There are two realities in Northeastern’s decision to drop football. Both are economic, and both are valid. It’s your job to decide which one you want to give more credence but I’ll say this: you are wasting your time. Both conspired to make the decision regretful, but necessary.

We have the economic reality of today: football is very expensive and Northeastern was bleeding on the balance sheet trying to fund it. It’s impact was felt throughout the athletics department, and quite frankly within the university.

There is also the economic reality of tomorrow: in order to compete, Northeastern would have to invest many millions of dollars to upgrade facilities. The actual number doesn’t matter, other than being “big.” And even then it would be a risky proposition–some of the best 1-AA programs with the nicest facilities are still losing piles of money.

So Northeastern convened a panel to study the problem, and in the end made the decision that was inevitable. It’s worth noting two between-the-lines messages here:

1. NU knew something had to give. They knew they had to step up or call it quits. Pretending and doing it halfway could no longer work.
2. They did it in the right time frame: players still have their scholarships honored, and time over the holidays to make a decision about what’s next. Too many times we’ve seen schools make decisions that leave the kids twisting in the wind.

So, what does that have to do with basketball? Really it’s simple: Bill Coen gets a little spending money, and a built-in financial excuse from the administration no longer exists.

I have no idea how that plays out. They make the decisions. Top of head: flat screens in the locker room, better weights, charter travel every now and again, less buy game pressure (aka more cupcakes so freshmen can get playing time), bigger recruiting budget, marketing dollars for advertising and giveaways.

One additional item to toss into long term thinking. I don’t know it’s impact, but it is inescapable: what do the four most successful programs in the CAA over the past 10 years have in common?

Mason, VCU, ODU, and UNCW. Until this year, none played football. There is a correlation between dollars and success, and don’t you ever forget that.

***

On to the games…here again is your game day link.

Mull’s preview for VMI at UNCW contains an absolutely phenomenal Duggar Baucom quote. Baucom is VMIs head coach and the Keydets play as fast as any team in the country. Their goal: 100 shots per game.

“Its basketball inflation,” Baucom said. “The more possessions we can create the less value they have…”

That’s brilliant.

The Dub wins this one, as Chad Tomko plays very fast and out of control and finishes with a very Nuke Laloosh stat line: 22 points, 9 assists, 9 turnovers, six steals.

***

Hofstra hosts Charlotte, and the Pride are doing their version of Old Dominion–taking care of business. Hofstra ran Elon right out of the gym last night. There could’ve been a letdown after Kansas and UConn but there wasn’t. (Farmingdale doesn’t count.)

As Beach says, Life with Corny was good last night. My favorite stat: Vines

“took eight of his 14 shots from inside the 3-point line. He took just 11 2-point shots in the first four games. In addition, Monday marked just the fourth time in 35 career games Vines has taken more than 50 percent of his shots from inside the arc.”

Tonight is a real test against a real team. This is one of those games that is more important for “how Hofstra plays” as opposed to the result. That’s big picture foofery I know. It’s always about the wins and losses, and Hofstra wins something like 69-64.

***

The Fightin’ Montays, fresh off a 97-94 thriller against Penn, will play a more boring contest against Siena. In fact, I must admit it will be a sleep-inducer. Siena will take a 14-point lead late in the first half, and the game will toggle between seven and 18 points the rest of the way. Siena wins 81-71.

Since we mentioned Penn, we must also mention Drexel will hand them a loss tonight. No Leon Spencer, but Evan Neisler steps up and Chris Fouch finally hits a few threes in a row. Dragons 67, Penn 58.

Finally Towson will beat Navy, and I don’t think it will be close. Troy Franklin is coming on, Cal Lee is all conference material, and there are enough pieces and parts. The only reason I point all of that out is that the Tigers could be the conference’s surprise 9-9 or 10-8 team this season. There’s one every year and right now I nominate Towson.