Around the CAA

[Wags]

It's official now, with Fairfield accepting the invitation:

https://x.com/CAASports/status/2070617324827132129

[Wags]

Hate more growth, but was inevitable after they added the awful programs before and were sitting at 13. Not a bad add from a conf perspective. This if fine for the conference...

But for HU all this does is make it a 14 team 1 bid league. And since every friggin team makes the CAAT, it's all just gotten a little harder. Expansion for a mid major is terrible and not a benefit at all. And HU isn't exactly a perennial NCAAT team either, so Fairfield will be just another nuisance along the way to dance. And they will beat HU from time to time, so where's the benefit?

The CAA needs to stop expanding. We aren't getting more bids no matter how many low / mid programs they add. It's silly and doesn't help us. They should be at 12 and stay. None of these adds helps HU or helps us magically bring in more money.

Will be interesting to see if they use divisions now, and how that factors into the CAAT. Hopefully it actually means something instead of the stupid free for all it is today. It's not even that big to finish 1st anymore. Finish top 4 helps with the bye of course, but not every team should make it - regular season needs to mean more IMO.

Alas, I'm biased because I can't stand this conf anyway so for me this is all just annoying lol - all I care about is HU dancing, and this doesn't help that.

Whether they can actually get anything worthwhile out of it (financially or otherwise) remains to be seen but adding another northern team between the two on Long Island and the one in Boston was an easy decision for the CAA, as any conference will always seek to expand its footprint whenever it can, and the CAA was able to do that in this case by doubling the number of New England schools it had before, adding to the lone school they already had in Massachusetts.

[triplec2195]

At the end of the day this is a better acquisition than Hampton. Far better!

[EvanJ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWhgSgrJTKs is a video about it. It made Fairfield sound okay in terms of endowment and athletic quality. Their longest nonconference trip was their season opener at Penn State, so they had enough money to not have to be paid to fly to teams in top conferences. They played a very weak schedule, with Penn State (142nd), Seton Hall (53rd), and Monmouth (168th) being their hardest NET opponents. I was happy with 10 teams, but since we have to have more, a benefit is having an even amount of teams so everybody can play on the same day.

[Wags]

From a very good source: "While it is probably too early to tell, it is not likely that the CAA will split into separate divisions for MBB or WBB."

[HofstraPride1]

That is disappointing if true.

[Polito]

And there's the CAA to fumble doing the right thing again. Makes no sense. So this will just be a huge mid league 1-14, giving even less meaning to the regular season. The majority of the teams and the games will be meaningless, and who knows how they'll ensure a fair and proper scheduling setup across the league.

I can't stand the expansion, but if you're doing it do it right and create the divisions. Makes scheduling and travel much clearer and right-sized, gives more teams a chance for relevance for longer, and makes the regular season games mean more. I just don't get not doing it. Why bother going to 14? Fairfield isn't bringing any significant media or a market or some influx of fan attendance. Thought the whole purpose was to split the league...

Another angle to consider here. Anyone care to guess what UNCW and CofC think of this expansion? If we're being honest they are really the 2 premiere programs in the conference (with HU in the top 3-4 IMO). This does them no good at all. Another northern team. Another team to be a nuisance for 1 bid. No divisions. Half the teams and games will largely be meaningless in the end. I just can't see them being excited for the CAA.

Unless the CAA is anticipating the exit of these or other programs - which they might be and those programs would be wise to leave - other than prepping for exits still to be announced, I just don't see the benefit here, and I don't see the draw for programs like that to stay in this conf.

[JoeyBagODonuts1]

I figure the southern schools would hit Northeastern and Fairfield in one trip up north, HU and SBU in another, and Monmouth and Drexel in another (not saying they make 3 trips up north, but they would play 2 teams in a single trip)

[Polito]

That would make sense JBOD.

But my thing is, what in the world does adding a 14th in Faifield do for programs like UNCW, CofC, and W&M? How does this help them? Because those 3 are 3 I see looking elsewhere if they haven't tested the waters already (which if I'm betting, they have behind the curtain).

This doesn't help anyone except the conf itself with another school for $. Expanding as a non-football 1 bid basketball mid major is stupid. I like this add MUCH more than A&T, which was completely asinine, and better than Hampton which was a joke of an add. Campbell is ok, I get it, they have decent sports that matter in the CAA. But expansion does not help any existing team, it just makes it harder. And this add certainly doesn't make those 3 schools excited to stay.

This conf just does dumb things out of desperation because I don't think the 'leadership' has any clue what they're doing, and it shows.

What's going to continue to happen, because this has been the case for more than a decade now, is the CAA will continue to get watered down by the better programs leaving and replaced by weaker ones, and HU will be left in yet another garbage conf because we have no options. The CAA will not retain all existing teams in the current climate, I just don't see it. The W and CofC should bounce the minute they get an invite from a league with better $ deals, and the Tribe should for a football focused conf.

Maybe that's what the CAA is hedging here, who knows. Sigh...I continue to detest this conf.

[HUSID74]

There is really no place for us to go except for the A10 and Fordham is sure to block us. I heard from a prominent Fordham alum who says their administration led by the new president is not a big supporter of sports. Our only hope is that our basketball program continues to thrive and Fordham opts to go to the Patriot league where they belong.
Then Hofstra should do anything and everything to get into that league.