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| (above) In the high stakes game of NCAA Musical Chairs, DU was left holding the bag |
ESPN Basketball writer Andy Katz put together a story about the
20 schools switching conferences next season. Only one school refused to comment and the silence was telling. Denver.
"Only one school -- Denver -- declined to comment. The Pioneers left the Sun
Belt for the WAC, but the latter conference is quickly falling apart and
to this point has only DU, Seattle, Idaho and New Mexico State lined up
for the 2013-14 season. Denver is desperate to be invited to the West
Coast Conference, according to a source. But the WCC isn't interested at
this juncture"
- Andy Katz
19 comments:
Good for DU. It's nice to sse DU's coaches and administration showing a little public frustration after they were screwed over by their defecting WAC mates, and they are not just spewing the "proud to be here in the WAC" party line.
DU has tried to go above and beyond to hold the remnants of the WAC together, but it's clear that everyone is looking out for the door instead of each other. The WAC of today and tomorrow bears little resemblance to the league DU thought they were joining.
Hopefully, something good will shake out for DU...
Ted Oleary died.
Nice blog your running here, dg. This place has turned to a complete disgrace.
DU, if you want to be taken seriously in college athletics, add football .... Plain and simple.
Wonder what may be going on behind the scenes. This admin doesn't seem like the kind to a sit by idly and accept a mediocre fate. Too bad that this confernece realignment tsunami has created such a mess. But I feel that we will have a good solution, maybe 2-3 years down the line.
Good job morons join a conference that will not exist. Ad should be canned for that one. On the bright side you should have alot of league championships.
The WAC was DUs only option. Peg was just voted AD of the Year by her peers.
Morons? Hardly.
There is no way anyone could have predicted the level of conference shuffling that would happen to college sports in the two years since DU accepted the invitation to join the WAC back in 2010.
DU had no other viable options to join a regional conference but the WAC.
DU is not adding football.
1) too much money
2) No room for a facility on campus
3) Coloroado is poor recruiting area
4) Small private school with small fanbase
5) Overstaurated sports market
6) Poor college football market (CU and CSU cant sell out)
7) DU only does sports they can succeed in
Don't forget Title IX.
Football is impossible because of this let alone your other reasons.
The addition of sports is very, very tricky because they have to spend equal amounts on a men's and a woman's sport if they were to add anything.
We SHOULD add women's hockey and baseball, but I don't think those budgets would line up to work with that law.
@ Harumph...
That's not quite how Title IX works.
When it comes to compliance with Title IX, the total dollars spent on men's sports vis-a-vis women's sports CAN BE illustrative, but, ultimately, is not determinative.
What's more important is that the athletic OPPORTUNITIES for the under-represented sex are substantially the same as those for the majority sex.
(There's a three-prong test for this, but you can Google that much easier than I can type it here. Plus, I'm lazy.)
Anyway.
Practically, this means that if DU wanted to add a baseball team, it could likely pass Title IX scrutiny by adding Women's Cross Country...a scenario that I know has been discussed by those with offices in the Ritchie Center.
(Adding baseball and women's hockey would ABSOLUTELY pass the test, but would also cost substantially more to implement than baseball + cross country, so I'd view that as unlikely...)
I think DU was wise not to comment. There is little doubt that they are looking at options and have a plan.
No need for football--it is a money pit and the liability costs over time are only going to increase.
We should only add sports where we can seriously compete (Top 10-20).
I knew I was watering it down a bit!
ty ty
Timt89 - good comments.
I have complete faith in DU's athletic department. The WAC move was the right one at the time, and no one could have predicted what would happen.
I'd love to see DU add baseball and women's cross country. They can be competitive in cross country, and I'd think there might be a nice baseball partnership between Denver Public Schools and the Rockies. The field at South High could be transformed into DU's home, and serve as a real feather in the cap for the district.
Adding those two sports would correlate well with West Coast Conference membership....
Hard to imagine that any school, much less DU, would be adding programs in this economic climate for college athletics.
DU had varsity cross country for a year or two and dropped it in the late 90s. Most of the CC team at the time seemed also to be on the ski team - perhaps they were finding a way to help the ski team at the time?
DU may not have a choice, DG...
If the WAC fizzles into the ether, DU may have no choice but to crawl back to the WCC and say, "fine...we'll add a baseball team. Now, can we PLEASE come play with you guys???"
DU Baseball would be great I'm sure the rockies would love to partner with us for doubleheaders. they would have many more sellouts with DU in the same stadium.
Baseball is a bad fit at DU, which why it was dropped in 1999.
Terrible spring weather, very few close opponents (just UNC and AFA), a poor recruiting area and no on-campus facility.
If DU were to add it, they's probably have to add women's softball to balance it. Both sports are a poor fit for DU's academics and student recruiting targets.
Actually, there are several teams within striking distance of you for baseball. All three teams in Nebraska are just down the road. NDSU and SDSU have teams as well. Summit would welcome you with open arms, though I doubt that's the direction you want to go in. Would be seen as a step back. I hope the WAC can find a way forward for you guys.
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