There have been several teams changing conferences on the top level of NCAA sports in the last year. The university of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University went from the Big East Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference and Texas Christian University switched from the Mountain West Conference to the Big 12 Conference - those are just two examples.
But would you believe Elon University would make a move like that?
Rumors have been circulating that the Phoenix are considering making a move from the Southern Conference, a league they've been a part of since 2003, to the Colonial Athletic Association. The talk of movement started with Davidson College, who, apparently, is trying to get other schools in on the action. Adam Smith, a sports reporter from The Burlington Times-News, tweeted this Thursday:
Davidson "has pushed/is pushing for Furman and Elon to be included in CAA expansion consideration."
"If it all comes to pass, Davidson, Furman (University), (College of Charleston) (also expansion candidate), current CAA member UNCW (Wilmington) could be in a Southern division."
An Elon athletic department spokesperson told me "the department is not going to comment on any of that at this time."
Let's assume that the four schools Smith mentioned all move and examine the ramifications.
Now, who all is in the CAA? Georgia State University, Old Dominion University and Virginia Commonwealth will all be out of the league by July 2013, so these are the members post-then: Northeastern University, Hofstra University, Drexel University, the University of Delaware, the College of William and Mary, James Madison University, George Mason University, Towson University and the afore-mentioned UNCW.
That's the general members. It changes per sport and I'll address football and basketball later.
Those nine schools are in eight different states all up and down the East Coast. Right now, the SoCon is in just five different states, all below the Mason-Dixon.
Geographically, this move would be very expensive. Not just to make the initial move, but years afterwards.
Take football. The Phoenix would travel to Delaware, Virginia (JMU and William and Mary and football-only member Richmond), Pennsylvania (football-only member Villanova University), Maine (football-only member University of Maine), New Hampshire (football-only member University of New Hampshire) and Maryland (Towson), plus South Carolina where Furman is. That's a lot of traveling for all sports. Yes, Samford University in Alabama and Georgia Southern are both travel stretches now, but Maine? Pennsylvania?
Let's also talk basketball. We're talking Maryland and Virginia and Pennsylvania (this for Drexel), but also New York (Hofstra) and Massachusetts (Northeastern). Lots and lots of travel expenses and time away from professors and classes.
What about the difference in competition level? There's actually not much. In football, The Sports Network/Fathead.com's final FCS Top 25 had three SoCon schools in the top 15 (No. 4 Georgia Southern University, No. 12 Appalachian State University and No. 13 Wofford College), while the CAA scored five in the top 20 (No. 8 Maine, No. 9 Towson, No. 11 New Hampshire, No. 15 James Madison and No. 17 Delaware, the alma mater of current Baltimore Ravens starting quarterback Joe Flacco). In men's basketball, George Mason made a great run in the 2006 NCAA Tournament to the Final Four, and Drexel has done well too. The SoCon competition that would come with Elon to the CAA would help the competition remain stiff.
I talked to Dave Blank a few months ago about the women's lacrosse program eventually starting up, and during that interview he sounded like he was staunchly loyal to the SoCon. But that might be another twist no one's mentioned: The CAA does have a women's lacrosse league that the SoCon can't provide. Plus, going back to football, both Appalachian State and Georgia Southern have enough of a resume and enough of an opportunity to move up to the FBS level.
So there are pluses and minuses. And, in my estimation, this change could still be months away from taking effect. Schools could drop out or schools could be added. But with all the factors, the SoCon could be seeing its days numbered.
The Pendulum will continue to be your source for Elon Phoenix athletics news this fall. Make sure you follow the Pendulum Sports Desk on Twitter (@pendulumsports) and myself (@zacharyhorner) for the latest breaking news and analysis. I'll continue to follow this story and keep you updated as it progresses.
I guess sports news doesn't take a summer vacation like we do.