Rhode Island to the NEC?

[gmichels]

Any word on what will happen with the rest of their sports teams? I'd love to see them join the America East. Saves URI travel money and allows them to play their neighbors (UVM, UNH and Vermont). It also upgrades the overall profile of the America East. I'm crossing my fingers.

[UAalum72]

Football only. No way they'll want to move basketball from the A-10 to America East.

[UAalum72]

Maine preseason story says URI had "announced" they will be in the NEC in 2013, though noone else seems to have seen this announcement. Delaware online blog says 2012 is likely with 2011 still possible.

[UAalum72]

Official announcement today. URI begins NEC play in 2013.

 

Announcement

[Clickclack]

Official announcement today. URI begins NEC play in 2013.

 

Announcement

 

What does this mean for UA? That should be right around the time our new stadium comes online...*cough* *fingers crossed*

[danefan]

Not sure what it really means for us. Could mean really two things: 1. the NEC gets stronger (URI had wins over UMass, UNH and Villanova this year) or 2. the CAA North 3 (UMass, UNH and Maine) are forced to do something new with us and SBU.

 

1. is more likely in the short term. But two seasons is a long time to see what happens.

 

 

[danefan]

Some interesting thoughts from Tony Graham - the Monmouth beat writer and quite possibly the best media member the NEC has.

 

http://blogs.app.com/hawks/2010/11/22/mu-football-my-view-on-uri-joining-nec-for-football/

 

MY thoughts on URI entering the NEC for football..

 

Potential clash of philosophies on expanding scholarships may loom among NEC football coaches and or schools

 

My opinion – I am not crazy about it if it means cutting back on non-conference games and if it squashes ideas of the NEC eventually offering the max allowed FCS scholarship number of 63 which this appears to portend… ..at least for now.

 

Point 1.

 

Perhaps the real story behind the story is this: URI is coming into the NEC for financial reasons..so it will be able to cut its football scholarships from the 63 allowed FCS schools, to the no more than 40 permitted by the NEC by 2013…

 

At the same time there are NEC football coaches … KC among them – who I believe would prefer the NEC boost its football scholarships, with an eye on 63, after the 2013 season..

 

So basically you have, within one league, a possible clash of philosophies. Schools or at least football coaches in the NEC that want to continue to increase scholarhips (I believe they are at least MU, Albany, and RMU). Then you have those schools, URI among them, that want to cap them at 40…

 

FYI – The vote on these issues by the way is determined by a majority decision of NEC presidents. In the event of deadlocks, the proposals fail.

 

Another thought – unless the NEC boosts its football scholarshiphips it will almost always be at a disadvantage going into the FCS playoffs when it will be playing ranked schools with the full boat load of 63 rides. Let’s see how 2010 NEC champion RMU, a team MU could have, should have defeated this season, fares in he FCS playoffs at North Dakota State this weekend…

 

True, NEC schools – MU included - have defeated full ride programs (Albany defeated Delaware some years back during a rare Blue Hens off season), but certainly not on a regular basis.

 

MU lost at URI in the 2008 season opener, 27-24.

 

Point 2. BUT it also means that the 10-member NEC (including URI beginning in 2013 ) may in some years drop from three to two non-conference games. FCS schools are permitted a max of 11 regular season games.

 

From Ron Ratner of he NEC: “With the way the calendar works, teams can play 12 games in 2013, 2014 and 2019, which would mean three non-league games. In 2015-18, just two non-league games.”

 

MU next season hosts Lehigh and Colgate and plays at Villanova. We know KC likes to play a demanding non-conference schedule.

 

Point 3: URI coming to the NEC certainly helps the league in terms of recognition

 

Other information:

 

The Rhode Island football team (5-6: 4-4 CAA) rallied past No. 19/19 Massachusetts to claim a 37-34 victory Saturday afternoon at Meade Stadium to pick up its third win in its last four games.

 

[Michigan_Dane]

I welcome URI to the NEC. URI is a flagship state university and it gives the NEC credability.

 

That being said, the NEC cannot stay at 40 scholarships. URI may push for that but it would be short sighted on their part. URI is coming to the NEC for cost savings and competitiveness. They achieve both even with 57 scholarships. They get the travel cost savings. They still drop a few scholarships from 63. They are immediatelty competitive in the NEC. Lastly, they get all of this and can still play their long time rivals. One money game and URI makes up for the few extra scholarships between 40 and 57.

 

I werlcome URI but not to keep the NEC at 40. 57 has to be the goal.

[Clickclack]

I don't understand how scholarships are a cost. Sure they have to be accounted for in the books but it's not real money that the University has to dole out. It's not like a plane vs. bus ride, that is a quantifiable and tangible cost. How are scholarships a cost to the school in real dollar terms?

[danefan]

I don't understand how scholarships are a cost. Sure they have to be accounted for in the books but it's not real money that the University has to dole out. It's not like a plane vs. bus ride, that is a quantifiable and tangible cost. How are scholarships a cost to the school in real dollar terms?

 

 

The age old question. The general response is that a scholarship athlete takes the spot of an otherwise paying customer. However, in practice that's not always the case. They could just take the place of a person on an academic scholarship which means there's $0 difference.

[danefan]

UMass looks like they're probably a gonner out of the CAA North to FBS soon:

 

http://bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1299775&srvc=sports&position=2

 

 

There is also a "Major Announcement" coming from the CAA today, but no details on what its about and no one is even sure whether it relates to football or not.