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From the Tulsa World: http://www.tulsaworld.com/SportsStory.asp?..._B1_Addin3380_0 Conference questions By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer 6/27/2006 Two schools are leaving the Mid-Continent,which leaves ORU and the rest of the league pondering the future. NCAA Tournament berths are at stake as conference leaders look for replacements. Adding members would strengthen position Losing two schools in a 28-day span raised questions about the future of the Mid-Continent Conference. Scattered over three time zones, is it coming apart at the seams? Is it time for Oral Roberts University to look for another conference? "I don't see any reason for alarm," said ORU athletic director Mike Carter. "There are other schools that can be added. I think the Mid-Con is going to be stable." . . . Without replacements, league membership would drop to seven by 2007, with only six core members -- the bare minimum to retain a conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Centenary, the league's seventh member, won't be considered for core purposes until completing its fifth year of Mid-Con participation in 2008. Also at stake are the Mid-Con's automatic berths in baseball, men's tennis and men's and women's track and field. The league could have only five participating members in each sport by 2007 -- one less than required to retain an automatic bid in those sports. NCAA access is the primary reason the Mid-Con and most other mid-major conferences were formed in the first place. The baseball issue is of utmost importance to ORU, which has made nine straight NCAA appearances by winning the Mid-Con's postseason tournament. League presidents are expected to start the process of expansion when they convene Tuesday in Chicago, chaired by ORU president Richard Roberts. The presidents will examine information submitted by six schools seeking full membership -- Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley State, Longwood (Va.) University and Texas-Pan American. Dallas Baptist is a potential associate member in baseball -- the school's only Division I sport -- but will field a men's basketball team for the upcoming season. Central Arkansas, recently admitted to the Southland Conference, also seeks associate membership in some sports. There is strong support within the league to add Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, North Dakota State and South Dakota State, although the latter two are provisional Division I members, not eligible for the Mid-Con postseason tournament until 2009. There seems to be little enthusiasm for Texas-Pan American, situated so far south (Edinburg, Texas) that it is nearer to Mexico City than Tulsa. No up and down votes are likely Tuesday, but site teams could be formed to evaluate the candidates. The presidents are expected to consider every possibility -- up to growing into two six-team divisions. "Every option is on the table," said Mid-Con commissioner Tom Douple. . . . (read more) Go State!

Highlights from the Argus Leader story on today's Presidents meeting: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../606270322/1002 Mid-Con presidents meet today Expansion talks once again on agenda Chris Solari csolari@argusleader.com June 27, 2006 As the remaining presidents of the Mid-Continent Conference meet today at a hotel in Chicago to decide the league's fate, South Dakota State's future could be on their agenda. SDSU and North Dakota State are among a group of schools that the Mid-Continent is considering for potential expansion. Mid-Con Commissioner Tom Douple, who spent last week at the Collegiate Commissioners Association meetings, said on June 16 that information about SDSU and NDSU had been given to the league's presidents. "It's on the agenda to discuss expansion," Douple said. "We're still gathering up information and doing our evaluation. ... And it's a time, too, when some folks have gotten to (the information) and some have not. There's just a lot of things to try and get in their hands before the meeting." . . . (read more) Go State!

More on Morrill Act Land Grant Universities: http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/about/land.htm#what The Land-Grant College: What Is a Land-Grant College? A land-grant college or university is an institution that has been designated by its state legislature or Congress to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. The original mission of these institutions, as set forth in the first Morrill Act, was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies so that members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education. Over the years, land-grant status has implied several types of federal support. The first Morrill Act provided grants in the form of federal lands to each state for the establishment of a public institution to fulfill the act's provisions. At different times money was appropriated through legislation such as the second Morrill Act and the Bankhead-Jones Act, although the funding provisions of these acts are no longer in effect. Today, the Nelson Amendment to the Morrill Act provides a permanent annual appropriation of $50,000 per state and territory. A key component of the land-grant system is the agricultural experiment station program created by the Hatch Act of 1887. The Hatch Act authorized direct payment of federal grant funds to each state to establish an agricultural experiment station in connection with the land-grant institution there. The amount of this appropriation varies from year to year and is determined for each state through a formula based on the number of small farmers there. A major portion of the federal funds must be matched by the state. To disseminate information gleaned from the experiment stations' research, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 created a Cooperative Extension Service associated with each U.S. land-grant institution. This act authorized ongoing federal support for extension services, using a formula similar to the Hatch Act's to determine the amount of the appropriation. This act also requires that the states provide matching funds in order to receive the federal monies. . . . You might also want to know who they are and where they are located, here is a link to a map that will help. http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/land/lgif/m2784l.gif

Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl

Nice to meet you too. Care to fill me in as to what you are talking about? Go State!

I think it is far more likely that IPFW, SDSU and NDSU are added in this round of Mid-Con expansion and that UND and Utah Valley State will be added later. Go State!

Welcome to D-I in everything you do. Go State!