Maryville College, a Division III school located in Maryville, TN, just fifteen minutes south of Knoxville has been given permission to join Cal State East Bay in Division II. The Scots will go through the same process as Cal State East Bay and will play in the yet-to-be-determined conference.

Now, about the Scots men’s team.

They finished last season 24-3, including a 6-0 record in the Great South Athletic Conference. They lost to Millsaps College in the first round of the national tournament according to the school’s website.

The Scots had been very dominate in conference play in the first decade of the new millennium winning eight straight regular season titles and six tournament championships. The Scots are 204-51 this decade and had nine straight NCAA Division III tournament appearances.

Eryk Watson was named the GSAC Freshman of the Year, while Maryville College’s Randy Lambert was named the conference Coach of the Year.

Apparantly there is a log jam of schools in Division III and the NCAA is encouraging many to make the jump to Division II. So unfortunately you may be hearing about more moves unless you, the loyal and faithful reader, tell me to stop.

Post from: EveryJoe

Maryville to Join Cal State East Bay in Division II

Somehow the Pioneers have been bumped up a notch by the NCAA to play basketball and other sports in Division II this fall.

The Pioneers will be an exploratory member and is waiting to be accepted in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) as a “scheduling partner” for the 2009-2010 season and will be eligible for conference championships soon after approval.

The CCAA houses San Francisco State, Sonoma State, Humboldt State, Chico State, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State Stanislaus, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and UC San Diego.

The Pioneers had been playing in Division III and in the California Pacific Conference with such schools as the Dominican University of California (conference champions last season), Menlo College and Holy Names University.

I know. All household names.

The Pioneers men’s basketball team were never really a Division III power and finished last season 9-7 in conference play and 14-14 overall.

That was good enough to move up to Division II?

Sounds good to me.

Let’s give Cal State East Bay a hearty welcome to Division II and wish it the best of luck!

Post from: EveryJoe

Cal State East Bay Is Moving On Up