Will try to keep this brief.

America East has screwed the pooch twice in terms of sponsoring football. And with non football schools the majority today, why can they be counted upon to provide a solution? Besides, you need to add at least four full scholarship programs who want to be all sports members. And that makes the league 13 for basketball which doesn't work. Let alone finding four schools interested in all sports! UMass and URI don't want their basketball programs in AE. Central CT has been denied entrance once already.

I believe that Fordham is just going to convert from 58 equivalencies to 58 scholarships -- the costs are the same and they'll have "counter" status to play FBS teams.

The Patriot League has rejected Hofstra and Northeastern over the years. Their posters on AGS continually denigrate Monmouth, Marist, Duquesne, Bryant among others as not fitting the Patriot profile. How is aligning with UMass, URI, Maine, Stony Brook and Albany all of a sudden a palatable solution to the Patriot schools? Even with stringent academic standards, the Patriot schools would still view the publics as being able to do more with less because the costs are so much less.

From everything I've read, UMass does not want to be in an entirely Northeast League, they want to retain affiliation with Delaware, Towson, James Madison, etc. Any Northeast alignment without UMass is not desired by UNH, probably Maine and URI as well.

And on top of all this, we're only talking about football. The CAA is an all sports league. And some of the CAA Football schools have FBS aspirations. So far, I've read that Charlotte isn't interested in joining the CAA as an all sports member. Don't think the CAA is interested in letting Charlotte just pass through to FBS. They have no choice with GA State since they're an all sports member.

The one good thing about the looming implosion is that it seems like football will become a greater factor in conference affiliation. To me, that's a good idea because the result will be more stable conferences.

FCS MB thread discussing speculation that Rhode Island may leave the CAA at http://www.championshipsubdivision.com/ ... =4&t=16484

UNH, it'd a GREAT move by URI if in making it, they are able to maintain football. Northeastern and Hofstra just dropped it outright. So football fans, and URI fans should be happy the school is considering options to not just keep football, but to keep it at a level that could get them in the same playoffs that UNH and UMass will be in.

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Agree Quinn. This does appear to be about saving money. How does the NEC differ from the CAA ?
About 23 less scholarships, and perhaps a bit less distant travel. Less grueling competition.
If the choice is between switching to the NEC or kill the program, the NEC looks pretty good !

Not long ago, we were contemplating how the CAA (the premier eastern FCS conference) was going to have problems dealing with 14 teams... suddenly they could be headed downward toward 11.
Does the league start looking at extending invitations to Stony Brook, Fordham, and Charlotte (all 3 of whom are in the region and seem focused on playing FCS football at the highest level) ?

NORTH
Maine (AE)
UNH (AE)
UMass (A-10)
Stony Brook (AE) *
Fordham (A-10) *
Villanova (BE)
Delaware

SOUTH
Towson
Richmond (A-10)
ODU
W&M
James Madison
Charlotte (A-10) *
Georgia State

If URI goes to the NEC, they become a 10-team football league - 7 NEC members + 3 guest schools
URI (A-10), Duquesne (A-10), and Albany (AE)

ProJo article reporting that URI AD has confirmed earlier report that Rhode Island and the NEC are in discussions regarding a membership change that could occur in 2013.There apparently is a formal announcement expected in August.Link at http://www.projo.com/uri/content/sp_col ... eb069.html

I guess that they will then have 3 years in which to dump 23 football scholarships.

They should have about 3/4 of the team or maybe 46 scholarship guys graduate in Spring 2011, Spring 2012, and Spring 2013, so they could offer maybe 23 or so scholarship positions (= about 8 / year) and be in compliance with the NEC by fall of 2013.

Maybe a two-tiered arrangement will work well, to let these schools maintain football at the level that they can afford.

Off topic....
One would have to think that Fordham is talking to the CAA at this point. They are essentially out of the Patriot, but are sttill maintaining a "scheduling arrangement". The Patriot football league is dropping to 5 + Georgetown. That's getting to be rather marginal.....

