From what I've read and heard, the one negative thing was the issue of travel but the way it was answered leads me to believe it is not a major obstacle.
Douple's quote was “In all honesty, I think location is not one of the stronger points of the visit. We’re not a bus league and we recognize that. Travel is an issue that we looked at in-depth before we made a decision to make site visits, but it is a concern.”
I think there is great reason to be very excited about this opportunity!
What a feeling it will be to finally have a home!
SUPERBUNNY
Craig and Mike often made a big deal about the 45 minute ride to Brookings from Sioux Falls. One of the SF TV guys brought this up in the Q & A. What you quoted was the commissioner's response. If there is anything to be concerned about, it could sitll be travel. It depends how each Mid Con president feels about this matter. Whether the extra bucks for travel out weighs the loss of revenue from the Big Dance and other D1 revenue sharing programs. I tend to think they will go for three additional members. Lets hope so. Also the Commissioner complemented Fred for having a staff member greet the visiting basketball teams and making sure they were comfortable while visiting SDSU. These little things have went a long ways and will help us get in the Mid Con.
Also I visited the Centenary home page and found that tuition for one year is about $18,600.00 plus the fees would add up to another 4 to 5 grand for the year. It really makes one wonder how they manage their program, but apparently they have found a way.
I think SDSU will get an invite from the Mid-Con, but i have a feeling that it may have a few stipulations. Unfortunately, I think one of them is that they will require that when SDSU hosts a basketball conference tourney they will make them host it in Sioux Falls. I'm not sure Brookings has enough hotel rooms to host an event this large. Granted, Frost Arena is light years ahead of the SF Arena, but this point could become moot if SF builds an event center in the next 5 years.
In the Mid-Con, they don't let the schools host the basketball tournament on their home court. They were not allowed to host the tournament at the Mabee Center (ORU), so they are hosting it just a few miles away.
I thought that might have been the case. Thanks for the info. I know there was a lot of talk last year about Gonzaga getting to hold the conference tournament on their home court and other teams being upset about it.
Is it the regular season champion who hosts?
So I guess Sioux Falls would be getting the Mid-Continent tournament regardless. Even a better reason to build an events center so our visitors don't have to sit in The Sioux Falls Dump, oh, I mean Arena.
They bid out the conference tournament for all sports a few years in advance typically. There is usually a local sports marketing firm from the same area as the university that puts together an offer to run the tournament, since it isn't the university putting the offer in (ex: Tulsa Sports Commission).
Mid-Con decision nears
SDSU should know by October
Chris Solari csolari@argusleader.com
August 25, 2006
Students are returning to campus in Brookings this weekend, but South Dakota State leaders are anxiously awaiting the results of their big summer test.
It's simple: The Mid-Continent Conference came and examined SDSU for possible membership. A grade of pass or fail - or in this case, in or out - is expected before October.
Mid-Con Commissioner Tom Douple said the three site teams that made visits to SDSU, North Dakota State and Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne all have submitted their reports to him this week. The league's office in Chicago is compiling the individuals' reports into a single overview of each school.
Douple, who visited all three schools that are being examined for expansion, said he is in the process of arranging the seven league presidents for a conference call that will take place within the next three weeks. He plans to pass along the reports on each of the three schools by next week.
"Sooner would be better," he said.
That wouldn't bother SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien one bit.
"You think about it, obviously," Oien said. "But at the same time, it's something that you can't control."
Douple said he can't speak to how the presidents will vote about expansion. During the site visit to SDSU and Brookings from Aug. 9-11, he said one, two or all three schools could be added.
Chicago State left the Mid-Con after last school year, and Valparaiso is gone after this school year. The league will be down to seven schools for 2007-08.
Oien said he was happy with the variety of people in the athletic, academic and Brookings communities who helped make the visit a positive one for league officials.
"The pride of being able to show off the university is incredible," Oien said. "If nothing else happens, it just reaffirms we have a great group of people working here and a great group of students."
The long wait may be over
Mid-Con officials visit SDSU campus in early August, say they liked what they saw.
