American is also right there in that area.

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True. And Loyola is a real quick trip for the PA schools too.

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Since Patriot is sponsoring scholarship football now would Duquense be interested in joining Fordham and be Patriot Football #8?

Maybe.

One thing to remember about NEC football is that they also have a unique deal regarding scholarships.

The Patriot (Fordham sort of forced their hand) has adopted the standard FCS limit of 63 football scholarships.

The NEC has imposed a lower FB scholarship limit than NCAA D-1 FCS. NEC permits 40 FB scholarships.
This is probably motivated by resulatnt cost savings to the athletics department.
When the MAAC league dissolved and Duquesne moved to NEC (about 4 years ago), the NEC raised their limit from 35 to 40 FB schollies.

ANYWAY, this was a long-winded way of getting to the point.
An NEC FB school moving to another league (other than the Pioneer) will have to buck up for 23 additional FB scholarships
(AND maybe an equal number of women's sports scholarships to remain Title X compliant).

What is Duquene's current scholarship commitment for FCS football? Are they comparible to current Patriot League schools?

I assume Duquesne is at the NEC limit of 40 FB scholarships (don't know this for a fact).

The Patriot (prior to an announcement this year) gave athletci scholarships in some sports like men's basketball, but not football.
They gave some sort of "grant in aid" money to some football players, and it had to end up being less than the equivalent of the FCS limit of 63 FB scholarships.

Fordham (a Patriot football affiliate) decided to unilaterally move to football scholarships, sort of daring the conference to conform to FCS norms or kick Fordham out.
They didn't kick Fordham out, but told Fordham the Patriot Conf. would review the situation and Fordham was ineleigible for the conf. FB title,
during the interim period while Fordham gave scholllies and the Patriot school did not.

So this year, the Patriot completed the review and announced they would switch to the FCS standard of a 63 scholarship limit.
I think the Ivy League still may do this "grant in aid" deal... the Ivy League does not participate in the FCS Championship.

Therefore the Patriot is probably in some sort of transition period, regarding reclassification of their aid into actual scholarships.

I have to say that I think the Patriot is all over the map with this expansion. They need good multi-sport threat schools with steady football, and not these smaller players. Taking a budget-crisis BU program won't do much for the conference's overall profile, and while LMD adds some lacrosse punch, it's basketball and football that bring in the alumni dollars.

I really don't get these guys.

I have to wonder if the Patriot is hoping that infighting in the CAA will cause William & Mary and Towson to consider Patriot League membership. They did just add Loyola--perhaps they would go to a division format with American, Towson, Loyola, Navy, Wm & Mary, and Bucknell in the South and all the others in the North.

I have to wonder if the Patriot is hoping that infighting in the CAA will cause William & Mary and Towson to consider Patriot League membership. They did just add Loyola--perhaps they would go to a division format with American, Towson, Loyola, Navy, Wm & Mary, and Bucknell in the South and all the others in the North.

I think WMU still like being with JMU and GMU, along with Richmond in CAA football, but WMU does fit the Patriot League profile to a tee. Fortunately for the CAA it seems they are committed the Colonial.

I suspect WMU and Richmond's football will move as a package deal. The variables I watch, if football matters anything to the Patriot, are Villanova and VMI.

And if the Patriot can creep further south, I'm seeing a reach for Davidson.

I just don't think WMU will leave and as a result neither will Richmond.

Patriot seems to be expanding for lacrosse and to build that up. I don't see them expanding to grab football schools.

I think Richmond is on the table regardless of W&M. I just believe W&M, being a public school, will need a Virginian travel partner, preferrably public, to justify to the state that it's not leaving other schools in a bad spot. But because I can't see JMU, GMU, Norfolk State, Radford, or Longwood getting a sniff from the Patriot, I think it puts W&M in a tough spot. VMI could be Patriot material, but do they have allies in the conference? Do they want to even move?

I believe the Patriot wants a "big time" FCS player to add to its football ranks, if just even for football-only purposes. The best low-commitment programs out there reside in the CAA, and I think, even if W&M can't go, Richmond and possibly Villanova will.

Do you mean Richmond for FB only ? Pretty sure they have no intention of leaving the A-10, but if CAA FB imploded, maybe they'd consider Patriot FB.

Whether a CAA school could play FCS football outside the CAA FB league may depend on whether the CAA technically sponsors FCS football.
Not sure that CAA FB (wiht less than 6 CAA members) is technically a CAA sponsored sport. NEED A RULING ON THIS !!!!

I think it is curently similar to the MVFC (formerly Gateway Football League) and Pioneer League.
These are not officially sponsored by the MVC, however they are administered from the MVC offices (I think that they effectively rent space)...

If that is the case, W&M and VMI football could be in the Patriot.

Is the CAA kind of close to that with the number of football-only schools in it? The footprint just shifted drastically north of the DC corridor, to a point where Richmond is a geographic outlier where before it was near "the heart."

The closest cluster of schools still favor the CAA, but I wonder what the long-term effects on recruiting will have on both Richmond and Villanova. More northern schools aren't good for 'Nova, whereas getting kids to care about wanting to travel up to New England might prove a challenge for the Spiders.