PAC is expanding from 7 to 10 teams

Geneva, St. Vincent and Chatham College will become members next year.

By BILL ALBRIGHT

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

It began with four, then there were seven and soon there will be 10.

That is the growth pattern the Presidents’ Athletic Conference has taken since its inception in 1955.

Of the four schools in the original conference format — Western Reserve, John Carroll, Case Institute of Technology and Wayne State University — none are still around.

Three years after the birth of the conference, the field swelled to seven when Allegheny, Thiel, Washington & Jefferson and Bethany became members.

Since that time, Allegheny has also left the PAC scene while Grove City, Waynesburg, Westminster and Thomas More joined ranks with Thiel, W&J and Bethany to form the current seven-member conference.

“This has been a really exciting time for us,” said PAC Executive Director Joe Onderko. “It wasn’t that long ago [2004] when this conference was at six schools with no real prospects for a seventh [member]. I give most of the credit to our president’s council because they really stepped it up and went into what I call the expansion mode. They targeted the school they thought would be a good fit for us in a lot of difference ways and as a result of their efforts, we have these great new members joining us.”

Three new members

Looking to expand, the PAC had no problems securing new schools as Geneva, St. Vincent and Chatham College were accepted, and will all become full-fledged members in the next year.

When asked why the PAC was so appealing to the three new teams, Geneva head coach and athletic director Geno Demarco didn’t have to look far for the reason.

“We left a great conference to come over here in the Mid-States with Malone, Walsh and St. Francis in Indiana,” noted Demarco. “To make the move was based on the fact they were looking for members and we felt it was the most logical fit for us. The biggest concern we had was that the NAIA [National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics], although it served all of its members very well for a lot of years is becoming more and more Midwestern-oriented.

“We were the farthest east school playing football in the conference so we felt it in the best interest for Geneva to make the move.”

Natural rivals, crowds

Demarco was also quick to point to the natural rivals and the crowds.

“Although we had good crowds when we played the Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio schools,” continued Demarco. “The thing we were missing [was] the visitors crowd. When we played at home, the place was packed on our side, and because those teams didn’t travel as well as these teams will travel, there would be few fans on the visiting side and that is what we missed.

“The last time we went up to Westminster to play them, we had 7,000 people at that game. I think we are going to have some good natural rivalries with a bunch of schools and it is going to be real interesting for us.”

As a result of the expansion to 10 teams, league officials were recently notified that the conference would now receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III championships at the end of the regular season.

“I think the automatic bid is going to be bigger for some of the other sports than it will be in football,” said Onderko. “We have been traditionally so strong in football as a conference that we usually got our champion in [the playoffs] as an at-large entry. Now we’ll automatically get them in. But if you take a look at volleyball, we have had a very difficult time getting someone in the postseason.

NCAA status lends incentive

“As for basketball, I think that is going to add a lot of excitement and meaning to our conference tournament each year. I think it is going to help our coaches in recruiting as well because now when a student-athlete comes to a PAC school, they know that if they win the conference championship, they are going to the NCAA tournament in most team sports. That is another big step in our growth and it is also going to be a big selling point for the conference.”

Grove City football coach Chris Smith, who will begin his 24th season at his alma mater, sees the automatic bid as an overall plus with the possibility of a small minus.

“It is going to make the conference much stronger as well as more highly thought of nationally,” said Smith. “Getting the automatic qualifier is somewhat of a mixed bag. I am not as big a fan of it as many of the other guys are. Two years ago, we got two teams in [the NCAA playoffs], but this year, we will not get two teams in no matter how good we are. Eventually, perhaps.

“I am on the committee, but at the present time we are really going to have to prove that we deserve to have a second team in the postseason. But as far as all sports in our conference, the ‘AQ’ is fantastic.”