Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

[89rabbit]

I was wandering around the Oral Roberts board and they are very excited about Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I (from NAIA).  The article that is sited in the post says that OCU probably won't make the move until '08-'09, so they won't effect this round of Mid-Con expansion.  This could however be an interesting development for those NCC schools that may be thinking of moving up in the future. :-?

http://orusports.com/talk/index.php?topic=1450.0


Go State!  

[89rabbit]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

Here is a link to OCU's athletics web site, in case you want to know more:

http://www.okcu.edu/athletics/


Go State!

[jackrabit1]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

I was wandering around the Oral Roberts board and they are very excited about Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I (from NAIA). The article that is sited in the post says that OCU probably won't make the move until '08-'09, so they won't effect this round of Mid-Con expansion. This could however be an interesting development for those NCC schools that may be thinking of moving up in the future. :-?

http://orusports.com/talk/index.php?topic=1450.0


Go State!

You can DO that??? Don't you have to go through at least DII first?

[89rabbit]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

Nah, UMKC did the same thing in the '80s. Utah Valley State did one better, they jumped from JUCO to D-I.


Go State!

[jackrabit1]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

CRIKEY!!!!

[89rabbit]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

Here is a link to a news story courtesy of filbert:

http://www.kotv.com/news/?106084


Go State!

[Jacks15]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

couldn't this also go under the topic of why USD can make the jump

[Ozark_Jack]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

No this cant really go under why usd can make the jump.

There are two things needed to go D1- In order.
1. Leadership AD/President
2. Money


usd has neither

[Jacks15]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

forgot, the Pres and AD need to have some sort of vision. they should have just trumped UND and went ahead of them to Div 1. I suppose it would have been too hard to think on your own.

[89rabbit]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

http://newsok.com/article/3070478?pg=1

Money biggest obstacle to OCU returning to NCAA Division I

By Matt Patterson
Staff Writer
Even in the doldrums of summer, Oklahoma City University athletic director Jim Abbott manages to keep his days full.

There are schedules to finalize and meetings with boosters. He needs to approve national championship T-shirts, signifying OCU winning four NAIA titles from March to May.

Summers of the future might be even busier. OCU is exploring the idea of returning to NCAA status after a 22-year absence. The university commissioned a study last year, focusing on what would be required to make such a move.

The biggest obstacle is money. OCU's annual athletic budget is just over $4 million. The university study showed the school's budget would need to balloon to $9 million to compete with non-football-playing NCAA schools. It's a cavernous gap to bridge.

"We can play Southern Nazarene in soccer right now, and we hop on a bus or in a couple of vans and we probably stop at McDonald's on the way home, and we've invested $150 on the trip,” Abbott said. "The difference in my opinion is you're not driving to Bethany and stopping at McDonald's. You're flying to Omaha and spending the night. The expenses are incrementally higher.”

The ways to find that revenue stream haven't been completely explored. . . . (read more)


Go State!

[JackJD]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

I continually wonder what the future holds about DI. Will more schools make the switch so that eventually, DIII and DII and the NAIA can barely function? I think it's a fluid situation which is just another reason why SDSU and NDSU were smart to make the move when they did. Will some try to impose limits in the future? At least we'll be a full-fledged DI school, with a place at the table if discussions take place.

[89rabbit]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

One of the things that struck me from the story is that OCU thinks they need $9 million without football to be competitive. A much larger total then our friends from the south think they need with football. I wonder who is right? ;D


Go State!

[JackJD]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

Well, that ain't all they're doing at OCU...here's a story about OCU signing several nationally-ranked wrestlers (when I saw a summary of the story, the names "Lacey" and "Samantha" sorta stuck out) for its new women's wrestling program:

http://www.okcu.edu/athletics/newsde...d=14630&c=

We had that kind of wrestling at SDSU when I lived on 3rd floor of Binneweis Hall (a/k/a the war zone) Fall of 72 through Spring of 74. It wasn't a sanctioned sport.

[JackJD]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

OCU was NCAA DI into the early 80s but I'm not sure of the exact year or the reason it dropped to NAIA.

[NightHawk78]

Re: Oklahoma City University moving up to D-I

OCU left the NCAA in 1985 due to financial reasons. The Oklahoma economy (and the OCU donor base) took a major hit after the oil-boom ended.