DI Conference Hunt

[89rabbit]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

It is down to the two most likely candidates, as most thought it would, the Mid-Con and Big Sky:


http://www.argusleader.com/sports/We...article1.shtml

Deadline moot point for SDSU
Chris Solari
Argus Leader

published: 6/16/2004

Regents will assess the league search by Sept. 1

The South Dakota Board of Regents is considering a date given to South Dakota State University officials for finding a Division I conference as a time frame instead of a deadline.

Robert "Tad" Perry, executive director of the board, said the Sept. 1 date given to SDSU was to gauge the progress in searching for a new league.

"What we've tried to do is let (SDSU) know we want to have some direction from campus by the time we started this next (school) year," Perry said Tuesday.

"They're in limbo as these conferences have their conversations. We have to let the conferences make their decisions and be patient."

Also Tuesday, another conference - the Horizon League - said it wouldn't expand into South Dakota. . . .

The nine presidents of the Horizon, a non-football league, met in Chicago and discussed membership issues. Commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone said SDSU and North Dakota State are not likely fits if the conference decides to expand.

Often seen as one of the more powerful mid-major basketball conferences in Division I, the Horizon contains two members as close as Wisconsin, but others as far away as Youngstown State in Ohio. Member schools are located mostly in relatively close proximity to one another and dot such major Midwest media markets as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.

"It would surprise me if our membership strategy went beyond our current geographic configuration," LeCrone said. . . .

Presidents of the Big Sky will meet in early August. Mid-Continent officials will meet July 1 at an undisclosed location. . . .

"We have ongoing conversations with President (Peggy) Miller and the people at SDSU to get updates to keep the board abreast on where they are at (in finding a league)," Perry said. "We remain comfortable with the progress they're making."


SDSU giving South Dakota what it deserves, a D-I University! 8)

[SDSUFAN]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

Good old Clarence will never give up will he? I am grateful that Tad Perry from the BOR is being patient on this matter. Its going to take awhile. There could be new developments from the NCAA AD convention that is in session. Not certain when this convention ends. It should be over soon.

[JACKGUY]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

I guess Kooistra is going to be an idiot to the bitter end. It is no surprise that we are down to the BIg Sky and Mid-Cont. I still think the Mid-Cont is the most likely but would not be surprised if the Big Sky comes to it's senses and has a change of heart and extends an invitation to SDSU,NDSU and maybe UNC. I know UNC has been more interested in the Mid-CONt from a baseball perspective which is a sport they feel they can compete at the DI level immediately. We will know where we stand with the Mid-Cont before the Big Sky folks meet. Do we accept an invitation if extended or wait and see what the Big Sky does. I'm sure there is a lot of behind the scenes discussions going on in Dallas this week. I'm glad Fred and Keith are representing SDSU's interests.

[SoDak]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

I'm betting that the very moment a basketball conference extends an invite, it will be seized upon. If it turns out to be a not so good fit, it will be much easier to switch conferences 5 years from now, than to get the dream invite, or even wait for one, now. I really do hope that we get into the Mid-Continent. The NoDaks would love Big Sky because of football, but I just feel like we'd be in basketball purgatory.

[rabbit85]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

I think that the administration may pick the mid con/ great west over the big sky just because the mid con has been a stepping stone to getting into the Mo. Valley conference, which gives a school a much better chance of having an appearence in the big dance. It makes sense from a basketball perspective, and also from a financial one. If we are in the great west/ mo valley we can have basketball in the big dance more frequently because of better recruits, stronger conference etc. and can schedule teams from D-IA for our money games, while if we were in the big sky we won't have nearly as great a chance at making the big dance, but we can still schedule D-IA football games with the same frequency. I think for the time being though, the midcon/ great west is about the same as the big sky in terms of all around competitiveness.

[Coyote_Jack]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

I would like someone to explain why we should join the Big Sky if the mid-con would accept us. For debate accept the following statement as correct.

1 The current football conference is better or will be better than the big Sky. SDSU, NDSU, UNC will be D1AA powers if they play the cards correctly. Davis and Cal-Poly are staying in the Big West and we are doing them a favor my forming the league. So. Utah is fortunate to be in the mid-con and they won't be leaving as well. Over time other teams will want to join because of its strength, diversity and it conviently takes care of looming football decesions. (look for Sac St to join the Big West and enter the football conference as well!)

2. Travel expenses as a whole for the athletic department will be less and if the mid-con expands south you can split it into divisions

3. The Big Sky schools have a closer idenity to SDSU but it is an advantage to be different.

4. It has to be a wholistic decision. For example If we were to join the big Sky which doesn't sponsor softball in order for them to advance they will need an rpi of 50 and how are they going to do that as an independent playing two-thirds on the road and having difficulties in April and May with scheduling because everyone else is in conference play.

