Interesting. First, I have no inside knowledge and this is just my speculation to address the question where Akron may play in 2023. Most Likely (in the order that I surmise Akron would desire): ACC - Probably most desired with close competition: Pittsburgh, ND, Louisville B10 - Geographically central to the conference. To the west of Akron, NW, IU, North and South: OSU, MSU, Michigan and to the east PSU. Big East - a few schools close by but not the same cache as ACC or B10 (even though 2022 was a weak year). Xavier (Cinncinati OH), Butler (Indianapolis IN), Depaul (Chicago). Sunbelt - renewed soccer conference in 2022 with some quality schools and a few close by. KY, Marshall (Huntington WV - Ohio can be seen from the stadium), WV. But a few farther down south. A10 - To a much lesser desirability with a wide range of soccer quality. Duquesnue (Pittsburgh), Dayton, Loyola - Chicago. American Athletic Conference (AAC) - has some quality but the travel would be odious (South Florida - FIU, FAU, USF, UCF), and Tulsa, SMU. I'm very skeptical. Not likely. Horizon - step down in quality. but some local. Cleveland St, Robert Morris (Pittsburgh), IUPUI (Indianapolis), Fort Wayne P12: Quality with UCLA reporting to go to the B10 might have a slot with P12 network $. I doubt it makes financial sense (from my guess). Independent
Probably not done with moves, my speculation. But, it is official now. MAC - no longer sponsors MSOC MVC - Northern Illinois, Bowling Green State, Western Michigan Big East - Akron
New DI transition…University of New Haven. Not sure of the timeline yet, but definitely seems to be an ambitious move for their leadership. I wonder if part of this is due to Hartford moving DIII.
Soccer was a bit indisposed in the MAC and keeping schools has been a big hassle but I started wondering if part of the reason it was dropped was due to women’s lacrosse being added in 2021. I am not sure if conferences are bound to Title IX stipulations the same way that individual schools are, meaning numbers of sports offered for women vs men, but it seems as if they would be.
Conferences aren’t bound by Title IX, but they drop it because teams have chosen to leave and not enough offer the sport. In my opinion, the MAC was lazy and haven’t done anything to make it better. Sun Belt shows how ambitious conferences can be and make things better. I get that sometimes things aren’t that attractive, but we’ve seen some big missteps from conferences and the schools, both.
The MAC still has all their football teams so they had no interest in expanding and juggling associate teams to maintain NCAA eligibility. For ADs this is a waste of time. The Sun Belt took in new football teams so it became a more powerful soccer conference by accident and attracted some top teams like WVU and SC. The MAC has football and women's soccer so they could care less about Men's Soccer. Not lazy. Apathetic.
Funny. Sun Belt cut men’s soccer then added it back. It can also be lazy. There are new DI programs nearly every year. Several probably always looking for a change or something else than makes sense for them. Laziness perverts college athletics — and HS and club, as well.
It's not laziness. It is ADs not giving a $hit about men's soccer to attract Associate Members. Once they lost Buffalo and Hartwick the lot was cast. When you are bringing Chicago State into your conference to survive, you've got problems. As I said the Sun Belt, because of football and the demise of Conference USA, lucked into some pretty good soccer teams with some stability so it made sense for WVU and SC to go there soccer-wise and as part of a longer-term solution.
I've worked at enough unis to know...there is plenty of laziness to attribute to uni employees. You're free to disagree. Good for you.
It’s not confirmed, as I alluded to on timeline. But, New Haven has made it public and is fundraising for it. It is a move the institution is trying to make.
I had heard this as a possibility, but official for 2023...Ohio Valley Conference will be sponsoring men's soccer: Chicago State Eastern Illinois Incarnate Word Lindenwood Liberty SIUE Southern Indiana
It's official. Add Houston Christian from the Southland to that list to make it 8. https://ovcsports.com/news/2023/3/27/ovc-adds-mens-soccer-as-championship-sport.aspx
Le Moyne College Makes Move to Division I; Accepts Invitation to Join Northeast Conferencehttps://t.co/QDjw0HvCYb pic.twitter.com/h7cdUdjQRa— Le Moyne Athletics (@LeMoyneDolphins) May 10, 2023
Per today's OVC schedule release, WIU will remain in the Summit League for men's soccer in 2023-24 before joining the OVC. https://ovcsports.com/news/2023/6/13/ovc-announces-2023-mens-soccer-conference-schedule.aspx
More chaos ahead as the realignment continues as athletic departments chase money & are driven by the fear of getting left behind. It's in many ways sad the way everything has evolved - but it's also how business works in a free market economy Seems like College Football should just take on an NFL model on it's own and operate nationwide. The other sports should form geographical leagues that would promote regional rivalries, reduce missed class time, and lessen silly expenses that come with flying over time zones! Regardless, there are now more questions head -How will Big10 MSOC look with UCLA & Washington joining the current 9 teams? Still round robin? 2 divisions (how does that look)? Scheduling of road trips? -What happens to Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, & San Diego State who are left as the remaining 4 Pac 12 MSOC schools? Do they try to grab other schools (assuming the Pac12 even exists)? Do they slide in to another conference (WCC, Big West, WAC)? Will all be interesting as always
agree, interesting questions. If P12 is going to include 2 new schools for soccer, I see the need for a LA and Washington (perhaps other states - too bad no NM soccer folded, SMU maybe, but distance and time zones (yuck), Tulsa or Creighton) could be UCSB or LMU and Seattle.
Both Stanford and Cal stand to lose 25M if the PAC folds. Cal did some 300M in athletic upgrades so they will not be able to afford big travel for non revenue sports. Stanford claims it is bleeding athletically also. If they merge (keeping PAC as the driver) with the Mountain West the can pull back Air Force, unlv, and San Jose State. That is 7 teams and limits travel. If the PAC 4 add teams, travel still needs to he limited as I think the TV deal ends next year. If Cal and Stanford go independent and OR State and WSU go Moutain West you could see the soccer programs join the Big West . Just thoughts..
Stanford and Cal will be in the Big Ten within a year. Too tempting of an academic prize for the Big Ten Presidents just sitting out there and I'm sure they are all connected. Michigan, Cal, and UCLA are THE top 3 state schools in the country and you can add Stanford to Northwestern in terms of 2 elite private schools in the Top 10. No one would have that kind of academic clout other than the Ivies who have four top 10 schools. Also lurking out there is Notre Dame. I know it is all about $$$ but I just think the lore of a Top 3 school in Stanford and the top state school in Cal will be too much to resist for the presidents. Taking a partial share for the time being ... Football scheduling would become easier as well with 8 conference games. 5 would be played on the coast and then only three every two years would require travel back east or to the midwest. Olympic Sports could be regionalized or football will eventually break away.