Deleware at. To next?

[Larryl9797]

https://www.hbcusports.com/2020/06/25/d ... filiation/

[hilltopper]

I think the most important thing about that article is what was not said. There wasn't anybody that said "no." Reading between the lines it seems that negotiations are ongoing and serious.
I would like to see it happen.

[Skyhawkct]

Given that semi-serious consideration was given to adding DSU years ago, and now this story, I’m expecting a “go” with this.

IMHO...it’s a good addition and one of the few (if any?) lateral additions to the NEC as opposed to a D-2 to D-1 jump.

[Skyhawkct]

Saw a few social media posts suggesting Howard to the Patriot League due to academic standard similarities.

[newbritainite]

"Academic standard similarities"? I'd like them to be more specific.

I hope that Morgan State, Coppin State, and Delaware State join the NEC in all sports.
NEC football is well rooted and these additions would provide stability as well as provide a balance of private/public universities.

[Shoreline]

A basic, although somewhat simplistic measurement of academic standards is the acceptance rate of new student applications. Here is a listings of such rates provided by Wikipedia based on 2018 data. I included both football and basketball members.

NEC:
CCSU 57%
Sacred Heart Univ 60%
Mount St Mary’s 68%
St Francis Univ 68.72%
Wagner College 70%
Duquesne Univ 72%
Bryant Univ 76%
St Francis College 77%
Merrimack College 83%
LIU 86.33 %
FDU Statistic not available
Robert Morris Univ. 85% (Left NEC)

Patriot League:
Georgetown Univ 15%
Boston Univ 22%
Lehigh Univ 22%
Colgate 25%
Lafayette College 29%
American Univ 32%
Howard Univ 32%
Bucknell 33%
Holy Cross 38%
Fordham Univ 46%
Loyola Univ-Maryland 79%

Other Connecticut Institutions:
Yale Univ 6%
Wesleyan Univ 17%
Trinity College 34%
Connecticut College 38%
UCONN 49%
Fairfield Univ 60%
Quinnipiac Univ 72%

[J.J.]

Shoreline is right our acceptance rate is generally pretty good (lower % is better), but that is just one metric. The fact remains, CCSU's academic ranking is generally horrible compared to our "peers" in the America East and even in the NEC. Most of this is due to our very low 4-year and 6-year graduation rate. We know there are a lot of legitimate reasons for this, but until we can get that metric up, we will have a tough time getting any respect or budgetary resources from the State of Connecticut.

FYI - using a simplified (and very flawed metric), the US New and World Report College Rankings, we have a problem. I have shown the USNWR ranking along with the 4 schools listed that "Students Also Applied To"

Northeast Conference:
1. Sacred Heart (#218 National) – Fairfield, Marist, Quinnipiac, UConn
2. Long Island (#240 National) – not listed
3. Bryant (#7 Regional) – Bentley, Fairfield, Loyola-MD, Marist
4. St. Francis NY (#13 Regional) – CUNY-Brooklyn, CUNY-Staten Island, CUNY-Hunter, CUNY Tech
5. Saint Francis PA (#23 Regional) – Duquesne, Gannon, Penn State, St. Vincent
6. Wagner (#32 Regional) – Drew, Fordham, Marist, NYU
7. Mt. St. Mary’s (#42 Regional) – Catholic, Loyola-MD, Stevenson, Towson
8. Merrimack (#46 Regional) – Endicott, UMass-Amherst, UMass-Lowell, New Hampshire
9. Fairleigh Dickinson (#56 Regional) – TCNJ, Montclair, Rowan, Rutgers
10. Central Conn (#104 Regional) – Eastern Conn., Southern Conn., Hartford, UConn

Others:
• Yale (#3 National) – Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Princeton
• UConn (#64 National) – Boston U., Northeastern, Penn State, Syracuse
• Fairfield (#3 Regional) – Boston College, Fordham, Loyola (MD), Providence
• Quinnipiac (#153 National) – Boston U., Fairfield, Marist, Northeastern
• Robert Morris (#202 National) – Duquesne, IUP, Penn State, Slippery Rock
• New Haven (#66 Regional) – Quinnipiac, Southern Conn., UConn, Hartford
• Southern Conn. (#129-170 Regional) – Central Conn., Eastern Conn., Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart

