Yote 53

Probably right. SCSU administration is too dysfunctional and crappy at their jobs to move the program to D1. It's more likely that SCSU is in a downward spiral.

I happen to agree with Bisonville on this one. I think SCSU is going to angle to go D1. Why? Because D2 sports with their offerings is not financially viable. Once they cut football there is marginal costs in upgrading the rest of their sports but by doing so they gain more revenue opportunities in NCAA basketball money and just the ability to fundraise and increased profile of a D1 school. UNO laid out the blueprint. They were in financial distress and did the exact same thing and now they are doing much better as an athletic department. SCSU is also facing dropping enrollment. What better way to increase the school profile and reverse that trend than by going D1 and differentiating yourself from all the other D2 schools in Minnesota?

So they plan to apply to the Summit pending the St. Thomas outcome? Why not apply now? It's not like we haven't been hearing Augie to the Summit for years. Everybody knows the details at this point.

Don't blame the kid, blame the system. I'm sure he'd rather be at home playing hockey with his friends and sleeping in his own bed than billeting in Sioux Falls.

I was told a year ago by my friends in the Wisconsin hockey world, people who do actually know what is going on, that Eau Claire was going D1 hockey. After reading this article I question that. This quote says a lot: “Blugold student-athletes see higher retention and graduation rates than non-athletes,” Schmidt said. “And frankly, the costs of a Division III sports program are incredibly low by comparison to our sister institutions at DI and DII.” It appears they are adding athletic programs as a way to increase enrollment. A typical D3 school move.

Seeing as how SDSU AD Justin Sell is on the committee studying D3 to D1 move-ups, I would say the Summit has plenty of inside info and some "guarantees" the result will be positive. Douple also said the Summit would be willing to wait 10 years for UST though too. I took that as grandstanding and a vote of confidence for UST that they are worth waiting for. I don't think he would say that about any other school.

Bumping this thread as the NAHL has expanded again. New franchise in Wichita Falls, TX next season. Also, earlier this year rumors of a team in Kansas City , the Scouts, that will play out of the new arena they are building in Olathe, KS. Don't know if that is "official" yet but I would almost guarantee something will happen as Lamar Hunt Jr. is involved. He owns the Topeka franchise so it could be a relocation? Anyways, dovetails into this thread because with recent expansion in New Mexico and Maine, now in Wichita Falls, possibly in KC, the odds get longer that there would be expansion into East Grand Forks or Marshall. Maybe an MJHL team is a possibility? There is a thread here earlier about the possibility of the MJ expanding south of the border into the US. SIJHL? Probably eager to expand after shutting down the Iron Rangers and only being at 6 teams right now.

UST isn't getting invited anywhere unless they win in the conference. They have to not only move up but also succeed. Do you see any of the Dakota schools just handing the conference over to them? I don't. We didn't hand it over to Denver and we won't hand it over to UST. Welcome addition but they have to prove it.

Gotcha. The joke works better if we're lampooning Gopher football. Actually, the joke works well for Gopher hockey as well.

Untapped? Gopher basketball has a pretty good following, but I admit there is room for another D1 on the Eastside.

Well, seeing as how Saban was a mediocre coach at Michigan State I would agree with you. Spartans were about a .500 team for 4 years under Saban when he finally broke out a 9-2 record in 1999, those 2 losses being beat downs by Purdue and Wisconsin. Quickly used that season's result to get out of the Big Ten and find himself another job and landed at LSU. Point is, the Big Ten takes a lot of heat nationally as not being as good as the S-E-C but the conference is a meat grinder and even God-like Saban himself couldn't win in the conference. So no, I think he would be a failure at Rutgers too.

Moobs at 36 seconds. Somebody needs to hit the weight room.

Latest article on Illinois D1 hockey. LINK

I don't think you guys want to go down that road of wanting another puppet master pulling the strings. Of course, that might make for an interesting battle between REA and Sanford for control.

Augustana was not a charter member of the NCC. They didn't join until the 1940's. One of the many things you were incorrect about in your post.

It's the GAM reference in other threads that gives him away. Known as aldewitt over on the USD board. Provides good content and game analysis over on the USD board but has to constantly be warned about his negative posts running down UND and the hockey program and how UND is going broke, etc. So I guess he comes over to the UND board to run down USD now. So JBB = aldweitt = Boydj282. Got it.

You've been over to the USD board enough to know that everything you just spewed about USD is pure nonsense. Seriously, you have no clue. It's time for you to recalculate your GAM as it is giving you some faulty results.

I think they would be going out on a limb, given all the money Sanford has thrown at USD, SDSU, and NDSU. That money has strings, you can bet on it. Yes, in a perfect world 3 South Dakota schools is too many.

Interesting is the quote by USD AD Dave Herbster. Went on record as saying that as of right now Augustana would be a "No" as not enough of the league schools know enough about them, that they haven't really been vetted. Shocking in that USD, SDSU, NDSU, UND, and UNO know all about Augustana, there is nothing unfamiliar about them. They've been all over the newspapers about this move to D1. NCAA is a small world, how could the Summit schools NOT know about Augustana and their aspirations, errrr Sanford's aspirations? Herbie went out on a limb with that quote, in my opinion. He is a very calculated and measured guy too. That wasn't off the cuff.

We let Lakes post on the USD board. He keeps it in check pretty well there. Only comes around a couple of times a year.

I've said it once and I'll say it again. The answer to the Summit's problems is not to shoehorn schools into the conference that are not a fit, the answer is for the current schools to align their sports offerings, even if it means an expansion in our athletic departments. It should be as simple as "want to be a Summit member then you need to offer men's baseball or men's soccer or both". If that means women's sports needs expansion to meet Title 9 requirements then so be it. In short, USD and UND need to bring back baseball and the Summit will be just fine.

Very objective article. The first line: This paid piece is sponsored by Augustana University.

I think so too. Getting kicked out of the MIAC has opened a lot of eyes to the possibilities of what St. Thomas could be. It's an opportunity, and the perfect excuse to move up.

I could see the state of Minnesota adding one, two, or even more D1 hockey schools simply out of pure arrogance, and I mean that in a good way. Think about it. It used to be only UofM and UMD. Now you have UMD winning natties, SCSU and MSU getting #1 rankings and NCAA tournament seeds, even BSU making it to the Frozen Four. All of the MN hockey schools have had success and doing it with a lot of MN kids. There is so freaking much hockey talent out there today, with so few NCAA spots, I can totally see a groundswell of support for Crookston, Moorhead, and almost certainly St. Thomas when they decide to move up, to sponsor D1 hockey programs. They would probably be successful too, all with a majority of MN kids on their rosters.

Oh, I don't blame them for taking action. My earlier comment had to do with coaches complaining about their team fatigue and how travelling to Alaska is so difficult. The Alaska teams' travel schedule is much more difficult. As far as costs, as has been pointed out the Alaska schools were subsidizing travel.