Membership into the Mid-Cont

[JACKGUYII]

This is a good first step toward gaining full membership into the Mid-Cont Conference. Does NDSU have a swimming and diving team?

http://www3.sdstate.edu/Athletics/Ne...cfm?Id=46,4639

[89rabbit]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

This is BIG news for the Jackrabbit Swimming and Diving teams!  8)  Hopefully this will lead to a greater understanding of who SDSU is and what we are about.  Who knows maybe this will open the doors to bigger and better things!  Here is the link to the story on the Mid-Con site:

http://www.mid-con.com/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=3398




NDSU does not have Men's or Women's Swimming or Diving.

Go Jackrabbits!  ;D

[footballfan]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

It kinda feels like we maybe have our foot in the door????? I like the sound of this....





Go Jacks !!!!!!

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

I think we have to be careful here. Swimming and basketball are two very different sports in terms of revenue and competition. I dont believe NDSU has a swimming and diving team. I sure our Bison fans can set me straight on this point.

If you recall equestrian is still a club sport at NDSU and there are no plans to move it to varsity status according to Fargo Forum.

I suspect there could be more interest in SDSU and NDSU by the Mid Con for basketball the closer we get to 2008 or 2009 when we are eligible for the big dance.
Dr Oien seems to be very silently and cautiously optimistic about finding a conference so maybe the foot is in the door. who knows ??? ??? ??? ???

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

I went to the offical NDSU site and Swimming and Diving is not a sport offered at NDSU.

http://www.gobison.com/SportSelect.d...mp;SPSID=12103

CLICK ON MEN AND WOMENS SPORTS FOR THOSE OFFERED.

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

While I agree that we can't count on this meaning full membership in the conference, it still is extremely good news. SDSU will now be able to establish working relationships with all of the conference schools. I have every confidence that SDSU will make these new relationships positive ones for all the schools. When, and not if, the Mid-Con looks at expansion, a school with a successful affiliation will be in a much better position than one that has only competed against those teams. It will not be enough to beat out a better school, but it will put as one step ahead.

[BisBison]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

Congrats jacks. Hopefully this is the foot in the door.

[Rodentia]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

As others have said, this is a foot in the door. Build up a relationship with the Mid-Con in swimming and diving, and and it may well open doors for full membership.

[SoDak]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

If we were a year or two out of tournament eligibility, we'd have been offered full membership by the Mid-Con already. Personally, I think offers will be hard to come by before perhaps 2007. I do think that both NDSU and SDSU will be coveted schools when they are eligible. It's inevitable that both schools will become the only show in town, athletically, for each of the respective states. No, I'm not talking Big Ten, or any such foolishness. But I think eventual membership in something like The Missouri Valley will happen within 10-15 years. Frankly, I dig having SDSU in the Great West for football, kind of a Big SkyII, if it doesn't disintegrate, and would love, then, basketball in the Missouri Valley.

[JBNJBQ]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...37/1002/SPORTS

Swim team finds a home
SDSU joining Mid-Continent




Chris Solari
csolari@argusleader.com

Article Published: 11/4/05

South Dakota State's men's and women's swimming and diving teams will join the Mid-Continent Conference immediately as an associate member.

SDSU and Eastern Illinois were granted membership Thursday after the league's nine presidents voted unanimously to extend the invitation.

"We thought we'd be without a conference for years, and we already have something," said Brandon Maydew, a junior from Sioux Falls. "To have a conference right away is great."


Only five of the nine full Mid-Continent members offer swimming: Centenary (La.), Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis, Oakland (Mich.), Valparaiso (Ind.) and Western Illinois.

The Jackrabbits, who will be eligible for weekly conference awards, will get to compete in the Mid-Continent Swimming and Diving Championships in mid-February at IUPUI.

SDSU swimming coach Brad Erickson said the discussions to join the league began last spring. Oakland and IUPUI served as sponsors for associate membership.

Eastern Illinois had been swimming as an independent since 1996. SDSU had been doing the same since 2004, when it moved to Division I.

"For us to get in this early is such a great thing," said Erickson, in his 30th season. "I think it's about the best conference of things that were open. It's just what we wanted."

Swimming joins football (Great West) as the two SDSU sports with a conference. The school has been focusing its full conference search on the Mid-Continent and Big Sky conferences for its 21 sports. The Big Sky does not offer swimming.

While it is just one sport gaining entry into the Mid-Continent, Athletic Director Fred Oien said it opens up weekly discussions between SDSU's athletic department and the league.

"They will get to know a little bit more about us," Oien said. "We're a part of them now in one respect."

