OT: NEC and Duquesne football
- Thread starter HailToPitt725
- Start date
Metropolitan Area Populations
8. Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington
27. Pittsburgh
67. Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton
95. Harrisburg–Carlisle
100. Scranton–Wilkes-Barre
104. Lancaster
116. York–Hanover
124. Reading
187. Erie
How big is that place?
I'm sure there were lacrosse rivalries before the Euro invasion!!
I used to spend Lot of
Time in Indiana, Pa in the early 80’s for work. There were bumper stickers everywhere that said “Play Penn State by ‘88”.
Yea, Lafayette is right there too but Lehigh literally is on the Allentown border. I am actually curious though if Erie really is the largest city without a team. I mean I know Anchorage doesnt have 1 but there's so many D1s that you figure it has all the larger markets covered. I love this move by Mercyhurst. Erie needs a D1 team and its a really good sports area. They'll support that team.
Once again, when you look at the metropolitan area rather than just the city population (fun fact, Pittsburgh is the 67th largest city in the US, and if that was what mattered wouldn't have any major pro sports teams), Erie is not even in the top five PA cities without a D1 team.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Yes it was a down year for IUP in football and basketball this year. 2 of their best BB players went up to a lower D1 level .
You may not be wrong, but I really don’t think they’ll be much difference between, say, them and St. Francis or some of the other D2 call-ups. It’s the best (and really only) fit for them at the D1 level.
I just hope this won’t involve them discontinuing their football program like some former D2 schools have (e.g., Omaha-Nebraska).
I'm more worried about them dissolving their wrestling program more than their football program.
Good point; the NEC does not sponsor it. I wonder if the EIWA would be a landing spot for them?
I think Mercyhurst will be the best NEC Basketball program in a very short time because they are going to have a fanbase and that will be a sell for those lower D1 recruits. Almost all D2 callups have done well, right away in hoops. That going to D1 energy pushes them past those D1 programs who have been bad forever.
There are 11 schools in the process of moving up. This year, three of the 11 ranked in the top 260 of the Pomeroy rankings (highest, 129) and six of them ranked 300 or worse, including the 4th from the bottom and 7th from the bottom. The median value is 302.
So yeah, they are all doing well right away.
Or not.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Here is the main thing no one is talking about with the Mercyhurst of the world moving up to D1. It gives the SEC/Big 10 schools more reason to pull away and start their own thing like they are currently trying to do. In the 90's for football there were 106 D1-A schools. Now there are 134 FBS schools, and many of them are pretending to be at this level. Not sure how many total D1 schools there were then but now there is 362 schools which i assume is a lot more than there were in the 90's.
Let's face reality, whey would the big boys of the college world want to associate themselves with Mercyhurst, Chicago St, and all these other schools that look nothing like the big schools do?
Let's face reality, whey would the big boys of the college world want to associate themselves with Mercyhurst, Chicago St, and all these other schools that look nothing like the big schools do?
pittdan77
Athletic Director
They need those schools because they need easy wins so the puffy alumni show up and throw wads of cash down your drain an extra two or three times a year and brag about never winning less than eight or nine games. They don't really care about sharing the same neighborhood so long as the peons don't start syphoning too much cash off of their bottom line.
Merrimack
North Dakota St
South Dakota St
Longwood
UMass-Lowell
Bryant
Northern Kentucky
FGCU
I didn't say these D2 upgrades were making Final Fours but the momentum from the upgrade usually puts that program at the top of that conference. Mercyhurst will win an NEC title in the first 4 years (arent eligible for NCAAT) and will make NCAAT in 1st 8 years.
Would be cool if their first ever D1 home game was against Pitt or even Duquesne
There were/are enough of those bottom feeders already. The more there are, they will siphon money away incrementally.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Vandy and Northwestern are bigger problems because they're getting full conference shares. That cannot be allowed to persist. Mercyhurst isn't syphoning money off of anyone that matters.
Frankly, they aren't thinking about it at all. Much ado about nothing.
Anyone that matters! That's the rub. Temple/Memphis/Wyoming/MACtion/ etc are going to be taking less. You think they want to give part of their cut to newcomers?
pittdan77
Athletic Director
$2 million.
Every game a conference plays in the NCAAT, it gets $2 million. Last year, the NEC got $4 million since FDU won a game. Sometimes the NEC wins that First Four game also, which is worth the same $2 million.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Yep. They might get a windfall for being someone's punching bag on some abysmally hot September afternoon, now, and that's about it.
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