We need to join the mid-con, its more economically feasible, better for everyone, football will be better off, basketball will not be significantly impacted one way or the other. It's a no brainer

[filbert]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

Louisiana-Monroe may leave the Southland for the Sun Belt.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/localnews...5A41DA37.shtml

So what, you say? Well...
For Basketball, the Southland has 11 members (down to 10 if ULM leaves). 10 is a nice number for a basketball conference, but so is 12. They have two decent expansion candidates in their back yard: Texas Pan American, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

These two Texas schools are also rumored to be interested in the Mid-Con. If instead those two go to the Southland, then it gets much more reasonable for the Mid-Con to look north for expansion.

So there's the Mid-Con, sitting at nine members. Like I said, 12 isn't a bad number for a basketball conference (10 games vs. your division, 6 vs. the other division--16 conference games). The Mid-Con could add UNC, NDSU, SDSU and immediately be a stronger conference in almost every sport.

So, conference changes continue to ripple around the country.

[filbert]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

Seeking a home
Chris Solari
Argus Leader

published: 6/29/2004

And then there were two.

Mid-Continent. Big Sky. Two different regions of the country. Two different leagues with very different identities and make-ups. Two potential homes for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

As July 1 approaches and SDSU officially becomes Division I, the words "North Central Conference" will disappear from the Jackrabbits' vocabulary. They will probably be replaced by one of those two-word groupings.

But which will become synonymous with SDSU athletics: Mid-Continent or Big Sky?

Deciding which league best fits SDSU's profile is like writing out a love-hate list about two potential partners. There are pros and cons to each one, and you try your darndest to figure out who fits you best and where you're headed.

Only, like the dapper boy waiting for the Sadie Hawkins Day dance, the Jackrabbits don't get to choose their suitor. They are at the mercy of the university presidents in those two conferences, hoping for an invitation.

And that invitation might not come at all this summer or could arrive a year from now. Neither conference has to expand.

Both leagues are slated to meet soon (Mid-Continent on Thursday, Big Sky sometime in early August), and expansion will be discussed. Amid the recent tumult of intercollegiate alliances, school presidents will assess the benefits and deterrents to adding the Jacks to their rank-and-file.

Here's a look at five pluses and five drawbacks to SDSU's membership in each league.

Big Sky

There are currently eight schools in the Big Sky Conference. All of them are public, state-funded universities like SDSU and North Dakota State, both of which approached the league last year and inquired about membership.

Throughout the process, the Big Sky has not-so-secretly been the league of choice for both schools, though Big Sky presidents told both SDSU and NDSU to keep their options open for other leagues.

Pros

• The most obvious benefit is instant prestige. Established in 1963, the league's name is easily recognizable by college sports fans nationally. That notoriety would put SDSU's name on the map quickly in Division I.

• As a fellow land-grant institution, SDSU profiles well academically against the Big Sky's membership. Brookings also matches up with some of the conference's smaller communities, which dot the upper Northwest region.

• SDSU traditionally played many of the Big Sky schools in nonconference action throughout the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in football. There is a familiarity regionally with such names as Montana, Montana State, Weber State and Idaho State.

• The Big Sky offers football for its members, which would allow SDSU to foster rivalries that could carry over into other sports seasons. Having some history with most of those schools also helps fans identify within a new conference.

• Total travel distance would be minimized, compared to the Mid-Continent, meaning less time away from class for student-athletes.

Cons

• The Jackrabbits would need homes for five of their sports. The Big Sky does not offer league competition in baseball, softball, men's and women's swimming or wrestling, which would leave SDSU to seek another league or compete independently in those sports. That would mean to scheduling dilemmas and budgetary issues for those programs.

• Traveling west means greater difficulty in getting media coverage due to time zone differences. For instance, SDSU's first football game this season is at California-Davis and begins at 8 p.m. CDT. A typical game lasts more than three hours, meaning results won't make the 10 p.m. local TV newscasts, nor will the contest be completed by the first deadline for the Argus Leader, which is at 10:40 p.m on Saturdays.

• For SDSU to make a successful leap to Division I, it needs to further expand its recruiting base into major metropolitan areas. However, the Big Sky's largest population centers are the farthest away from South Dakota - Sacramento, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Spokane, Wash.

• There have been rumors that the Big Sky may elevate its football status to Division I-A from the current level of Division I-AA. If such a move was made, SDSU would face another gut-wrenching, across-the-board look at the athletic department's goals and affiliation.

• The stigma of already being turned away once by the Big Sky presidents.

(continued next post)

[filbert]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

Seeking a home
Chris Solari
Argus Leader

published: 6/29/2004


Mid-Continent

The Mid-Continent , founded in 1982 by eight schools from Wisconsin to Ohio, has seen plenty of turnover in its time. Many of the league's past members have moved on to more renowned leagues, like Northern Iowa and Southwest Missouri State.

