Source: Quinnipiac, Monmouth reportedly to join MAAC
— William Paxton (@wspaxton) December 3, 2012
William Paxton tweeted Monday that sources have told him that mid-majors Quinnipiac and Monmouth, both of the Northeast Conference, are joining the re-alignment party by becoming what will be the 10th and 11th members the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference. The MAAC needed to find a replacement for exiting Loyola Maryland.
Monmouth's location in New Jersey will give it an intra-state, intra-conference rival with Rider, and the Quinnipiac-Fairfield intra-Connecticut rivalry is sure to be something.
Interesting that Rider agreed to have Monmouth in, but good for NJ. Q'pac makes a ton of sense as a MAAC opponent to Fairfield.
— John Templon (@nybuckets) December 3, 2012
Nothing has been officially confirmed yet, although there's apparently a meeting scheduled for MAAC presidents on Friday. Here's a fun look at the numbers behind the move anyway.
$10,801,847.10 That's the average amount of athletics expenses for athletics departments in the MAAC for 2011. At $15,681,051, Fairfield led. Quinnipiac spent $17,059,948 (would rank first in the MAAC), and Monmouth spent $13,740,465 (would rank third) in 2011 (numbers from Basketball State).
$1,632,057.20 That's how much money was spent by those departments on their men's basketball program, on average in 2011. Fairfield again led here, with $2,229,431 invested. Quinnipiac spent $2,437,063 (would top the MAAC), and Monmouth spent $1,598,946 (would rank fifth) (numbers from Basketball State).
4,618 That's how many seats MAAC arenas hold, on average, although there's quite a disparity. Siena plays at the Times Union Center, which houses up to 17,500, while Rider plays in the humble quarters of Alumni Gymnasium with room for 1,950. Quinnipiac's TD Banknorth Sports Center sports 3,254 seats (would be fourth in MAAC, behind Monmouth), and Monmouth's Boylan Gym has room for 4,100.
218 Monmouth ranks 218th right now, by Pomeroy's numbers (good for eighth in the current MAAC), and Quinnipiac ranks 152nd (good for fourth).
98 Points were scored by Quinnipiac when they took down perennial MAAC power Iona, on Nov. 16, in overtime, 98-92. The Bobcats are 3-2 against MAAC opponents over the last 10 seasons.
14th That's where the MAAC ranks in Ken Pomeroy's aggregate conference rankings, eight spots higher than the NEC.
9.6 That's how many games Monmouth has won on average over the last five seasons, but second-year head coach King Rice is doing yeoman's work. The Hawks are 4-3 with wins over Hofstra, South Alabama, Tennessee State and Lafayette to start this season.
6 Monmouth wins have come over MAAC opponents over the last 10 years to go with 16 losses. Rider added one of the latter already this season.
2 Teams represented the MAAC in the NCAA Tournament last season (Iona and Loyola Maryland), their first multi-bid season since 1995. Quinnipiac has never danced, but Monmouth did in 2006 when they got past Hampton in the first round.
1 hour of driving time separates Monmouth and Rider, according to Google Maps and my non-existent knowledge of roads on the east coast. Google maps also says 39 minutes Fairfield to Quinnipiac.
