ECU Chancellor gives small update on new conference

KoldBeer · April 11, 2012

This is from the state of the university address (from link below). Most interesting thing is that there will be four divisions. Otherwise not too much of interest.

Athletic Conferences

As you know, we are working on the possibility of a new athletic conference, which at some point would merge the old Conference USA with the Mt. West conference. This merger touches some raw nerves in the Pirate Nation because, quite frankly, we have never received the national respect that we have earned on the playing fields. But we should all remember this: Bad decisions made externally only means that there are bad decision-makers out there.

Unfortunately, the way athletic conferences choose new members is no longer a rational process. As one commissioner said to me, “We no longer have athletic conferences, we only have TV partnerships.” Because of the overwhelming influence that large TV contracts now have on college sports, ECU does not control and indeed can barely influence the factors that dictate conference alignment. As the author Meg Wheately said, “IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, IF YOU’RE NOT CONFUSED, YOU’RE NOT THINKING CLEARLY.”

So here is where we stand in terms of a new conference.

First, if this merger is successful, it could be stronger than the old CUSA and it will probably be more stable.

Second, members of the new conference recognize the importance of regional rivalries; they are committed to adding more teams with the goal of ensuring 4 divisions of geographical proximity. We look forward to playing long-time rivals such as Marshall and Southern Miss and to adding several eastern universities to our schedule. Hopefully, one will be Charlotte. This is a good trend and certainly one that allows us to concentrate on the academic success and graduation of our student athletes.

Third, we have great optimism about our future because of the quality of our coaching staffs and the leadership in the Athletic Department. We are thankful every day that we have Coach Holland and Nick Floyd on our side. Our leadership also includes dozens of coaches and staff members and, perhaps as important as anything, our academic support staff, our compliance office, and our “new” Academic Success Committee which focuses on what we must do to meet the academic obligations we have to all 450 student athletes who compete for the purple and gold.

We have numerous examples of student athletes who embody the Pirate Spirit…I wish I could talk about them all. Today, I will talk about Andrew Stoker, a record holder in men’s swimming who in 2011 was the Potash Outstanding Scholar Athlete. But he didn’t stop there. Because he had a close family member affected by cancer, Andrew established the first Ovarian Cancer Walk for Greenville. The walk attracted 75 participants and generated $3,800 for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. When I think about “The Leadership University” I think about people like Andrew Stoker.

So, our goal moving forward will be to ensure the academic success of every student athlete, to compete with integrity, and to achieve excellence in every one of our 19 sports. ECU will be recognized and defined by how we perform, not by the name of our conference.

http://www.ecu.edu/news/stateofuniversity.cfm#.T4WdB1Fum03

forevereagle · April 11, 2012

We look forward to playing long-time rivals such as Marshall and Southern Miss and to adding several eastern universities to our schedule. Hopefully, one will be Charlotte.

So this is good decision making?

Edited April 11, 2012 by forevereagle

NorthTexan95 · April 11, 2012

This guy is starting to rub me the wrong way. He seems to always take a negative angle on being left out of the Big East and pointing the blame elsewhere. That's not how you make friends and get what you want.

VideoEagle · April 11, 2012

This guy is starting to rub me the wrong way. He seems to always take a negative angle on being left out of the Big East and pointing the blame elsewhere. That's not how you make friends and get what you want.

No it's not. But he also has his own fan/donor base to deal with. As he writes, the decisions are no longer rational. His fans expect his to be in the Big East or resign. That's not rational either. But I suspect some of our fans feel the same way.

He wants regional opponents for Ecu which is why he wants Charlotte and not us. I'd prefer SMU, Houston and Memphis to what is lefty in CUSA but that isn't going to happen. I hate the idea of FCS move ups, but id be surprised if at least one didn't make it into the Alience.

MeanMag · April 11, 2012

He wants regional opponents for Ecu which is why he wants Charlotte and not us. I'd prefer SMU, Houston and Memphis to what is lefty in CUSA but that isn't going to happen. I hate the idea of FCS move ups, but id be surprised if at least one didn't make it into the Alience.

No, He's not referring to us (UNT) vs Charlotte.

He's likely referring to a florida school or someone else in the east. Our division (assuming there is 4) probably wouldn't stretch much past Louisiana. The schools involved in that would probably contain some of the following: Rice, Tulsa, La Tech, Tulane or perhaps UTEP.

We really need to stop assuming that our position in this thing is in question. UNT is in a vastly different position than it was 9-10 years ago when CUSA expanded last. Not everything everyone says about this merger has to do with UNT, especially from a team as far East as ECU. There are a LOT of moving parts in this deal.

My assumption is ECU is frustrated because a lot of those Eastern teams close to them are just not viable options currently to be in the same conference as ECU. And ECU has no one to blame but those schools which they campaign for that cannot impress the search committees.