SDSU hosts the University of South Dakota at 6 p.m. today.

[89rabbit]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

News out of Fargo, highlights from a Fargo Forum story (sub site but it is free):

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/ind...section=Sports

Mid-Con looks more reasonable

Jeff Kolpack, The Forum
Published Friday, December 02, 2005

Two reasons that the Mid-Continent Conference is more user-friendly: The commissioner actually returned a phone call from a sports scribe and the commissioner actually answered every question with sincerity.

Or as much as Tom Douple could anyway.

Douple, who took over for Ron Bertovich last summer, was not considered a pro-expansion guy. But then again, we’ll never know, because he refused to answer questions that came within two miles of the subject.

At least Douple got within a couple of hundred yards.

“We recently added two teams to our men’s and women’s swimming,” he said. “That was a good move for our league. I think it will prove beneficial for that sport. We’re excited about that.”

Good move. Beneficial. Excited. Granted, it added South Dakota State and Eastern Illinois as affiliate members, meaning the schools are in the Mid-Con for swimming only. But at least the league seems to be in a better mood for expansion.

That’s a good omen for North Dakota State. So is having Douple, the former athletic director at Southern Utah, as the league’s boss.  Douple and NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor worked closely on the formation of the Great West Football Conference.  .  .  .

Taylor said he has not approached Douple about expansion. “He’s new and we’re going to let him settle in,” Taylor said.

Douple is still the chairman of the Great West. The Mid-Con and the Great West have a working agreement that provides scheduling and Web page support.

One by one, the conference direction for NDSU is going away from the Big Sky and toward the Mid-Con. Getting the Big Sky to agree to a 12-team, two-division setup – which is the only way NDSU will be admitted – seems too complicated.

Getting the Mid-Con to move north to NDSU and SDSU is more realistic.

“Just like every other commissioner, league membership is a constant issue,” Douple said.

Asked if geography could be a detriment, he said “Our league is one of the more spread-out leagues, although we’re not totally uncommon. Recent expansion of other conferences, if you look at it – they’re getting bigger.”

The league has nine members: Centenary (Shreveport, La.), Chicago State, IUPUI (Indianapolis), Missouri-Kansas City, Oakland (Mich), Oral Roberts (Tulsa, Okla.), Southern Utah, Valparaiso (Ind.) and Western Illinois.

A commissioner doesn’t have the power to add a team. The school presidents do. But he can set an attitude that can be contagious and in this case, NDSU should hope the Mid-Con gets expansion fever.

It’s a better basketball league than the Big Sky and it fits NDSU’s recruiting territory better.



Go State!  ;D

[filbert]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

Note that NDSU and SDSU become full D-I in 2008-09. Utah Valley State becomes full D-I in 2009-10.

My guess is that NDSU and SDSU may get an invite from the Mid-Con some time in 2006 for conference membership in 2008-09. This allows a full year or more to get schedules re-arranged.

Utah Valley State may get an invite at the same time but they may also have to wait another year to 2009-10. This would create a 12-team league with fairly reasonable travel partners:

Utah Valley State-Southern Utah
SDSU-NDSU
UMKC-Western Illinois
Oral Roberts-Centenary
Chicago State-Valparaiso
IUPUI-Oakland

Patience and a few wins on the court will help this along. Polite (emphasis POLITE) letters to the presidents of the current Mid-Con schools might also do some good--at least rasing awareness with that group of decision-makers.

Everyone wants to be wanted (except the Valley and the Big Sky, apparently). I can't imagine that letters to this group of Presidents from alumni/friends of two statewide Land-Grant schools saying "we want into your conference" would be received poorly.

Make sure the letters are polite and well-written, though!

Who knows, maybe eventually Western Illinois will move their football program from the Gateway to the Great West?

[Jacks99]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

If I'm not mistaken, I believe he has his names backwards as it doesn't make sense...

Or as much as Tom Douple could anyway.

Douple, who took over for Ron Bertovich last summer, was not considered a pro-expansion guy. But then again, we’ll never know, because he refused to answer questions that came within two miles of the subject.

At least Douple got within a couple of hundred yards.

[89rabbit]

Re: Membership into the Mid-Cont

If I'm not mistaken, I believe he has his names backwards as it doesn't make sense...

I agree it is worded funny. Perhaps a better way to write it would have looked like this . . .


Ron Bertovich, who preceded Douple, was not considered a pro-expansion guy. But then again, we’ll never know, because he refused to answer questions that came within two miles of the subject. At least Douple got within a couple of hundred yards.

Then again, I am not a newspaper writer, so what do I know.


Go State! ;D