Pros

• Unlike the Big Sky, the schools of the Mid-Continent compete in most of SDSU's 20 sports. The only ones not offered are football (but the Jacks already have an affiliation with the Great West league it helped create) and wrestling. SDSU has discussed forming a wrestling-only league with about 10 schools such as NDSU, Air Force and Northern Colorado.

• A healthy chunk of the Mid-Continent members are in major metropolitan areas - Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and Kansas City. It would not only help expand SDSU's recruitment reach, but also help offset travel costs by flying into larger airports. And, with most of the schools in the Central and Eastern time zones, it allows for better media coverage.

• Often a stepping stone to larger leagues, there is potential for the three former Division II schools - SDSU, NDSU and Northern Colorado - to establish themselves in the Mid-Continent if they all receive an invitation. Those rivalries would be carry-overs from their days in the North Central Conference, helping the league establish a better identity, and the members could split into two divisions to lessen travel.

• The Mid-Continent has a history of picking up schools from lower divisions. Northern Iowa helped found the league in 1982 after leaving Division II and the NCC. Current members Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis and Oakland made the leap from Division II directly into the Mid-Continent.

• From a competitive standpoint, SDSU's programs are about equal to those in the Mid-Continent right now.

Cons

• Since it often is a home for fledgling Division I schools, the Mid-Continent doesn't garner much respect when it comes time for the postseason. It's on the lower end of the spectrum, as opposed to mid-major leagues like the Big Sky or Missouri Valley. Few people could tell you where to find Oakland (Rochester, Mich.), Oral Roberts (Tulsa, Okla.) or Centenary (Shreveport, La.).

• Many of the members are commuter-type and lesser-profile institutions academically within their states and often battle for attention with larger institutions nearby.

• The revolving door of membership within the league the last 10 years makes one wonder about its stability. Valparaiso and Western Illinois are the only charter members left. Many original members fled a few years ago to join the Horizon League, while another bolted for the Missouri Valley.

• There is no real geographical footprint for the league's membership, which is scattershot across the map. If its roster was expanded to include all three former NCC schools, the revamped Mid-Continent would cover 10 different states.

• There is marginal fan support for many of the conference's members when compared to their Division I brethren. In men's basketball, the Mid-Continent ranked 20th out of the 31 Division I leagues in attendance at 2,459 fans per game (Chicago State averaged just 730 fans and Western Illinois only 911). SDSU averaged a Division II-best 3,375 fans over 17 home games, which would have ranked the Jackrabbits third if they were in the Mid-Continent. The Mid-Continent women's teams averaged just 703 fans a game, whereas SDSU entertained a Division II-high 2,484 a night.

Reach Chris Solari at 977-3923.

MIDCON

Centenary College

Chicago State

IUPUI

UMKC

Oakland

Oral Roberts

Southern Utah

Valparaiso

Western Illinois

BIG SKY

Eastern Washington

Idaho State

Montana

Montana State

Northern Arizona

Portland State

Sacramento State

Weber State

[sdman]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

Interesting article about our conference hunt. I am hoping that we get into the mid continent. If the mid cont decides to expand what other schools besides ndsu, unc and us are trying to get into it. I hope not many because I would love a decent conference to call our own. Are there some independents elsewhere who are looking at that conference and if so what are our chances to get into versus their chances? Go Jacks!!
I would think we would be more attractive to mid cont than ndsu bc of our closer location. Ditto with UNC. Also, people in Brookings care about supporting the program unlike Greeley where nobody goes anyway.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

Interesting article about our conference hunt.  I am hoping that we get into the mid continent.   If the mid cont decides to expand what other schools besides ndsu, unc and us are trying to get into it.  I hope not many because I would love a decent conference to call our own.   Are there some independents elsewhere who are looking at that conference and if so what are our chances to get into versus their chances?  Go Jacks!!
I would think we would be more attractive to mid cont than ndsu bc of our closer location.  Ditto with UNC.  Also, people in Brookings care about supporting the program unlike Greeley where nobody goes anyway.

U of Denver is now D1 again and is looking for a conference as we are. They have poor crowds, but in a large city.

[Texas_Jacks_Fan]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

U of Denver plays in the Sunbelt Conf.-Unless something has recently changed...

[jackmd]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

U of Denver plays in the Sunbelt Conf.-Unless something has recently changed...

Not that I'm aware of.

http://www.sunbeltsports.org/

[SDSUFAN]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

Texas Jack and Jackmd, are both right Denver is in the SunBelt. I guess where I got off base on this is a long while back I read something on a message board, that UNC and Denver would make good travel members and seemed logical for both to be in the Mid Continent. I guess when I read that I fixed in my mind that Denver was an independent. Sorry guys. :-/ :-X

[jackmd]

Re: DI Conference Hunt

All credit to Texas jack, none for me.