Augie plays for D2 title

[FeaRed]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

The discussion in Augie Land is the possibility of moving up to D1. The Argus has a big article on it. The AD, who was at SDSU, does not sound like it would work. One sport at D1, Mens BB and the rest at D2 is not part of AD or the President's vision for the athletic dept. I think moving up would require dropping football which they have made commitments such as the new facility that makes that not a option at this time. So the bottom line is be proud of the NC and the exhibition win over Iowa and stay put at the D2 level. Purely from a financial angle, this seems to be the solution.

Why would they need to drop football?

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

Why would they need to drop football?

$$$$$$$$$$$$

[MrAugustana]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

The discussion in Augie Land is the possibility of moving up to D1. The Argus has a big article on it. The AD, who was at SDSU, does not sound like it would work. One sport at D1, Mens BB and the rest at D2 is not part of AD or the President's vision for the athletic dept. I think moving up would require dropping football which they have made commitments such as the new facility that makes that not a option at this time. So the bottom line is be proud of the NC and the exhibition win over Iowa and stay put at the D2 level. Purely from a financial angle, this seems to be the solution.

Why would they need to drop football?

The idea of moving up to D1 came up for the sake of this article, but I don't know a ton of Augie folks who are legitimately debating this right now. Most Augie fans/alums/boosters are pretty realistic and are well aware that the massive commitment to football we've just made (like a new, $11 million stadium) will keep us from going D1 as an entire athletic department anytime soon. And yes, the cost would essentially be unaffordable at this point, and most likely will continue to be in the future.

The only other idea I've seen presented that is a tiny (tiny) bit possible would be if Augie went non-scholarship for D1 football like Drake and other similar programs. But I see that as being, like, a 1% possibility, not a 50/50 possibility or anything substantial.

[Nidaros]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

Why would they need to drop football?

With being a tuition wired school, it costs plenty currently for the Augustana Advantage. Adding 35 more scholarships (63-28) would increase the cost of the sport by $700,000 assuming one free ride was assigned the value of $20,000 which may be understated substantially. I am sure its more than that. But my point is that unless you raise tuition, how else will you make it? Denny Sanford?

[Nidaros]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

The idea of moving up to D1 came up for the sake of this article, but I don't know a ton of Augie folks who are legitimately debating this right now. Most Augie fans/alums/boosters are pretty realistic and are well aware that the massive commitment to football we've just made (like a new, $11 million stadium) will keep us from going D1 as an entire athletic department anytime soon. And yes, the cost would essentially be unaffordable at this point, and most likely will continue to be in the future.

The only other idea I've seen presented that is a tiny (tiny) bit possible would be if Augie went non-scholarship for D1 football like Drake and other similar programs. But I see that as being, like, a 1% possibility, not a 50/50 possibility or anything substantial.

Yes I realize its just a speculative article by the Argus Leader. I do wonder as many on the board here "How would Augie competed in the Summit League this year?" I think they would have done fairly well. I know I am stoking the fire here that was slowing dying. In the contests with SDSU, they would have certainly given SDSU a run for the money. The carrot throwers are probably behind the D1 move.

[BTownJack]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

The discussion in Augie Land is the possibility of moving up to D1. The Argus has a big article on it. The AD, who was at SDSU, does not sound like it would work. One sport at D1, Mens BB and the rest at D2 is not part of AD or the President's vision for the athletic dept. I think moving up would require dropping football which they have made commitments such as the new facility that makes that not a option at this time. So the bottom line is be proud of the NC and the exhibition win over Iowa and stay put at the D2 level. Purely from a financial angle, this seems to be the solution.

NCAA no longer allows moving certain sports up to DI, leaving the rest at DII. It is an all or none thing. IIRC, that changed shortly before or after we made our move.

[Nidaros]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

NCAA no longer allows moving certain sports up to DI, leaving the rest at DII. It is an all or none thing. IIRC, that changed shortly before or after we made our move.

I did not read that closely but I believe Larschied is well aware of this but maybe the writer of the Argus article is not.

[Jacks-02]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

I did not read that closely but I believe Larschied is well aware of this but maybe the writer of the Argus article is not.

That's how I read things as well.

[Nidaros]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

That's how I read things as well.

