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Mid-major expansion stuff

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Sean Miller Fan

Lair Hall of Famer
Oct 30, 2001
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Comcast finally added FS2 after its launch with FS1 5 years ago or so. There's still not much on it. Bundesliga soccer, UFC, Big East basketball pretty much.

- Merrimack moving up from D2 to join the NEC next year giving the league its first school from Massachusetts (which surprised me). Pre-emptive move in case RMU takes their new arena to the MAAC, CAA, Horizon, or OVC?

- Liberty and North Alabama joined the A-Sun this year, replacing USC-Upstate. The Big South kicked Liberty out with their move to D1 football.

- These I found the most interesting: Savannah State moving back to D2 next year and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Waybe (aka known as IUPUFW, IPFW, or Fort Wayne) is now Purdue-Fort Wayne as IU and Purdue have divorced. There's now and IU-Fort Wayne and a Purdue-Fort Wayne with Purdue-Fort Wayne inheriting the athletics program.
 
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Sean Miller Fan said:
Comcast finally added FS2 after its launch with FS1 5 years ago or so. There's still not much on it. Bundesliga soccer, UFC, Big East basketball pretty much.

- Merrimack moving up from D2 to join the NEC next year giving the league its first school from Massachusetts (which surprised me). Pre-emptive move in case RMU takes their new arena to the MAAC, CAA, Horizon, or OVC?

- Liberty and North Alabama joined the A-Sun this year, replacing USC-Upstate. The Big South kicked Liberty out with their move to D1 football.

- These I found the most interesting: Savannah State moving back to D2 next year and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Waybe (aka known as IUPUFW, IPFW, or Fort Wayne) is now Purdue-Fort Wayne as IU and Purdue have divorced. There's now and IU-Fort Wayne and a Purdue-Fort Wayne with Purdue-Fort Wayne inheriting the athletics program.
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I've had FS2 for at least a year.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
Minor D1. I hate the term "low major." Its contradictory.
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It doesn't really matter what you call them, you just can't lump leagues like the NEC into the same category as a league like the AAC, which actually has several programs capable of reaching the Final Four, or maybe even winning the whole thing. The overly broad use of "mid major" is lazy.
 
UMKC leaving the WAC to go back to the Summit League. They originally left the Summit for the WAC because they felt it would cut their travel time and costs with direct flights into WAC cities like Seattle, Chicago, Denver (at the time), SoCal, Phoenix, etc. The WAC will add Dixie State (Utah) to get back to 8 members and keep their auto bid.

Bellarmine (from Louisville) will be moving up from D2 to join the Atlantic Sun.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
Minor D1. I hate the term "low major." Its contradictory.
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No it isn't. It is perfectly descriptive of what it is, bottom level of Division 1. Mid Majors are also descriptive, and the Power conferences are descriptive. It is the three levels of Division 1 sports.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
If NJIT and Cal Baptist are low majors then which programs are minor D1?
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D1 is the category for major schools. High, mid, and low. Non majors are D2, and D3. If I were labeling the leagues, I would go; 1. Power conferences. (P5, BE. The AAC might be able to play itself up to this level if they start sending teams to the Final Four on a semi regular basis). 2. High Majors. (this would be the leagues that send multiple teams to the NCAA's nearly every year, but aren't a real threat to win it all. (A10, MWC, maybe the AAC right now). 3. Mid Majors. (These leagues rarely get a second bid, but their best team is usually pretty good, about as good as the P5 teams that end up on the bubble, sometimes even better). 4. Low Majors. (These leagues never get a second bid, and their teams are the 15 and 16 seed teams that usually end up as fodder for the elite, although they provide the greatest thrills when they pull that rare upset).
 
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Purdue-Fort Wayne leaving Summit League for Horizon League. Horizon now has 11. Could RMU be #12?
 
CaptainMurphy said:
Fort Wayne feels like a city that should have a MAC team. IUPUFW was probably the most ridiculous name in D1.
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The MAC is in similar towns...or smaller (Miami, e.g.) But those schools have history.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
Purdue-Fort Wayne leaving Summit League for Horizon League. Horizon now has 11. Could RMU be #12?
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RMU would be totally overwhelmed there at this point and have a hard time winning more than one or two games in that conference.
 
BFo8 said:
RMU would be totally overwhelmed there at this point and have a hard time winning more than one or two games in that conference.
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They'd be able to recruit better players as the Horizon is a legit mid-major league. However, if the Horizon has plans to get to 12, my guess is Belmont would be high on their list and also Murray State but Murray plays football in the OVC and may not want to have to find another hope for their football program.

The MAAC is the most realistic place RMU can land if they ever leave the NEC
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
I think the MAC should add North Dakota State.
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If I was an ND State fan, I think I'd rather be in the NCAA-1AA Championship football playoffs and game every year and go 15-0, than go to the MAC and fight hard to get to 8-4 so I could get to a third rate Exhibition Bowl. Maybe the money is bigger, I don't know? But as a fan, I'm for example, not happy rooting for "Nutting's Wallet".
 