This is totally ON topic(CAA realignment thread). Fordham to the CAA for fb makes sense now.

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Yet so would Stony Brook. You'd think the CAA would look to get to 12 schools rather than 11. But they might need to feel out the CAA schools without football first to see if any of them want to join. They all have until 2017 to decide if they want to add football (and automatically get in the CAA).

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The conference could hedge their bets by offering some associate members a defined-term contract.
The Big South did this with Stony Brook, and the MAC did this with Temple.

Stony Brook's deal with the Big South expires within a year or two. The Big South needed a 6th football team for a short duration until Presbyterian was fully D-1 FCS eligible. Campbell could well get their feet wet in the non-scholly Pioneer league and then switch over to become the 7th Big South football team.

Stony Brook wanted a home for a few years until they could position themselves for a 63 scholarship northeastern FCS league (it looks like the CAA is the only game in town that fits that bill...)

Similarly Temple's agreement with the MAC expires soon, which was designed to let them become available, should the Big East come calling.

FCS MB thread discussing URI/CAA situation at http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthr ... nty-Twelve

Article out of Richmond with comments from CAA Commish regarding possible future league realignment at http://www2.timesdispatch.com/sports/20 ... -ar-264933

Football is better than no football. And unlike at UNH and UMass, I'm not sure enough people at URI care enough about football to care whether they play in the CAA or NEC. I still wouldn't call this a "GREAT" move for URI. I'd like to see how all the numbers shake out. Sure the cost of scholarships falls and travel costs a little less, but they'll lose revenue without a FBS game, the inevitable drop in attendance and if URI is like any other football school there has to be intangible benefits like alumni staying involved with their school, donating money to their Alma Mater, etc. What's the projected difference in the bottom line?

All I know is that it would be a disastrous move for UNH (and UMass). I can't even fathom playing Bryant, Sacred Heart, Wagner, Monmouth, Duquesne, Robert Morris and Duquesne instead of UMass, Maine, Delaware, Towson, Richmond, William & Mary and Villanova!!

Personally, I don't think any new members will be added to the CAA Football League unless a current member of the all sports CAA decides to add football like ODU and GaStU have done. Why not just wait and see what JMU, ODU and GaStU are going to do in terms of upgrading?

If GaStU upgrades by themselves then there will be ten teams in the CAA Football Conference, a more manageable number with room for GMU/VCU to upgrade.

JMHO, but if an offer is made to Charlotte, Fordham and/or Stony Brook, then there is going to be a split. There aren't enough teams in the existing CAA for the league to go FBS. Delaware probably doesn't want to, UMass probably doesn't have the money, the rest besides JMU, ODU and GaStU don't have the resources nor the will to make the move. Therefore, if Charlotte comes on board, I think you'll see them joining JMU, ODU and GaStU in a common endeavor to join FBS. Will the CAA sponsor that league as well as an FCS Football League?

CAA FBS: JMU, ODU, Charlotte, GaStU, App State, GaSoU, Marshall, Youngstown State, Jacksonville State, and/or ???? (VCU, GMU, East Carolina, Liberty, Middle TN, etc.)
CAA FCS: Maine, UNH, UMass, Fordham, Delaware, Towson, William & Mary, Richmond and/or ???? (Villanova if they don't upgrade, Colgate if the Patriot nixes schollies, Stony Brook, Albany if they can upgrade, etc.)

Villanova football considering joining Big East



IF VILLANOVA WANTS its football program to move up from the Football Championship Subdivision level to join the Big East, all the university has to do is say yes.

The Daily News has learned that the Big East, one of six BCS conferences, has asked the Wildcats to make the jump. "The Big East very recently communicated its interest in adding Villanova as a football member," Villanova athletic director Vince Nicastro told the Daily News yesterday. "As a result, we have decided to embark on an in-depth evaluation of this opportunity.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/201 ... z0z8LPPf00