St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

[Nidaros]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

Is there any school in the Summit without plans to increase enrollment and programs? Is there any university in the multi-state region that does not want more students and programs? Goals like that don't make Augie unique or special.

No I suppose not. I am not dialing up the Kingston Trio version of Oleana just yet. I do like the Augustana President and her
Plans for the future.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

Augustana has a long range plan to increase enrollment and programs. Don’t call them Oleana just yet.(Failure)

Is there any school in the Summit without plans to increase enrollment and programs? Is there any university in the multi-state region that does not want more students and programs? Goals like that don't make Augie unique or special.

[Nidaros]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

Summit only has 9 now - UMKC is joining while (I)PFW is leaving - keeping it at 9. The addition of St. Thomas makes 10.

Unless I am going on bad information.

No you have it right.

[Nidaros]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

I don't see why Augustana would be considered a good fit for the Summit League. It's nothing like the present members really at all. Tiny enrollment, no graduate programs to speak of. I presume the biggest reason yes is geographic. Is there any other reason? I'm interested to learn why people think this is good for the rest of the Summit League.

Augustana has a long range plan to increase enrollment and programs. Don’t call them Oleana just yet.(Failure)

[BrerRabbit]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

I don't see why Augustana would be considered a good fit for the Summit League. It's nothing like the present members really at all. Tiny enrollment, no graduate programs to speak of. I presume the biggest reason yes is geographic. Is there any other reason? I'm interested to learn why people think this is good for the rest of the Summit League.

[JimmieTuba]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

Also, with the addition of St. Thomas we will have league schools in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Omaha, Kansas City and Denver. This is pretty remarkable for us! From a recruiting standpoint for both student athletes as well as general students, this is important. There are a lot of high schools in these metro areas and they are already primary target areas for our university. This also has to be where the majority of our alums live out-of-state. Great opportunities to connect with perspective students as well as Alumni!

The addition of MSP to the Summit is a prime reason why St. Thomas was a better invite than Auggie. I think Auggie eventually comes to the Summit. WIU has to leave first, or they find a partner school to join (for 12 schools total).

[LARabbit]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

Also, with the addition of St. Thomas we will have league schools in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Omaha, Kansas City and Denver. This is pretty remarkable for us! From a recruiting standpoint for both student athletes as well as general students, this is important. There are a lot of high schools in these metro areas and they are already primary target areas for our university. This also has to be where the majority of our alums live out-of-state. Great opportunities to connect with perspective students as well as Alumni!

[LARabbit]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

I have a feeling that by 2021 St Thomas’ invite from the Summit League won’t be their only invite/option.

Just sayin’...MVC

I think it's a little premature to be planning their next move. They would to show they can be successful before moving on. I have also seen discussion about them moving onto the Big East. This seems a big far fetched to me. Maybe in 15-20 years, but nothing immediate. Even if they do have success, there are still A10 schools like St. Louis, Dayton, etc. that would be in the mix too.

The MVC could be an eventual destination if they go to 12 schools in the future, but again I think St. Thomas would have to be completed with their transition to DI and show that they can compete. Even if the MVC did take St. Thomas, that might prevent them from poaching another school from our league (not sure who would be in the mix). I guess it's a numbers game, and having another DI school in our region is a big positive in my eyes.

[JimmieTuba]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

There you go! As Rabbitball pointed out they forgot UMKC which would make the Summit 12 for now. Its up to the NCAA and consideration of a waiver. I would think being asked to leave the MIAC would weigh into that decision. it will be interesting to follow.

Summit only has 9 now - UMKC is joining while (I)PFW is leaving - keeping it at 9. The addition of St. Thomas makes 10.

Unless I am going on bad information.

[Nidaros]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

The

There are more D1 conferences with 11 schools than there are with 10 (or will be at least when all of the current changes have occurred.)