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MarshallGoldberg said:
The MAAC did a study recently, they didn't want RMU. Horizon would be interesting! Still seems unlikely.
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The Horizon is made up of fairly large public schools. RMU would be a fish out of water there. RMU has 5,000 students. The Horizon only has 2 schools with less than 15,000 students, and 3 of those schools have over 30,000 students.
 
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- In one of the crazier things you've ever heard (ok, maybe not Rutgers to the Big Ten crazy), St. Thomas (D3 school in Minneapolis) was kicked out of their league to create "athletic comparative parity." Apparently, their programs dominated the MIAC for decades and the other schools in the league have much smaller enrollments. So, what does St. Thomas do? They go out and join the D1 Summit League. They're the first D3 to D1 program I can remember doing this.

- Augustana (South Dakota) announced it wants to go D1 but cant find a conference. The Dakota schools dont seem to want them in the Summit and no other conference makes sense geographically.

- Tarleton State is joining the WAC from D2. The WAC just won't die. Congratulations to them I guess.

- The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the LIU Post (formerly CW Post) Pioneers have merged to become the Long Island Sharks. New colors and all (sky blue and yellow). The football team moved from D2 to FCS this year and also play in the NEC. Their games are still played on the Post Campus on actual Long Island. The LIU Post D2 basketball programs were eliminated.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
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- The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the LIU Post (formerly CW Post) Pioneers have merged to become the Long Island Sharks. New colors and all (sky blue and yellow). The football team moved from D2 to FCS this year and also play in the NEC. Their games are still played on the Post Campus on actual Long Island. The LIU Post D2 basketball programs were eliminated.
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They have a FB game scheduled with the Hoopies in 2021.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
- In one of the crazier things you've ever heard (ok, maybe not Rutgers to the Big Ten crazy), St. Thomas (D3 school in Minneapolis) was kicked out of their league to create "athletic comparative parity." Apparently, their programs dominated the MIAC for decades and the other schools in the league have much smaller enrollments. So, what does St. Thomas do? They go out and join the D1 Summit League. They're the first D3 to D1 program I can remember doing this.

- Augustana (South Dakota) announced it wants to go D1 but cant find a conference. The Dakota schools dont seem to want them in the Summit and no other conference makes sense geographically.

- Tarleton State is joining the WAC from D2. The WAC just won't die. Congratulations to them I guess.

- The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and the LIU Post (formerly CW Post) Pioneers have merged to become the Long Island Sharks. New colors and all (sky blue and yellow). The football team moved from D2 to FCS this year and also play in the NEC. Their games are still played on the Post Campus on actual Long Island. The LIU Post D2 basketball programs were eliminated.
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- The head coach at Watsamatta U. was thrilled to find a left and a right basketball shoe in each and every box when their new shipment arrived in October.
 
North Carolina A&T to the Big South, joining fellow former HBCU and former MEAC member Hampton.

The Big South is probably the odds on favorite for RMU football's landing spot. That's where Monmouth ended up when they left the NEC for the MAAC.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
North Carolina A&T to the Big South, joining fellow former HBCU and former MEAC member Hampton.

The Big South is probably the odds on favorite for RMU football's landing spot. That's where Monmouth ended up when they left the NEC for the MAAC.
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I don’t follow FCS football much...is the Big South a downgrade in football vs the NEC or about the same level?
 
JD1976 said:
Me too. I have had it for a while though you do have to search to find it.
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I've had it for a few years. Don't remember watching more than one or two times. Mainly for a replay of a game I missed that was on FS1 the night before. Not sure why Fox Sports has the channel if it doesn't have the programming to support it. More importantly. Why am I paying for it?
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
North Carolina A&T to the Big South, joining fellow former HBCU and former MEAC member Hampton.

The Big South is probably the odds on favorite for RMU football's landing spot. That's where Monmouth ended up when they left the NEC for the MAAC.
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Hampton didn't stop being an HBCU when they left the MEAC.
 
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Sean Miller Fan said:
Comcast finally added FS2 after its launch with FS1 5 years ago or so. There's still not much on it. Bundesliga soccer, UFC, Big East basketball pretty much.

- Merrimack moving up from D2 to join the NEC next year giving the league its first school from Massachusetts (which surprised me). Pre-emptive move in case RMU takes their new arena to the MAAC, CAA, Horizon, or OVC?

- Liberty and North Alabama joined the A-Sun this year, replacing USC-Upstate. The Big South kicked Liberty out with their move to D1 football.

- These I found the most interesting: Savannah State moving back to D2 next year and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Waybe (aka known as IUPUFW, IPFW, or Fort Wayne) is now Purdue-Fort Wayne as IU and Purdue have divorced. There's now and IU-Fort Wayne and a Purdue-Fort Wayne with Purdue-Fort Wayne inheriting the athletics program.
Click to expand...

The real Comcast question is--have they added the ACC Network?
 
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