UNH and URI. UMass will NEVER play Maine once they aren't forced to.

With only 3 non-conference games most years, and 1 being tied up by a FBS opponent while another is tied up by an opponent willing to come to Amherst without a return game (to balance the FBS game), there would only be room to play one of them home-and-home. And that's only if we cancel the Holy Cross series, which is the easiest game we could possibly have in terms of travel.

That's another problem with the New YanCon. Not only are you decreasing your conference games, you're soaking up alot of the teams you used to count on to fill your non-conference schedules. UNH, URI and Maine will be fighting to see who can get that coveted home-and-home with Northeastern, whereas right now if Northeastern wasn't in the CAA I don't know if any of us would ever bother going to Parson's Field, except for Maine since it's the second-shortest trip they have.

LastMinuteman wrote:

danefan wrote:I posted this before, but I have it on good solid word that UMass HAD agreed to leave the CAA football conference for an America East-run conference, but backed out when Albany's President Kermit Hall died suddenly.

Is the Admin at UMass the same as it was in 2006?

I'm sure UMass was involved in the talks back then, but that had as much if not more to do with insecurity and uncertainty about how the CAA would take over the league than about desiring a new affiliation. Flash forward a couple years with all the playoff bids and the great job the CAA office has done compared to the A10 on the TV deal and media exposure, and there's just no way they'd make that decision now. I don't think the state of Albany's program really had that much to do with the decision. While a more ambitious-looking Albany would have helped, it wouldn't have shifted the overall average level of facilities in that conference that much, and still would have been an unknown quantity. I don't have any inside info or anything, but I'd wager gaining a comfort level with the CAA was really the biggest issue, though the situation at Albany may have been cited as well.

It does look like a pretty well-balanced conference without UMass though. Very similar in terms of facilities, expected crowds, institutional profiles and so forth. Except that I'd expect Fordham to push very hard to get into the CAA beside perceived private university peers Villanova and Richmond first. The CAA would have to turn them down before they'd consider the New YanCon.

That is a very good point. The CAA administration was still a question mark in 2006 and all the CAA North teams were coming into it with their head's on a swivel (sp?) after seeing what happened with the A10 administration. It is no longer a question mark. And that does make a very big difference.

I do believe the league will happen eventually with, or without, UMass though.

mainejeff wrote:What will happen is this........

By 2012......

Northeastern drops football.

Maine, UNH, and URI leave CAA Football.

America East establishes football and invites Central Connecticut as an all-sports member, and Bryant and Monmouth as affiliate members.

America East Football line-up:

Maine
UNH
URI
Bryant
Central Connecticut
Albany
Stony Brook
Monmouth

In the meantime, the CAA drops to 10 football members and looks like this:

UMass
Hofstra
Villanova
Delaware
Towson
JMU
Richmond
W&M
ODU
Georgia State

They stay with an 8 game schedule with 1 opponent rotating off the schedule every 2 years until Georgia State leaves.......then they end up with the 9 football members that they've always wanted.

Any fact to this or just hoping?

slycat wrote:

mainejeff wrote:What will happen is this........

By 2012......

Northeastern drops football.

Maine, UNH, and URI leave CAA Football.

America East establishes football and invites Central Connecticut as an all-sports member, and Bryant and Monmouth as affiliate members.

America East Football line-up:

Maine
UNH
URI
Bryant
Central Connecticut
Albany
Stony Brook
Monmouth

In the meantime, the CAA drops to 10 football members and looks like this:

UMass
Hofstra
Villanova
Delaware
Towson
JMU
Richmond
W&M
ODU
Georgia State

They stay with an 8 game schedule with 1 opponent rotating off the schedule every 2 years until Georgia State leaves.......then they end up with the 9 football members that they've always wanted.

Any fact to this or just hoping?

Neither.....hope it doesn't happen and certainly is far from "fact" at this point.

The bigger problem with the NewYanCon/AEF is that it doesn't have enough core members from any previous league to establish continuity for qualifying for an autobid for (is it 2 or 5?) years - 3 CAA, 4 NEC, plus Stony Brook.

doesn't northeastern have a pretty shitty football stadium?

TwinTownBisonFan wrote:doesn't northeastern have a pretty shitty football stadium?

It doesn't matter.......they are a CAA all-sport member.

On a side note.........does anyone in any other conference complain about a road trip more than CAA fans complain about the trip to Orono, Maine??? Yeah, it's a long drive........but the campus is a couple of miles off an exit of a little 'ole road known as I-95. Oh yeah........the airport is 15 minutes from campus for the Southern whiners that fly.

mainejeff wrote:

TwinTownBisonFan wrote:doesn't northeastern have a pretty shitty football stadium?

It doesn't matter.......they are a CAA all-sport member.

On a side note.........does anyone in any other conference complain about a road trip more than CAA fans complain about the trip to Orono, Maine??? Yeah, it's a long drive........but the campus is a couple of miles off an exit of a little 'ole road known as I-95. Oh yeah........the airport is 15 minutes from campus for the Southern whiners that fly.

CAA members have the gall to complain about a road trip?