University of Hartford....yeah I know this is the D3 Forum

[VTLaxGuy]

It's official: University of Hartford is moving to D3-https://www.hartford.edu/about/athletic ... ition.aspx

Now comes the fun debate of what conference they fall into? Have to think the NEWMAC is the easy fit. Honestly, I really can't see any other conference that fits them better.

[pcowlax]

This has been rumored in CT for some time, school hemorrhages money. Interesting to see they will still compete in D1 for next 2 years as it is a long process to switch divisions. Though they will honor scholarships, have to imagine most of their better players will transfer if they have any takers, could leave a pretty awful team getting massacred for a few years before taking up a D3 schedule. Not sure what conference they join, NEWMAC does make good geographic sense.

[Njlaxx11]

theres a few - NEWMAC, CCC, Little East, heck maybe even the new C2C.

interesting to see this transition though.

[SneaksBeac]

Academically they are not a fit for the NEWMAC.

They also don't fit a pretty major criteria for the Little East....they are not a state school.

The CCC would make sense, but one of the driving factors lately with the CCC membership has been wanting to add Football and Hockey schools, though I could see them making an exception for Hartford.

C2C would make sense as well, but if they are looking to cut budgets, the travel costs associated with C2C would be prohibitive.

[WhiteCarrera]

During the transition, they should be able to schedule opponents from any division for a competitive situation, but not be eligible for D3 tournament or conference affiliation until the transition is complete. With COVID restrictions, we saw some D1/D3 crossover games this year, and this is just another situation where they might make sense.

[SouthernLaxGenius]

Not the kind of expansion in DIII I expected (i have heard a number of DII schools who have been looking at it)

CCC has been mentioned but what about the CSAC or GNAC

[pcowlax]

Academically they are not a fit for the NEWMAC.

They also don't fit a pretty major criteria for the Little East....they are not a state school.

The CCC would make sense, but one of the driving factors lately with the CCC membership has been wanting to add Football and Hockey schools, though I could see them making an exception for Hartford.

C2C would make sense as well, but if they are looking to cut budgets, the travel costs associated with C2C would be prohibitive.

Curious what you mean by them not being an academic fit with NEWMAC. I have a hard time thinking of C2C as a conference (going forward it really won’t be a conference, no regular season, just a tournament at the end) so I’m not sure what it means to fit with them, unless we are saying Hartford is an outlier that doesn’t really have a home.

[TopShelf585]

Ryan Martin just signed a 5 year extension. I’m sure he’s looking at all options.

[SneaksBeac]

Academically they are not a fit for the NEWMAC.

They also don't fit a pretty major criteria for the Little East....they are not a state school.

The CCC would make sense, but one of the driving factors lately with the CCC membership has been wanting to add Football and Hockey schools, though I could see them making an exception for Hartford.

C2C would make sense as well, but if they are looking to cut budgets, the travel costs associated with C2C would be prohibitive.

Curious what you mean by them not being an academic fit with NEWMAC. I have a hard time thinking of C2C as a conference (going forward it really won’t be a conference, no regular season, just a tournament at the end) so I’m not sure what it means to fit with them, unless we are saying Hartford is an outlier that doesn’t really have a home.

When you look at the NEWMAC as a whole, not just MLAX. It would be arguably the bottom of the barrel.

Every school brings a bit of academic prestige.

The all Women's Colleges (....)
Babson (considers itself to be NESCAC Lite)
USCGA (a service academy without the history or prestige of its counterparts.)
MIT (....)
Emerson (the best at what they do)
Springfield (the best at what they do)

[LaxPundit07]

Why doesn’t Hartford just say “it is not in the University’s best interest financially to continue operating at the Division 1 level.” Do we really believe money drive this?