William & Mary to join Patriot League in 2026
- Thread starter SpiderFan26
- Start date
Still think we made a bad move leaving the CAA? Our administration was ahead of the curve.
Best thing to happen to UR football in years.
And now we can get the Capital Cup moved back to its traditional time.
Villanova will be next in line.
Best thing to happen to UR football in years.
And now we can get the Capital Cup moved back to its traditional time.
Villanova will be next in line.
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Now get Nova and things are looking good
That didn't take long, now if Nova follows we can be a BIG DOG on the National scene again.
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LOL, 9 days after both of us went to the trouble of announcing Capital Cup dates through 2030 as non-conference opponents.
Looking to be more and more of a great decision by our athletic department. When Villanova joins, the Patriot League will be a better conference and better academic fit. Win-win. On another note, how does this impact W&M for other sports?
Thanks for nothing, Tribe. We just announced dates for 50 years of games with you, and now they’re almost all meaningless and we have to scramble to find new OOC opponents. Great.
😂
😂
W&M will bring the PL to eight teams; Nova (projecting) makes nine.
So we play eight PL games, one body-bag FBS game, then play some combination of Furman, Elon, The Citadel, Davidson or maybe even an Ivy League team and we have a great 11-game schedule that fans can easily drive to.
We have a full year to find another OOC opponent. Should be no problem.
Wonder if this is the start of W&M leaving the CAA? The CAA can't be too pleased to have them in the league for all the other sports but not football. With UMass leaving the A-10 there's an opening.
So we play eight PL games, one body-bag FBS game, then play some combination of Furman, Elon, The Citadel, Davidson or maybe even an Ivy League team and we have a great 11-game schedule that fans can easily drive to.
We have a full year to find another OOC opponent. Should be no problem.
Wonder if this is the start of W&M leaving the CAA? The CAA can't be too pleased to have them in the league for all the other sports but not football. With UMass leaving the A-10 there's an opening.
No change for their other sports...20 of their other 22 sports will remain there. (M&W gymnastics aren't sponsored by the CAA.)
Release says they are staying in the CAA for their other sports - are an affliate member for football. Which is kind of crazy for the CAA to agree to since they also sponsor football. Have to imagine the commissioner was too busy taking pictures at one of his kid's games to be bothered with something like a negotiation.
I suspect there were behind the scenes discussions between the ADs of both schools, and probably Villanova, before we pulled the trigger. Just not for public consumption at that point. PQ hinted as much in a tweet months ago when he referenced Villanova likely making the move as well.
Agree. Wonder if W&M will consider Patriot League for all sports at some point. Anyway, great to see the conference getting better! CAA will probably dissolve at some point or be very different than what it was 10 years ago.
My understanding is that regular CAA schools with football are permitted but not required to play in CAA Football.
And I remember reading it was one of the complaints by us and others who weren't primary CAA members...the CAA could vote in new members and they'd get to join CAA Football while we had no vote in the matter. Which is how CAA Football got watered down.
CAA about to change its name again, to Crappy Athletic Association.
I feel better about our move now. If Nova follows suit, I would feel every better. CA
Enjoy their chat board members eating crow now about our move to PL.
Looks like they only had seven football teams this season, so us and W&M would make nine, unless someone else is coming too?
Correct...five full PL members play football: Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh.
Plus two associate members makes seven: Fordham and Georgetown.
We're #8, and W&M will be #9.
Let’s kick Georgetown out when Villanova comes in. 🤣
I’m genuinely not trying to be snarky with this question, but are those who criticized the Patriot League move initially for football, feeling better about the decision? What if Villanova joins? Curious if this has changed perception of the move.
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I've always taken a wait and see, but I feel better now.
Adding W/M is a good step in the right direction. Ultimately to be serious contenders, Patriot needs to allow grad transfers. Lots of opportunities for Patriot programs to get Ivy grads with lots of college football experience.
Yeah, I looked at the PL standings and added W&M, completely forgetting about us. Duh.
Ten teams is even better. Nine-game league schedule, one body-bag game, one OOC with a traditional rival like Furman, The Citadel, etc.
Or just blow off the FBS game completely.
I always said the move needed to be made with the other two and it would be far more palatable. I still don’t like a ton of the other teams we’ll be competing against, but if we get NOVA I can tolerate it a little more considering the state of the CAA. The fact that we’re tied again back at the hip after this season very much pleases me. Not playing WM the last regular season game is a crime against football humanity. So many great rivalries have been killed by this expansion nonsense including a few of our own so it’s good to see that’s going no where.
N
Nothing to like about Lehigh who knocked us out of the playoffs the two times they played us.
Very fair. I still remember the 98 loss and it hurts to this day.
Credit to Hardt and our leadership for being ahead of the curve here.
Just read their press release and a member of the BOV said "And I couldn't be more excited about beating the snot out of Richmond for conference championships for years to come." I can't decide if I appreciate the candor or think this isn't suitable for a press release.
Yeah, I file that under inappropriate for the situation. He also didn't capitalize Patriot League. Seems like he just fired off a text and nobody edited it?
did they hire someone from our staff?
it's really strange. I wonder if there is any similar arrangement in the country, considering they're a full time member of league that sponsors the sport and has been a pretty prominent league at that, tho declining. have to think basically unheard of.
i've wondered why W&M hasn't moved to Pat League for all sports. seems like well past time to do it and now there is this timing with football, but maybe there r other logistical reasons.
Anyway good for us, good for Pat League.
He must have been one disappointed trustee over the last 20 years.
I was thinking the same thing. He's going to be embarrassed the next time he has to come to our campus to ask for the keys to Zable Stadium.
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