11 Team Conferences (or soon to be)
American Athletic
Big East
Big Sky
Big South
Big West
Horizon
Metro Atlantic
Mid Eastern
Mountain West
Northeast


10 Team Conferences (or soon to be)
Atlantic Sun
Big 12
Colonial
Missouri Valley
Patriot
Southern
Southwestern
Summit
West Coast

Although 10 or 12 of which there are only 4 conferences, may be ideal in some respects the advantages don't appear to be very significant when there are more conferences with 11 than with either 10 or 12., I expect the Summit will also be an 11 team conference in the near future unless someone else leaves or St. Thomas doesn't get their waver.

There you go! As Rabbitball pointed out they forgot UMKC which would make the Summit 12 for now. Its up to the NCAA and consideration of a waiver. I would think being asked to leave the MIAC would weigh into that decision. it will be interesting to follow.

[Rabbitball]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

NDSU-UND
SDSU-USD
UMKC-ORU
Denver-UST
WIU-Omaha

That is 10 schools......No need for Augie until another bolts. Sanford is going to have to be content with having the tournament in SF for now. 11 is not a good number.

Forgot about UMKC. not a hard thing to do...

[Rabbit74]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

11 does seem odd but not to our Moorhead hero, Kelby Krabbenhoft.

There are more D1 conferences with 11 schools than there are with 10 (or will be at least when all of the current changes have occurred.)

11 Team Conferences (or soon to be)
American Athletic
Big East
Big Sky
Big South
Big West
Horizon
Metro Atlantic
Mid Eastern
Mountain West
Northeast


10 Team Conferences (or soon to be)
Atlantic Sun
Big 12
Colonial
Missouri Valley
Patriot
Southern
Southwestern
Summit
West Coast

Although 10 or 12 of which there are only 4 conferences, may be ideal in some respects the advantages don't appear to be very significant when there are more conferences with 11 than with either 10 or 12., I expect the Summit will also be an 11 team conference in the near future unless someone else leaves or St. Thomas doesn't get their waver.

[mr76]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

Let's be brutally honest here:

Augustana looks a LOT more like Centenary College than it does like St. Thomas.

I have no real dog in the fight, but comparing Centenary College to Augie is not accurate in my opinion. Although Shreveport and Sioux Falls have similar populations, which is around 188,000, Shreveport is losing population while Sioux Falls is growing. Projections are that Sioux Falls will grow 200,000 people in the next 30 years, which makes it near 1/2 million for a metro population. Secondly, Centenary College does not have the financial backing that Augie has and will have. Denny Sanford is worth 2.7 billion dollars and if he and Kelby want this to be something to invest in, than it will get their full backing. Also, do not downplay the opportunity for other corporations to join in on a Division I school in Sioux Falls. I have no knowledge of Centenary's academic standing, but I don't think anyone would say that Augie is not a good academic school. Will all of this guarantee success for Augie? I don't know, but comparing them to Centenary is a bit short-sighted in my opinion.

[Nidaros]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

NDSU-UND
SDSU-USD
UMKC-ORU
Denver-UST
WIU-Omaha

That is 10 schools......No need for Augie until another bolts. Sanford is going to have to be content with having the tournament in SF for now. 11 is not a good number.

11 does seem odd but not to our Moorhead hero, Kelby Krabbenhoft.

[Nidaros]

Re: St. Thomas to Summit / Missouri Valley?

I’m just worried that if Sanford wants them in the league they’ll get in and let’s be serious it’d be good for Sanford to have a DI institution in their city. Sanford can hang sponsorship money over several of the schools in the league to get the votes I’d think.

I have this feeling that is what is happening. It reminds me of Ole Bull, the Norwegian musician, who was very involved in immigration to the USA. He bought land in upper state New York and it was his dream colony that failed miserably. Fast forward to the late 1950’s and a group known as the Kingston Trio, had a big hit called Oleana, a song about Ole Bull colony failure. I dont recall the lyrics but it dealt with cows that milked themselves and chickens who served the residents eggs, a vision that may come true in SF or a failure to write a song about. Heaven help us if Augie hires Learfield Sports to work on their corporate sponsorships. I wonder if Learfield will be party to such a contract since they are very much part of SDSU and USD corporate sponsorship. Learfield I t was told my a staff member has more than doubled the Corporate sponsorship at SDSU.