Dave Erickson's musings on the MAAC and his attempted parallel with UMass
Amherst are rather interesting.   I would submit that the level of play is
going to be directly proportional to the number of rides offered by the
schools in the MAAC.   Of course,  these are data that most of us simply do
not have.  But,  if you go to the recruiting pages,  you will see that most
of the recruiting patterns for these schools have changed markedly.
 
        My (admittedly imperfect) recollection of the UMass Amherst experience is
that in their very first year UMass was already playing at a level above
the ECAC East and they hadn't even handed out all of their rides.   I
suspect that for some schools in the MAAC the experience will be similar.
  How well QC (shortly to be QU) does,  for instance,  will really be of
interest.   They seem to be the closest parallel to UMass Amherst.
 
        -- Dick Tuthill
 
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