2022 will mark YSU's 25th year as a member in the Gateway/MVFC. When we joined there was no team with the name "Dakota" in it. A few years before YSU joining, there were four teams with the name "Illinois" in it (Eastern Illinois left in 1995).
The MVFC is not the conference we joined. Even the name is different. The conference has moved westward and is now dominated by the western schools.
If I were Patty, who will have been commissioner for 40 years (!) in 2022, I'd continue the westward expansion and lure the dominant BSC teams (Griz, EWU, MSU) into the MVFC, and the membership numbers will be able to withstand attrition if the underperforming eastern schools atrophy away.
If I were the CAA, I'd consider YSU as part of its announced expansion, and place YSU in its proposed Northern division. Geographically this would make sense for YSU. However, there seems to be no mention of this, anywhere.
https://richmond.com/sports/college/james-madison/caa-exploring-expansion-two-division-setup-that-would-reduce-travel-costs/article_4ee9823d-9db6-54eb-a34f-d152ab6de602.htmlOther options for YSU include the NEC and the moribund OVC. Although there would be undeniable benefits with travel costs, these would represent an official unconditional surrender of the "Team of the 1990s" and we'd simply exist as a program with no expectations of FCS dominance....and maybe that's ok.
Things may look very different soon. I still suspect an Ohio-centered FCS conference is possible when MAC East programs face the realities of basic math. Until then...fire your incompetent AD who will guarantee failure despite whatever opportunities arise....and stay with the big dogs in the MVFC.
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