What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

Birdwatcher said:
That is the case throughout most conferences. Especially D1.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and I think it’s less of an issue in our sport. But in D3 football where you have a school with 6300 undergrads playing a school with 900 (St Mary’s) maybe moreso? UST’s annual budget for the football team is $1.1 million. I wonder what St. Mary’s entire athletics department is?

Obviously SNC did OK in the old NCHA playing schools with 3 and 4x their undergrad enrollment.

I think if UST ends up in the WIAC, a few years down the line they won’t miss the MIAC at all, as long as they continue to schedule St. John’s in a NC game every season. If UST wants to win a football national championship, the WIAC is the conference they want to join.
 
Last edited:
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

Birdwatcher said:
That is the case throughout most conferences. Especially D1.
Click to expand...

Correct. Just look at the SUNYAC. (I don't know what year these numbers come from, but it's close enough for comparisons sake.)

Largest: Buffalo State (14,204)
Smallest: Potsdam (4,592)

I did not count Morrisville, because they are not a full member. However, ironically they do have a football team with an enrollment of just 3,710.
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

spwood said:
Is there any other way to read this other than they're too good - they have to go? Enrollment size wouldn't seem to affect athletic teams, as those athletes are specifically recruited to come to the college, not recruited from the existing enrollment. Right? I suppose the 98-0 was a horrible thing to do and St. Thomas (specifically the football coach) can take his share of the blame for this), but doesn't this reflect more negatively on the other MIAC members than it does St. Thomas?
Click to expand...

I guess one of the arguments, defenses I've read is that the rest of the MIAC doesn't put as much of a focus on athletics as St Thomas does and thats the reason why they want them gone...they're more "academic" institutions. Which is a pretty weak argument when you look at like NESCACs or something along those lines. And then if that is the case and you don't care if your sports teams are good...then why have them, and why kick a team out for having good teams?
 
Last edited:
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

gojackets said:
I guess one of the arguments, defenses I've read is that the rest of the MIAC doesn't put as much of a focus on athletics as St Thomas does and thats the reason why they want them gone...their more "academic" institutions. Which is a pretty weak argument when you look at like NESCACs or something along those lines. And then if that is the case and you don't care if your sports teams are good...then why have them, and why kick a team out for having good teams?
Click to expand...

Stop looking at this logically. :eek:
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

Birdwatcher said:
That is the case throughout most conferences. Especially D1.
Click to expand...

In the WIAC Eau Claire is just over 10,000 students, Superior is about 2200. Whitewater, no hockey...is 11,700, LaCrosse-10,000

Most are in the 8-10,000 range with Superior being way lower. Granted Superior left the WIAC in all sports except Hockey, I believe.
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

So I guess the MIAC had their doubts about St. Thomas??

(ducks for cover from the flying casserole dishes)
 
Last edited:
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

joecct said:
So I guess the MIAC had their doubts about St. Thomas??

(ducks for cover from the glying casserole dishes)
Click to expand...

No doubt :D

This is just silly. So it appears that the MIAC is committed to mediocrity in athletics, and if you get too good you have to go to another conference. The next school to dominate the conference in any sport had better watch their back.
 
NUProf said:
No doubt :D

This is just silly. So it appears that the MIAC is committed to mediocrity in athletics, and if you get too good you have to go to another conference. The next school to dominate the conference in any sport had better watch their back.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

Holy Smokes, just saw Augsburg’s history of success in men’s wrestling! 13 National Championships and 31 MIAC crowns. Are they next on the MIAC’s choppin’ block?
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

Just a thought -- many moons ago the NESCAC gave the boot to Union.
 
Russell Jaslow said:
Come on, Joe. You know why that was. It had nothing to do with performance.
Click to expand...

They went off campus to recruit hockey players and the rest of the conference saw Red. We played them in 76/77, were all set to play them in 77/78 when the admin pulled the plug on the program.

It took them a (long) while, but they seem to have figured out how to make a D1 program work at a D3 school.
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

The Summit League has invited St. Thomas to join, an email I received from the UST president says. The email goes on to say UST is applying to the NCAA for a waiver so they can go DI directly from DIII. No word on hockey.
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

thebrain said:
The Summit League has invited St. Thomas to join, an email I received from the UST president says. The email goes on to say UST is applying to the NCAA for a waiver so they can go DI directly from DIII. No word on hockey.
Click to expand...

3 Summit League schools have men's D1 programs playing in the NCHC (Denver, Omaha, NoDak). If St. Thomas joined as a 9th team it would be an uneven number of teams but not an overly large conference. UMD and St. Cloud also play in the NCHC so there's a geographical match as well.

The women would be an 8th WCHA team and all but 2 of the current members are in Minnesota.
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

I wonder if the "WCHA 7" got wind of this when they were writing their letter? UST would be a perfect 8th school to their new conference, maybe the "Great Lakes Hockey Conference"?
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

I can't find if there's precedence for waiving the reclassification rules. Does anyone know if the NCAA has allowed DIII straight to DI in recent history?
 
Re: MIAC to vote to oust St Thomas

thebrain said:
The Summit League has invited St. Thomas to join, an email I received from the UST president says. The email goes on to say UST is applying to the NCAA for a waiver so they can go DI directly from DIII. No word on hockey.
Click to expand...

ESPN.com has an article on this as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top