NEWMAC Adding Football Could Spell Trouble For LL

The New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference made a major announcement regarding the addition of football and acquisiton of several schools at noon today. The impact to Hobart was this addition included three current Liberty League FB affiliates in WPI, USMMA and Springfield. D3football.com covered the story here.

My ITH cohost and D3football.com commentator Frank Rossi summarized the implications well, stating:

"It's an interesting development that we've been predicting for a while in terms of MMA and WPI finally breaking off from the LL.  We are now left with the original UCAA.  One of two things will happen here:

1) The LL looks for two replacement teams.  Ithaca alumni have had some level of consternation with the number of state schools in the E8 for football.  There had been a level of interest in the past from Ithaca in moving to the LL, but it didn't happen at that time.  Other potential candidates would be Alfred and WNEU from the E8 and NEFC.  I doubt that the LL would go after Hartwick, Utica, or SJF, but if a seventh team is still needed in 2017, it could be reassessed.

2) The LL teams seek other conferences.  This would be very tough for SLU (probably only the ECFC would be plausible).  Rochester has always dipped into the old UAA batch and could rejoin the old UAA teams.  RPI could still be considering a D1 move with the administrative changes we've seen recently.  Union is located such that the school could be attractive to New England conferences.  I have no plausible strategy for Hobart in this scenario, however.  If one more team decides to leave, then I think the LL dissolves as a modern football conference.

It is mathematically possible for the E8, ECFC, LL, MASCAC, NEFC, and NEWMAC to all have 7 or more teams by 2019.  If that happens, then the AQ mess gets even deeper nationally (I think we reach 28 out of 32, which I believe is the most the national base would swallow since it allows an average of only one Pool C bid per region).  The only way for this to happen, though, would be to forge unlikely alliances.  That said, what was more unlikely than Salisbury and Frostburg joining the E8?  At least geography suggests no alliance here is impossible.  Yet, the LL needs to swiftly decide what they want to do here.  2017 is not that far away."

Sound complicated? There's more:

"Here's the possible scenario that could work:

NEFC (5 --> 7) -

Loses WNEU
Gains UNE, Mass-Maritime, One ECFC team

MASCAC (8 --> 7) -

Loses Mass-Maritime

LL (5 --> 7) -

Gains Ithaca, WNEU

E8 (9 --> 7) -

Loses Ithaca, Hartwick

ECFC (7 --> 7) -

Loses a team to the NEFC
Gains Hartwick

That's how AQ hell could become a reality by these conferences all trying to survive in this move."

What complicates matters is new members would likely have to become full time members in every sport.  The LL already has 11 full time members so the respective college / university Presidents would have to approve expansion to 13 full time members vs. a easier approval of affiliate members for football only.

An AD's meeting is slated for tomorrow. I'm sure more shuffling is in store.