Brian Kimmes
SDSU has taken another step closer to achieving conference affiliation.
From Aug. 9 - 11, Mid-Continent Conference, Mid-Con, officials visited SDSU. The Mid-Con may expand by up to three schools, and officials are considering adding SDSU to the conference. North Dakota State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne are the other schools up for possible admission.
Conference officials visited Brookings to see firsthand SDSU's facilities, research and academics.
"The goal of our site team was to learn as much as possible about South Dakota State University,"
was on the site visit team. "Until you're on campus ... you don't get a sense of their passion and energy about their athletic program."
The site visit team submitted reports Aug. 18 and the Mid-Con Presidential Conference should make decisions within the first two weeks of September. . . . (read more)
The long wait may be over Mid-Con officials visit SDSU campus in early August, say they liked what they saw.
Brian Kimmes
SDSU has taken another step closer to achieving conference affiliation.
From Aug. 9 - 11, Mid-Continent Conference, Mid-Con, officials visited SDSU. The Mid-Con may expand by up to three schools, and officials are considering adding SDSU to the conference. North Dakota State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne are the other schools up for possible admission.
Conference officials visited Brookings to see firsthand SDSU's facilities, research and academics.
"The goal of our site team was to learn as much as possible about South Dakota State University,"
was on the site visit team. "Until you're on campus ... you don't get a sense of their passion and energy about their athletic program."
The site visit team submitted reports Aug. 18 and the Mid-Con Presidential Conference should make decisions within the first two weeks of September. . . . (read more)
Go State!
That should be prefaced with while they were in Brookings. It's being discussed over on Bisonville of how having the site visit team have to travel out to the Western Part of the state was a big mistake. Don't get me wrong its a beautiful part of the state ( I really enjoy it out there ) but was that such a good idea on the part of the regents to make the site team travel even more thatn they already had? Hopefully it doesn't come back to haunt you and us in the end. Personally I don't think it will but I do think they should have met the entire time in Brookings. :-/
I believe it was Commissioner Douple and crew that wanted to visit with Board of Regents who coincidently were meeting in Spearfish in accordance with their annual meeting schedule, so Dr Miller had Mid Con Commissioner Douple and crew to be put on the BOR Agenda. Commissioner Douple commented on the his visit to BOR. I dont think felt tired from the trip to Spearfish nor did he say anything negative about the Board of Regents, in fact he commented that he appreciated the support from the Board of Regents.
You guys over on Bisonville can draw your own conclusions, but was Dr. Miller SDSU president suppose to say no to their request? Was she afraid about what some Bison fan would post over on Bisonville. I dont think so.
Hopefully it doesn't come back to haunt you and us in the end. Personally I don't think it will but I do think they should have met the entire time in Brookings.
This is just goofy. I'm sure the Regents would love to see SDSU get in a conference but you think they should have cut their meeting short to be in Brookings to fete these people? Would you have liked to see them shining shoes for the participants too? "Yeah, we'd have loved to have had your University in our conference, but we really felt like your Governor should have declared it Mid-Con day and handed us the key to the state in appreciation, so we're turning you down".
I agree that the Bisonville thread is a bit over the top.
SDSU (like NDSU) is a statewide flagship institution. The Black Hills are (mostly) in South Dakota--I think the Bisonville guys are just jealous. :-)
From what we've seen reported, the Mid-Con delegation got the right kind of answers from the Regents when they met. Plus the message got delivered that SDSU is a state flagship institution of a big (territory-wise) state.
I think the Bisonville guys are just looking for something to worry about.
I think the Bisonville guys are just looking for something to worry about.
Patience is a difficult to obtain. Waiting for someone else to make a decision that will have a major effect on you or someone/something you love always leads to anxiety. Some of us deal with that in different ways.
Meeting with the BOR was important and I hope the BOR was supportive of the future and not mired in concerns about the past. I continue to patiently await word from the presidents of the mid-con institutions.
We are here to add what we can to life, not get what we can from life. -Sir William Osler
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
Comment