This is probably a post best-suited for the offseason, but I can’t help myself.
My biggest question about ripple effects – as it always is – relates to conference affiliations. That means it’s time to break out the conferences map:
View D-1 Lacrosse in a larger map
The aforementioned three programs are now included as independents (represented by the purple alien-looking thing, since Google Maps does not have enough colors for their pushpins).
Since I’m realignment-obsessed, let’s go into a bit of that. Here is every school that competes in a lacrosse conference different from their “home conference.”
| School | Home Conf. | Lax Conf. |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | Atlantic 10 | CAA |
| St. Joseph’s | Atlantic 10 | CAA |
| Penn State | Big Ten | CAA |
| Michigan | Big Ten | ECAC |
| Ohio State | Big Ten | ECAC |
| Fairfield | MAAC | ECAC |
| Loyola | MAAC | ECAC |
| Air Force | Mountain West | ECAC |
| Denver | WAC | ECAC |
| Bellarmine | NCAA D-2 | ECAC |
| Hobart | NCAA D-3 | ECAC |
| Jacksonville | Atlantic Sun | MAAC |
| VMI | Big South | MAAC |
| Detroit | Horizon | MAAC |
| Mercer | Atlantic Sun | Ind. |
| Johns Hopkins | NCAA D-3 | Ind. |
| High Point | Big South | ? (2013) |
| Boston U | America East | ? (2014) |
| Monmouth | Northeast | ? (2014) |
| Furman | Southern Conference | ? (2015) |
The big story here is the MAAC. Loyola and Fairfield are normally members of it: they don’t want to be in lacrosse for competitive reasons. It would be a pretty big shakeup if those schools decided that they’d be willing to compete in their home conference. Obviously, it’s something that I’ve been personally been rooting for, but I don’t know that it’s realistic any time soon.
That change would probably come with the loss of a few members of the MAAC, and all three non-full members are risks for that. Fairfield and Loyola would probably not move to the MAAC unless perennial bottom-dweller VMI was no longer part of it. Detroit has a more natural home with the western teams from the remainder of the ECAC.
I initially thought this would mean Jacksonville would be gone from the MAAC, but they’re a program on the relative rise, and they don’t have a natural home in another conference, either. They could bide time in a new and improved MAAC waiting for another Southern program to come into existence and allow the creation of a conference based in the South. There’s also the option of Bellarmine joining to form such a conference, but that leaves our ECAC with only five teams (and therefore no NCAA bid). Could a Texas or Colorado State be the long-term answer there? Even USC?
I’ve gone so far down the wormhole with this, I’d better just stop. Anyone with a longer history following the game want to chime in on how (un)likely some of these ideas are?
I’d say the best, most realistic, chance in the near future is banking on a school like Richmond or Davidson (both currently have women’s programs) to take the plunge, and start a Southern Conference with VMI, Mercer, Jacksonville, Furman and High Point. That would leave the MAAC one team short. They’d likely just pick up a new program, as I can’t see either Fairfield or Loyola (especially Loyola) going to the MAAC. Too proud of a lacrosse tradition there to being playing the Manhattan’s of the world every year. Although word on the street is that Manhattan and Canisius are both going fully funded in the next few years. If the overall quality of play picks up as a result, that could be a game changer.
Good stuff. I’m a Bellarmine fan who enjoys reading your blog, particularly the expansion stuff. Wishing Michigan and Detroit well, except when playing the Knights…
BTW, I thought Bellarmine was a class program. Met a few fans at the big house and they were great and also saw some Bellarmine guys doing things like offering to help up an opposing player.