NCC schools contemplate conference's future

[RodentiaX1]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

Looks like the NCC is looking at raiding the NSIC before the NSIC raids the NCC. Adding WSU and CSP would put the NCC at 8 teams for now. Nine teams would make better football scheduling, so maybe they would be interested in taking one more. Bemidji State has been pretty decent for a while, they might be good candidates.

If the NSIC gets raided, I would think that the NSIC would then try to raid the DAC-10. Who will the DAC-10 raid, or might the NSIC and the DAC-10 merge? It looks like this could have a lot of ripple effects.

[89rabbit]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

From the Madison Daily Leader:

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...1986&rfi=6

Wockenfuss: DAC needs to watch other loops



By DAN HOLSWORTH, Sports Editor 07/27/2006

The Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) is feeling the effects
of talks between the North Central Conference (NCC) and the
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

Roger Thomas, NCC commissioner, met with the NSIC
commissioner Butch Raymond in Alexandria, Minn. At the core
was Thomas expressing the desire for the NCC to expand the
conference.

Gene Wockenfuss, Dakota State University athletic director,
feels that meeting will dominate conversations at the first
summer conference of DAC administrators, athletic directors
and coaches in Rapid City on Monday at the S.D. School of
Mines & Technology.

"I think there will be a lot of conversations at the
conference about the NCC's meeting with the NSIC," said
Wockenfuss. "As a group, the DAC needs to keep a close eye
on any possible movement in the NCC and NSIC." . . . (read more)


Go State!  

[NightHawk78]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...1986&rfi=6

[RodentiaX1]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

If the NCC raids the NSIC and the NSIC raids the DAC-10, who does the DAC-10 raid? I like the idea of a NSIC/NCC merger, but it would probably be too large, and some of the teams would be better off finding a new conference affiliation.

[NightHawk78]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

If the NCC raids the NSIC and the NSIC raids the DAC-10, who does the DAC-10 raid? I like the idea of a NSIC/NCC merger, but it would probably be too large, and some of the teams would be better off finding a new conference affiliation.

The DAC is down to eight members and may end up going out of business if it were to get raided, forcing its teams to move up to D-2 or seek another NAIA conference. The current NCC is at seven, the NSIC is at ten, and the DAC is at eight. Two 12-team D-2 conferences could emerge out of this......perhaps.......

[Ozark_Jack]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

Nighthawk is correct, There are plenty of schools out there to form two large confrences. The decision will hinge on the NCAA's decision to split up D2. If D2 splits into 2 divisions of 36 and 18 scholarships. Then look for the DAC 10 to come up to the lower level of D2. I don't think the confrence issue will sort itself out until the NCAA rules of that issue.

[Rabbit74]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

Perhaps this has already been posted but if so I missed it. I recently read where Fort Hays State has joined the MAIA conference. Does this reduce the possibility of one or more of the NCC teams moving to that conference? http://www.themiaa.com/MIAANewsArticle.asp?News=1437

[89rabbit]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

I think the only school with a real chance at the MIAA is UNO. However, if you were the MIAA would you touch the disaster that is UNO athletics with a ten foot poll? Not anytime soon would be the likely answer. The MIAA currently is at 10 schools so for UNO to get an invite the MIAA would need to lose a school, add two schools or be willing to be at an odd number (Ft. Hays replaces the University of Missouri-Rolla that left the MIAA for the Great Lakes Valley Conference).

On top of that, UNO would need to add sports to meet MIAA requirements and UNO would not have a home for its successful Wrestling program. Bottom line lots of issues for UNO to move to the MIAA (I personally think you have to have UNO as a bridge for any other NCC school to have even a slight chance at a MIAA invite). If I was UNO, I would be working really hard, both publicly and privately to bolster the NCC as that maybe their best option.


Go State!

[89rabbit]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

From the Sioux City Journal:

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/arti...f0000049f5.txt

Allspach: Are NCC schools ready for Division I?



Roll up, the magical mystery tour is hoping to take you away:

Don't be shocked or surprised in December when the University of South Dakota and Augustana announce they'll leave the North Central Conference and upgrade their current NCAA Division II status to Division I in all sports except football, where the Coyotes will play at the I-AA level and Augie at the non-scholarship I-AA level (like Drake).

Blue ribbon panels at both institutions have been studying the potential switch, but some insiders say USD administrators pretty much had the decision made for them not long ago when the University of North Dakota announced it was leaving Division II for I/I-AA.

The North Central Conference, as it currently exists, would be further decimated with USD and Augie leaving.

Decisions like that would force Nebraska-Omaha's hand and UNO will probably try to join the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

St. Cloud State, Minnesota Mankato and Minnesota-Duluth would be left high and dry and probably forced to consider joining the Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

However, the NAIA Dakota Athletic Conference is reportedly considering a wholesale switch to NCAA Division II.

