MAAC Shakeup
This is somewhat-old news, but I just stumbled across it, and it’s relevant to an in-state program. The MAAC will elevate men’s and women’s lacrosse to “core sports” in the near future.
Another major component of the strategic plan is to elevate men’s and women’s lacrosse to core sports beginning in 2014-15. At that time, the league’s members will begin a multi-year plan to increase funding for lacrosse, which will include an increase in full-time coaching positions and scholarships.
“The decision to elevate the sport of lacrosse to the level of a core sport in the MAAC is a tremendous opportunity for our conference,” said Bill Maher, Director of Athletics at Canisius College. “The growth of lacrosse nationally over the past 10 years has been remarkable and this will position our member institutions to build the MAAC into one of the top leagues in the country”.
Detroit plays lacrosse in the MAAC (men’s only – the women compete in the NLC), so changes could impact the Titans down the road.
I’ve touched on this in the past, but two full members of the conference (Loyola and Fairfield) choose not to play their lacrosse in the MAAC, instead opting for the ECAC. Might a re-dedication to the sport convince those two schools that they can play a competitive brand of lacrosse in their home conference? Or, could the MAAC even force their hand to join the league in lacrosse, now that it’s a core sport?
I could see the Stags and Greyhounds leaving the ECAC – though not anytime soon – and it would also be possible for the current ECAC teams to see Detroit as a geographic fit for their conference. In all, it’s possible nothing changes, but this seemingly insignificant move could lead to a rebirth of the Great Western Lacrosse League.
I should have noted this in the post, but: what I want to happen, what I think will happen, and what actually happens are three different things. This, obviously, is a mashup of the first two categories, with the third yet to be seen.
I could definitely see Loyola eventually rejoining the MAAC. They left to get a stronger RPI, but given their location and tradition they can probably count on scheduling 3 or 4 out-of-conference games against top 25 teams, so a weaker MAAC schedule wouldn’t hurt them as much. It would be tougher for Fairfield to get those games.
I wonder about the future of the ECAC. None of the current members have strong ties to the conference. If one or two more major football schools add lacrosse, I could see Michigan and Ohio State bailing and probably pulling Penn State from the CAA to form a big-school conference.
From a geographic standpoint, the MAAC makes much more sense for Loyola and Fairfield (especially in my protracted hypothetical that no longer includes Detroit as part of the league).
As for the future of the ECAC as a lacrosse conference, I still think things are eventually going to result in a GWLL rebirth. The league is basically that right now (plus true East Coast teams in Fairfield and Loyola), and adding one more team – again, Detroit in the hypothetical – would allow it to remain an auto-bid conference despite the loss of the two Eastern teams.