America East:
1. Binghamton (#79 National) – Boston U., Cornell, NYU, Rutgers
2. Stony Brook (#91 National) – Binghamton, Cornell, NYU, Albany
3. NJIT (#97 National) – TCNJ, Drexel, Rowan, Rutgers
4. Vermont (#121 National) – Boston U., Northeastern, UConn, UMass
5. New Hampshire (#125 National) – UConn, Maine, UMass, URI
6. Albany (#147 National) – Binghamton, Stony Brook, New Paltz, Plattsburgh
7. UMBC (#166 National) – Johns Hopkins, Penn State, Towson, Delaware
8. UMass-Lowell (#179 National) – Northeastern, UMass, New Hampshire, WPI
9. Maine (#202 National) – UMass, New Hampshire, URI, Southern Maine
10. Hartford (#211 National) – Boston U., Pace, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart

[hilltopper]

4 year graduation rate is one of the criteria for college ratings. But at least in Central's case, that does not indicate the quality of the education.
Central has a lot of "blue collar" kids who have jobs in order to pay for or help pay for school. Many of them skip or go part time for a semester or two. Many drop out for financial reasons, whether or not they return later.
Having Dad write the checks makes it a lot easier to graduate in 4 years.

[Skyhawkct]

I was just saying that academically, Howard fits in better with the Patriot League than the NEC.

Let’s face it, the Patriot has some of the better schools in the country with BU, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh and the US Naval Academy.

With all due respect to the CCSU and NEC, we don’t compare with the Patriot when it comes to academic standards. We aren’t bad, but we aren’t the Patriot.

[J.J.]

4 year graduation rate is one of the criteria for college ratings. But at least in Central's case, that does not indicate the quality of the education.
Central has a lot of "blue collar" kids who have jobs in order to pay for or help pay for school. Many of them skip or go part time for a semester or two. Many drop out for financial reasons, whether or not they return later.
Having Dad write the checks makes it a lot easier to graduate in 4 years.

100% agree! Most of our students are first-generation college students, and have fiscal and family responsibilities that sometimes make graduation difficult. However, we need to do whatever we can to bring that number up from 27% to 50%.

The education you get at Central is second to none at an affordable price. But we definitely have areas where we can improve to help more kids complete their degree.

[J.J.]

I was just saying that academically, Howard fits in better with the Patriot League than the NEC.

Let’s face it, the Patriot has some of the better schools in the country with BU, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh and the US Naval Academy.

With all due respect to the CCSU and NEC, we don’t compare with the Patriot when it comes to academic standards. We aren’t bad, but we aren’t the Patriot.

Correct, Howard might be able to hang in the Patriot academically, but the rest of the MEAC schools, including Delaware State are 100% NEC material. If the NEC could get Howard in the future (with DSU), that would be HUGE for the league.

[ccsuhoops]

What am I missing JJ, aside from adding schools of our footprint, and getting two divisions, how is this huge? Both of these teams suck and I mean suck in hoops and football. I didn't check too far back but they are just like us in hoops (single digit wins) and not doing too well in football either. Adding them will do nothing to pull the conference rankings up in either sport. What am I missing?

[ccsuhoops]

Looks like Howard is now an associate member but not in the major sports, looks like swimming, soccer and lacrosse .

[newbritainite]

I wonder why the NEC has taken this route?

Why not in ALL sports?!

[ccsuhoops]

Here’s an article on it but doesn’t answer the question NB, aside from a PC response from Noreen ( supports the NEC's Strategic Plan adopted in June 2019, which seeks to increase brand awareness and support diversity, equity and inclusion. ) it doesn’t say much else. Mystery unsolved...

Not sure how this improves brand awareness when literally no one watches theses sports outside of maybe family and friends of the players???

https://hubison.com/news/2020/7/6/gener ... mbers.aspx