The majority of the schools in the DAC have significantly larger enrollments than Augustana. USD and Augie each sport 3-0 records this season and Augie has a six-game winning streak, the best at the school since the 1959-60 seasons when the Vikings won seven in a row. . . . (read more)



Go State!

[JBNJBQ]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

From the "vermin pain talk" newspaper......

http://www.plaintalk.net/stories/092...60921013.shtml

Thursday, September 21, 2006
Story last updated at 4:21 PM on Sep. 21, 2006
Once rock-solid NCC shaken

USD is trying to cope with change

By: Randy Dockendorf
Yankton Press & Dakotan


While still miles from Vermillion, travelers can see the DakotaDome in the distance. But while the landscape remains familiar for both area residents and visitors, the landscape of another sort is undergoing dramatic changes.
The University of South Dakota Coyotes have shown their athletic excellence in NCAA Division II. They have captured national titles and

remained a perennial power in the North Central Conference (NCC).



However, the formerly rock-solid NCC has been shaken to its foundation.

The league has been reduced to seven members with the departure of South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Northern Colorado to Division I and Morningside College to NAIA.

The number will drop to six - the minimum required for automatic playoff spots - when North Dakota enters the Division I ranks with the

2008-09 school year. UND officials announced the decision in July.

And athletic studies are also underway at NCC members Augustana College in Sioux Falls and the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

The NCC is not the only conference seeing shifts, said USD athletic director Joel Nielsen. He pointed to the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND, moving from NAIA to Division II and joining the Northern Sun Conference.

"The landscape is changing every day for the Upper Midwest. This directly affects what we do and how we do it," Nielsen said. "The issue

won't go away until some of the changing slows down. It seems like there has been change over the last five years, if not weekly, then monthly or at least annually."

A 26-member athletic review task force, appointed by USD President James Abbott, has been busy assessing the school's athletic classification and conference affiliation.

The task force has a target date of Nov. 6 to complete its review. The group will forward its findings and any recommendations to Abbott, who makes the final decision. A move to Division I
would require the approval of the South Dakota Board of Regents.

The task force already has information gathered from a 2002 study on whether to move to Division I, said Tina Keller, task force co-chairman, physics professor and associate dean for administration in the College of Arts and Sciences at USD. While USD officials decided at that time to remain in Division II, the landscape has changed greatly in the past four years, she added.

In addition, USD officials plan to use information from UND's process because the schools are similar in academics including professional

schools.

Money will definitely loom as a major issue, Nielsen said.

"The average I-AA school with football has an annual athletic budget in the range of $7.5-8 million," he said. "We currently run a $4.7-5 million athletic budget for the next fiscal year. We have always been in the ballpark for pure Division II schools."

NCC schools with Division I hockey, such as UND, have larger athletic budgets, which makes comparisons somewhat difficult, Nielsen said. "The best comparison may be between us and SDSU three years ago. We had very

similar budgets," he said.

USD will likely need to raise an additional $2 to $3 million annually if it moves to Division I, Nielsen said. The Board of Regents policy places restrictions on funding sources, including tuition and fees, for Division I reclassification, he said.

"We have to draw from fund raisers, corporate sponsorships and ticket revenue," he said. "We are always looking for additional revenue."

The Regents passed their 2002 policy in response to SDSU's move to Division I, but the same policy and concerns apply to the other state

colleges and universities, said Regents executive director Tad Perry.

The Regents won't become involved in any Division I activity by USD until the school would request final approval, Perry said. At that point, the Regents could set up a public forum to receive input before

making a final decision, he said.

"The main thing we ask: Can they financially afford it?" Perry said. "The policy we adopted when we went through this with SDSU laid out the financial conditions of institutions going Division I. It prevents them from moving dollars away from academics or scholarships."

The Regents learned a great deal from working with SDSU's application, Perry said.

"I think we have a better appreciation for the complexities of the Division I status," he said. "It's not as easy as you might think. You can't just declare you're going Division I and become a powerhouse."

Perry noted SDSU's ongoing efforts at conference affiliation. "Unless the whole NCC goes Division I as a conference, you have to put together a schedule, and it takes time to do that," he said.

While USD would prefer a conference affiliation in place should it go Division I, that rarely happens for most schools, Nielsen said. (read more)

[CatchEmAll]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

Blue ribbon panels at both institutions have been studying the potential switch, but some insiders say USD administrators pretty much had the decision made for them not long ago when the University of North Dakota announced it was leaving Division II for I/I-AA.

That's what I had heard as well, thus my view of USD rubber stamping the move to DI.

