Interesting how long the reclassification takes.
Interesting... Seems like a long transition but I guess UCSD has to say yessir to whatever Big West tells them at this point.
I wonder what the ripple effects down the road could be. In particular, WAC, not a super strong conference already, will lose CSUB. I bet that has other schools looking at jumping ship.
CCAA will be sad to see UCSD go but I'm guessing that's about it.
(edited to correct name of conference losing CSUB and also to correct anagram for CSU Bakersfield - not having a good day with anagrams!)
JCG posted:Interesting... Seems like a long transition but I guess UCSD has to say yessir to whatever Big West tells them at this point.
I wonder what the ripple effects down the road could be. In particular, WCC, not a super strong conference already, will lose CUSB. I bet that has other schools looking at jumping ship.
CCAA will be sad to see UCSD go but I'm guessing that's about it.
I always get confused on this, but actually the WCC is a pretty good conference filled with religiously affiliated schools -- USD, LMU, Saint Mary's, BYU, Gonzaga, USF, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Pacific, Portland. The Big West is now 5 UCs, 5 Cal States, and Hawaii.
The WAC is the one getting whacked, losing CSUB. It is all over the map. In particular, I would imagine that Seattle U -- the only religiously affiliated school in the WAC -- would be interested in joining the WCC. It would cut down on its travel, and it would fit in well with Gonzaga, Portland, etc.
Yes, my bad, I meant WAC. WCC is a very nice conference and I do know for a fact that Seattle has been banging on the door already trying to get into WCC. They actually used to be a member but went D3 for a while.
Talking about UCSD, where's our UCSD authority @Backstop22 ?
Here is a detailed look at the UCSD reclassification timeline:
http://www.ucsdtritons.com/pdf9/5462942.pdf
Yes, there was quite a celebration on the UCSD campus when the announcement was made about the Big West acceptance of UCSD and the move to D1. The prior student and academic approval was specific to joining the Big West--if the school was to go D1, it had to be the Big West. UCSD's first overture was turned down by the conference, so there was some angst if it would get done before the student/academic resolution expired and they would have to apply again.
As the links shows, several of the sports are transitioning to D1 and Big West soon, but for baseball it won't be until the 2020-21 year. Fortunately for my 2017 HS grad, they will be D1 by his fourth year, and he will most likely Redshirt, so he will have two years to play D1. They won't be able to compete for the conference championship or NCAA tourney, but they are joining a really tough conference and it would have taken them several years to get to that level anyway. I can confirm that the student fees have already been increased and they are building the funding for more scholarships and should be set by the time they get to the D1 requirements.
The UCSD Tritons were the National runners up at D2 last year and this is a very strong baseball program with excellent coaches. The move to D1 has been anticipated, so the roster already has some D1-level talent and now is only going to get better. The Academics are incredibly demanding, and that is not going to change with the reclassification. Student athletes know what they are going to be in for if they are admitted to the school, and the school's national rankings seem to get better and better each year.
The baseball team has not posted the Spring roster yet with the incoming Freshman majors, but of the returning roster, about one-half are players majoring in STEM subjects like Engineering, Physics, Pharmacology Chemistry, etc. My son is a Mechanical Engineering major and says academic support is strong from the coaches, sports tutors and fellow players. The best thing about a baseball program and team like this is that there are enough of them in demanding majors that they can relate to each other and know what it takes to make it through tough majors. That is not the case at many other schools' baseball programs where the academics takes a back seat. The jury is out for my son as to whether he can survive doing both ME and baseball, but I cannot think of a better place to try.
Feel free to PM me about any other questions about the UCSD school and baseball program.
I know far less than @Backstop22 but I did get the chance to interact with Justin James, the UCSD PC and RC when he coached a tournament team on which my son played. Great teacher, seemed like a really good guy overall. I'm excited for UCSD, a tremendous university that will be further elevated by D1 sports.