Interesting I went back to re-read the article and this showed up:

Schools are allowed to have a single program in Division I: Dallas Baptist is in Division II, except for its baseball program, and Johns Hopkins is in Division III except for its lacrosse teams. A number of Division II schools, including four in the NSIC, have Division I hockey programs.

A quote from the article.

Ian Frazer wrote the article, and what he is speaking of is grandfathered programs so he does not mention that under current NCAA rules this is not an option for Augustana University.

Here is the link:

http://www.argusleader.com/story/spo...ture/82427176/

[Jacks-02]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

Interesting I went back to re-read the article and this showed up:

Schools are allowed to have a single program in Division I: Dallas Baptist is in Division II, except for its baseball program, and Johns Hopkins is in Division III except for its lacrosse teams. A number of Division II schools, including four in the NSIC, have Division I hockey programs.

Ian Frazer wrote the article, and what he is speaking of is grandfathered programs so he does not mention that under current NCAA rules this is not an option for Augustana University.

Here is the link:

http://www.argusleader.com/story/spo...ture/82427176/

There are some exceptions, but I don't think those exemptions exist for the money sports like football or basketball.

[Nidaros]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

There are some exceptions, but I don't think those exemptions exist for the money sports like football or basketball.

Ian mentions that no one has done basketball only, and I suppose they would have to get an exemption or a waiver to do this. Not an advantage by any means.

[mango4]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

Nothing against Augie, but how about we wait and see if they can continue their success past these two years before deciding if they should go Division I? Last year and this year's team were absolutely fantastic but can they continue it? To me that's the biggest question. I know they have continued to get better under Billeter but they lose a loaded senior class.

Zim had a good blog post about where their basketball program was 12 years ago http://www.argusleader.com/story/blo...ions/82339594/

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

Nothing against Augie, but how about we wait and see if they can continue their success past these two years before deciding if they should go Division I? Last year and this year's team were absolutely fantastic but can they continue it? To me that's the biggest question. I know they have continued to get better under Billeter but they lose a loaded senior class.

Zim had a good blog post about where their basketball program was 12 years ago http://www.argusleader.com/story/blo...ions/82339594/

Their rise coincides with SDSU and NDSU going Division I. They really start to compete after USD makes the jump. I don't think those events are unrelated.

[MrAugustana]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

Their rise coincides with SDSU and NDSU going Division I. They really start to compete after USD makes the jump. I don't think those events are unrelated.

Got into a similar conversation about this a few weeks ago with a Jackrabbit fan on the NDSU message board.

I would say that, yes, the timing was coincidental, but I don't necessarily think it's an explicitly cause and effect situation. As I mentioned over on the Bisonville forum, by the time USD left the NCC, Augie's program was already on the upswing (having slowly worked their way out of a pretty awful situation, as noted in that Zimmer article). I believe the Vikes had beaten USD 3 out of the last 4 times they played the Yotes, including at least one and maybe even two wins when USD was a top 5-10 program nationally, so it's possible that, even if NDSU/SDSU/UND had stayed, the Vikes would've gotten to a point where they were more competitive than they were when SDSU left the league (which was around the lowest point in modern program history).

Obviously there's no way to prove that though, other than Augie's late success against the only team now-D1 team still at the Division II level during those years, USD, who was still a national power at that time.

I won't deny that Augie's rise wasn't hindered in any way by those schools going D1, but I don't necessarily think it's fair to say (or in your case, imply heavily) that Augie would've remained a bottom-dweller had those schools stayed D2.

But I'm sure many people on here will disagree, which is fair too. Like the "who would win a game today" argument, there's obviously no way to prove it definitively. Unless Nagy wants to put the Vikes on the schedule in place of Wayne State or Chadron State. But as has been discussed on here to death, that won't happen.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Augie plays for D2 title

How many people looking down their noses at Augie think SDSU would do just fine in the Missouri Valley?

To think they couldn't be at least as competitive as IPFW/IUPUI/WIU is silly. How many DII national titles did Omaha win before finishing 3rd this year? To my recollection, Augie was never really "great" in the old NCC, but they weren't bad either.

With that being said, their athletic director (who actually knows the facts) says its a nogo. I'm inclined to believe him.