[NightHawk78]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

Another story out of Verminville:

http://plaintalk.net/stories/0921200...60921002.shtml

Even though Abbott didn't state that USD was going D-1, this article excerpt seems to represent a departure from previous thinking down south:

Larger enrollment and the retention of more students must remain high priorities, Abbott said. He called for raising enrollment which stood last year at about 8,000 to a new level of 10,000 to 11,000 students. USD needs to recruit more of the state's top students and more minorities, and the school must keep more of the students it recruits, Abbott said.

I'm pretty sure they plan to go D-1; they know they need the additional students to increase the student fee dollars they can allocate for athletics.

[filbert]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

Another story out of Verminville:

http://plaintalk.net/stories/0921200...60921002.shtml

Even though Abbott didn't state that USD was going D-1, this article excerpt seems to represent a departure from previous thinking down south:

Larger enrollment and the retention of more students must remain high priorities, Abbott said. He called for raising enrollment which stood last year at about 8,000 to a new level of 10,000 to 11,000 students. USD needs to recruit more of the state's top students and more minorities, and the school must keep more of the students it recruits, Abbott said.

I'm pretty sure they plan to go D-1; they know they need the additional students to increase the student fee dollars they can allocate for athletics.

Let's play "that was then, this is now" . . .
http://www.usd.edu/urelations/news/a...ptember24.html

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA ANNOUNCES DECISION ON DIVISION I AA TODAY

VERMILLION, S.D. – The University of South Dakota officially announced today that it will remain in NCAA Division II and will not pursue plans to move to Division I status for its athletic programs. The announcement was made at a news conference in the Coyote Student Center at 11:00 a.m. on The University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion by Acting President Donald C. Dahlin. USD Athletic Director Kelly Higgins, coaches and athletes also were part of the announcement.

The announcement by USD officials was made after careful consideration. In the past few weeks two members of the North Central Conference (NCC), North Dakota State University and the University of Northern Colorado, announced their plans to pursue Division I status for their athletic programs. South Dakota State University is also studying the feasibility of a move to Division I status.

According to Dahlin, USD has concluded that there are many reasons that it is in the student’s and University’s best interest for it to continue as a Division II athletic institution. Dahlin said that the decision was based on USD’s overall strategy, competitiveness, commitment to the NCC, consideration of all constituencies and financial impact.

Strategically, the move to Division I does not fit within USD’s overall strategy. “We have a renewed emphasis on building stronger academic programs and would like to implement more rigorous entrance requirements,” said University of South Dakota’s Acting President Donald Dahlin. While USD clearly values its strong Division II athletic program, it places its emphasis and its resources on the “student” part of the “student-athlete.”

Dahlin said the University is currently competitive at the Division II level, having won many conference and national titles and awards over the years. A move to Division I would force USD’s athletic teams to compete against schools with larger budgets and established programs, possibly sacrificing its competitive edge for many years to come.

The University believes the NCC is a solid, well-established and well-respected conference. “USD believes the NCC is worth saving,” said Dahlin.

. . .

One of the University’s constituents has already stated its stand on this issue. The USD Foundation Trustees recently voted unanimously to remain in Division II and thus help to maintain the NCC. “As the Foundation provides significant funding to the University, its support is vital to our decision,” said Dahlin.

Financially, competition in Division I would require a significant increase in financial resources. At the present time, USD generates approximately $3 million in revenue for its athletic programs. USD would need an additional $3-4 million in yearly revenue to be competitive at the Division I level. Salaries, scholarships and travel expenses would all need to be funded at a much greater level than the University could support or raise from its donors.

According to Dahlin, a move to Division I doesn’t guarantee increased revenue for the University. He said there is no evidence to support that Division I AA status increases enrollments or results in greater alumni giving.

“We feel confident that this decision is the right move. We believe our constituents agree that in nearly every way, staying in Division II will be the best thing for this university, which has a strong academic and athletic tradition of excellence. In this decision, we have stayed the course for maintaining that commitment,” Dahlin said.

New president, new AD, new thinking down in Vermillion, obviously. Different NCC, too. Four years later, everything's changed.

Same financial challenges in moving, however.

[jackmd]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

New president, new AD, new thinking down in Vermillion, obviously.  Different NCC, too.  Four years later, everything's changed.

Same financial challenges in moving, however.

Basically what I am hearing from the USD supporters down here. Higgin's era was a disaster and they were in no position to make the move up to DI regardless of finances. Things are so much better now that they look nearly perfect and the administration wants to capitalize on that with a push to DI. They will deal with the financial concerns in creative ways. Catchem was right all along, rubber stamp when UND announced.

As for Augie, I just am not sure. DI with non-scholarship DIAA football vs DAC-10? Not sure what they are planning.

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: NCC schools contemplate conference's future

New president, new AD, new thinking down in Vermillion, obviously.  Different NCC, too.  Four years later, everything's changed.

Same financial challenges in moving, however.

I think this was at the time Dahlin was acting-president because Abbot was on leave of absence while running for governor. Anybody know how involved Abbot remained in the process while he was out?