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SDSU athletic teams still in search of conference home
BY MIKE JOHNSON
http://www.brookingsregister.com/mai...24&page=25
I posted the second part of this article on another thread: DI Comes to Sioux Falls (Argus Story)http://diaafootball.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=sdsuetc;action=display;num=111408371 9
With the end of the school year now a reality, SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien hopes that by summer's end, at least one more of the school's sports teams will have a conference to participate in as the SDSU wrestling squad nears an agreement.
"By the end of the summer we should come to some formalized agreement with a group of schools that want to always compete against each other in the regular season," Oien said. "We hope to have that done and in place for next year."
Oien said the group, would include SDSU, NDSU, Northern Colorado, Air Force Academy, Fresno State and Wyoming.
If the agreement takes place, the wrestling team will be the second team to find a conference, joining the football team, which is entering its second season as a member of the Great West Football Conference, yet there are many other athletic units still searching for a conference.
"There are some conferences in our region that are looking to improve their conference in one particular sport, say if they have 10 schools but only six have a sport, yet they want to have a conference championship," Oien said. "It's an option that we are in discussion with several sports, swimming and soccer for example."
As far as finding one conference for all teams, Oien said that the procedure is very complicated, and at the time, there are no options available.
"Until a conference gets in a formal process and sends out formal invites for entrants, there is nothing we can do," Oien said. "There are currently none of those as options."
Oien said that on the informal side, however, he is always in constant dialogue with other conferences to see what is happening in the conference, and what their future decisions might look like.
Last year's attempt to land in the Big Sky Conference came up short, yet Oien said that what is perceived by the community differs from reality.
"It was publicly perceived that they had said no, we're not interested," Oien said. "That is not the case. Their answer was, 'At this time, we are only considering Northern Colorado.' At this time. But it was perceived as an outright no. That just was not the case."
While at this time, the Big Sky does not appear to be an immediate option, Oien said that finding one conference for all teams was his No. 1 priority.
"That is the goal of every athletic department in America," Oien said. "It gives you familiarity for your fan base and news media. The NCC was unique even in Division II, in that every sport played in the conference. For instance, UC Davis has been pac-10 wrestling for several years."
Oien said that right now, volleyball and wrestling were top priorities as they will both be eligible for NCAA championships in the 2006-07 season, and to have all sports in a conference that grants automatic qualifiers by 2008-09.
BY MIKE JOHNSON
http://www.brookingsregister.com/mai...24&page=25
I posted the second part of this article on another thread: DI Comes to Sioux Falls (Argus Story)http://diaafootball.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=sdsuetc;action=display;num=111408371 9
With the end of the school year now a reality, SDSU Athletic Director Fred Oien hopes that by summer's end, at least one more of the school's sports teams will have a conference to participate in as the SDSU wrestling squad nears an agreement.
"By the end of the summer we should come to some formalized agreement with a group of schools that want to always compete against each other in the regular season," Oien said. "We hope to have that done and in place for next year."
Oien said the group, would include SDSU, NDSU, Northern Colorado, Air Force Academy, Fresno State and Wyoming.
If the agreement takes place, the wrestling team will be the second team to find a conference, joining the football team, which is entering its second season as a member of the Great West Football Conference, yet there are many other athletic units still searching for a conference.
"There are some conferences in our region that are looking to improve their conference in one particular sport, say if they have 10 schools but only six have a sport, yet they want to have a conference championship," Oien said. "It's an option that we are in discussion with several sports, swimming and soccer for example."
As far as finding one conference for all teams, Oien said that the procedure is very complicated, and at the time, there are no options available.
"Until a conference gets in a formal process and sends out formal invites for entrants, there is nothing we can do," Oien said. "There are currently none of those as options."
Oien said that on the informal side, however, he is always in constant dialogue with other conferences to see what is happening in the conference, and what their future decisions might look like.
Last year's attempt to land in the Big Sky Conference came up short, yet Oien said that what is perceived by the community differs from reality.
"It was publicly perceived that they had said no, we're not interested," Oien said. "That is not the case. Their answer was, 'At this time, we are only considering Northern Colorado.' At this time. But it was perceived as an outright no. That just was not the case."
While at this time, the Big Sky does not appear to be an immediate option, Oien said that finding one conference for all teams was his No. 1 priority.
"That is the goal of every athletic department in America," Oien said. "It gives you familiarity for your fan base and news media. The NCC was unique even in Division II, in that every sport played in the conference. For instance, UC Davis has been pac-10 wrestling for several years."
Oien said that right now, volleyball and wrestling were top priorities as they will both be eligible for NCAA championships in the 2006-07 season, and to have all sports in a conference that grants automatic qualifiers by 2008-09.