The Mountain East Conference is whole once again.
Alderson Broaddus University and the MEC announced Friday afternoon that the Battlers were leaving the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and joining the MEC effective July 1.
This marks the second time a member of the former West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has left the G-MAC to return its former WVIAC member institutions in the MEC.
“Alderson Broaddus emerged through the membership process as an outstanding candidate due to the shared philosophy, goals, sports sponsorship, and geography with our member institutions,” MEC Commissioner Reid Amos said.
“AB has a proud and rich tradition in athletics that we expect will continue as a member of the Mountain East. I want to thank President Dr. Tim Barry and Athletics Director Carrie Bodkins for their leadership and look forward to collaborating and working with them and the rest of the AB athletics department.”
The Battlers fill the hole created when Urbana closed its doors.
West Liberty Athletics Director Lynn Ullom is happy to see the Battlers rejoin the fold. The longtime women’s basketball head coach had many a memorable contest coaching against A-B and knows the teams’ historical ties make this a great fit.
“I think they will be a really good fit,” Ullom said. “They check all the boxes are far as geographically, they are similar in size to some of the other private schools in the conference, and we are thrilled to have them back.
“I have many wonderful memories of some incredible contests against AB in multiple sports, whether as a coach or watching. I always enjoyed competing against them, and I’m excited to do so again.”
Joining Right Away
The recent decision by the NCAA to reduce the minimum and maximum number of games for each sport for the calendar year created a unique opportunity for Alderson Broaddus to enter MEC play right away.
Athletics departments were already scrambling to adjust schedules to accommodate the changes. Urbana’s departure left the remaining MEC football teams with nine conference games in a 11-game schedule. The NCAA one-year limit changed that total to 10.
Now with 11 football-playing conference members again, MEC teams can likely play an all-conference schedule.
“Nationwide, with the circumstances we’re facing in NCAA Division II, it’ll be an unusual year in a lot of ways,” Amos said. “A lot of conferences made the shift to conference-only play, and AB has the ability to fold very cleanly into our conference schedule.
“AB expressed an interest and a willingness to make that transition immediately.”
That’s West Liberty’s plan.
Ullom noted that the Battlers will take the spot of Ohio Dominican as the football team’s home and season opener.
“AB has been able to field a competitive team in a short amount of time,” Ullom said. “And ironically, that will be our first game (of the season), and it’s the first time we’ve ever played them in this sport.”
Better Geographic Fit
Amos mentioned the average one-way trip for conference opponents reduced to 148 miles with AB in the mix.
That amounts to huge cost savings for the Battlers’ athletics department. Lengthy trips to Kentucky and Tennessee in addition to constant treks to Ohio for conference play tend to wear on the budget.
“Our men’s basketball team would travel Wednesday through Saturday, so we were taking four-day trips there,” Bodkins said. “So there are extensive savings. Football will be the same way and, we will minimize our overnight trips with football. It impacts us across the board.”
Rivalries also can be renewed. There are three schools—Davis & Elkins, Fairmont State and Glenville State—within less than 100 miles driving distance. The trip to Elkins is roughly a half-hour.
As pointed out in a May 23 story on LedeNews.com, AB’s location and fielding of a football team made the Battlers the most likely candidate.
AB does check all the boxes, save for one, that the MEC was looking to fill the vacancy.
One Potential Downfall
When the search began to replace Urbana, Amos expressed his desire to find another Ohio-based team to bring to the MEC.
The best chance for that to happen was nixed when Ashland University opted to join the G-MAC. Ashland, like AB, was similarly geographically isolated from other members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The MEC would have presented a better option travel-wise, but better still was the move to the G-MAC and its primarily Ohio-based private institutions.
Might Notre Dame college, the lone Buckeye-state member of the MEC, be staring back and forth between its travel budget and that freshly created opening the G-MAC membership? Ullom isn’t so sure and, when asked about the possibility, he believes Notre Dame is happy with its home in the MEC.
“From everything I’ve known it’s been a mutual win-win for our member institutions and Notre Dame,” Ullom said. “I think they thoroughly enjoy being in the MEC, and I would be surprised if they would consider it.
“They’ve been a great partner in our league with quality teams in the fields of competition. I think they are happy with us, and I know we’re happy with them.”
Happiness is one thing, but financials are another. How will the bottom line factor into Notre Dame’s decision to stay put?
Time will tell, but for today, the MEC is whole once again. It’s a positive beginning after an otherwise bleak ending to the 2020-21 collegiate athletic calendar.
