Minot State moving to DII

[star2city]

KXMC-TV Minot on DII Move

MSU Athletic Director Rick Hedberg says the University has been debating the move to the higher division for a few years and even put a task force in charge of studying the issue.

That task force found that the NCAA-division-two would be better for MSU both athletically and academically.

Hedberg says the University has even drawn up the paperwork to apply to the NCAA and will be submitted by June first.

He says Minot State looks more like division two school and would fit well into a conference like the one that the University of Mary now is part of.

But he says the move would take a few years before MSU would be fully integrated into the NCAA

KFYR Report

"We`ve had a task force together since January. Our task force recommended that we do make application," says Rick Hedberg, MSU Athletic Director.

The deadline to apply to the NCAA is June 1st.

"It`s obviously a new athletic affiliation, but it’s really a campus-wide institution decision. It`s really part of our whole strategic plan, Vision 2013 about trying to grow our institution," says Hedberg.

The goal is to become one of the region’s premier public universities in the Great Plains.

"It will benefit our athletic department and our institution," says Hedberg.

A new Wellness Facility will be built onto the MSU Dome costing $10 million.

An increase in student fees was approved by the student government to raise funds for the facility.

"It will be a three level structure on the west side of the Dome and will have two gyms," says Hedberg.

The university is bringing back an athletic training program after 10 years and is adding wrestling and a women`s soccer team.

"The women`s soccer was a required sport in the conference we`re looking at so we needed to add that sport. Wrestling we`ve just had a lot of support locally," says Hedberg.

The conference MSU is looking at joining is the Northern Sun Conference.

Currently it has 14 teams and they have discussed going to 16 for divisional reasons.

Does seem like a 16-team NSIC is likely, with Minot State and Sioux Falls being added. DII is only allowing 10 teams in per year, so there still may be some barriers.

Always thought Minot State would be a natural for hockey. Now that they may be heading to DII they could sponsor it, if there was ever a league for them.

[NDSU grad]

KXMC-TV Minot on DII Move

KFYR Report

Does seem like a 16-team NSIC is likely, with Minot State and Sioux Falls being added. DII is only allowing 10 teams in per year, so there still may be some barriers.

Always thought Minot State would be a natural for hockey. Now that they may be heading to DII they could sponsor it, if there was ever a league for them.

My wife works at Minot State, and has attended a few of the forums they have been holding. IMO, Minot State fits really well in DII providing they get into a league. And the new wellness center looks very impressive.

[Yote 53]

Can we start calling it the Divsion Formerly Known As Division 2 instead of D2? It looks nothing, nothing at all like it did 10 to 15 years ago. Seriously, Minot St, Sioux Falls?? Look at the exodus, and not just the NCC schools, our GWFC mates in Cali were once D2 as well. As well as schools littered all over the South and Southeast. I see D2 now as, well like a D2AA, whereas I see FCS as the old D2.

[The Sicatoka]

I'm sure most of you have heard the phrase "grade inflation".

Well, consider this affiliation inflation.

"We're too good to be NAIA, we're NCAA Division II."

"We're too good to be NCAA Division II, we're Division I, but we have to make up a sub-category for football and call it FCS."

"We're too good for FCS, we're going Division I FBS football."

The core of all of this: Greed. Tournament revenues, especially the DI mens BB tournament.

But like I've asked for over half a decade already: What happens when the biggest of the bigs, the BCS conferences*, decide they would rather keep all the money rather than share it with the wannabees and pretenders. What happens when the BCS conferences leave the NCAA to form their own alliance and negotiate their own television deals.

[dakotadan]

DAC ADs recommend declaring Minot State ineligible

Dakota Athletic Conference athletic directors are in the process of recommending to their board of directors that Minot State be declared ineligible for postseason play and awards for the 2009-10 season.

[MplsBison]

I don't see why the whole DAC10 wouldn't move to DII, other than if the NCAA said no.

[star2city]

I don't see why the whole DAC10 wouldn't move to DII, other than if the NCAA said no.

DII is only accepting 10 schools a year and effectively preventing whole NAIA conferences from moving up.

[Herd]

I don't see why the whole DAC10 wouldn't move to DII, other than if the NCAA said no.

The whole DAC would never move up because he whole DAC does not belong in ncaa DII. This is not just an athletic change, it is an institutuional change. Only Mary and Minot from today's DAC really are fit to make this move, and it won't be easy to make happen and fund it in Minot eaither.

NDSU's move into DI was a much larger change institutionally than it was athletically. You have to fit the profile and be prepared for a lot of hard work. It is not as easy as you want to make it out to be. Do Mayville & Valley City belong in DII . . . absolutely not. Do Jamestown and Dickinson . . . probably not.

[MplsBison]

The only requirement is that you sponsor X number of sports and possibly a minimum number of total scholarship equivalencies (not sure).

There is no such institutional change that you're talking about.

The fact that NDSU's transformation coincided with moving the athletics department to DI was not a coincidence, it was done on purpose to market the entire school as a "DI university", but in truth there is no such thing other than the athletics department meets the minimum requirements to be DI (Savannah State, for example).

[homer]

The whole DAC would never move up because he whole DAC does not belong in ncaa DII. This is not just an athletic change, it is an institutuional change. Only Mary and Minot from today's DAC really are fit to make this move, and it won't be easy to make happen and fund it in Minot eaither.

NDSU's move into DI was a much larger change institutionally than it was athletically. You have to fit the profile and be prepared for a lot of hard work. It is not as easy as you want to make it out to be. Do Mayville & Valley City belong in DII . . . absolutely not. Do Jamestown and Dickinson . . . probably not.

I don't see why you think Jamestown and Dickinson probably don't belong. If all these schools can get into the NSIC, and it maybe would, the travel costs would really not change for these schools. Both schools have solid athletic programs. Dickinson has a lot of support from the community and is remodeling its stadium. Thier stadium will be very nice when completed and will rival "the Bowl" in Bismarck. With what DII looks like today I think both schools would fit in nice. A lot of these schools where competing against eachother in NAIA 10-15 years ago.