NSIC extends invitations

[dakotadan]

Looks like UMary will be going DII. Their board of directors still has to make the final decision but they have been saying all along that a conference was their biggest concern.

NSIC Release

[UND92,96]

Mary should do fine, but Upper Iowa? I'm not so sure about them. They were a combined 15-49 this season in the three most popular dII sports (football, and men's and women's basketball) for a winning percentage of .234. The school only has approximately 700 students on campus, and the town of Fayette has a population of 1300. It would appear that Upper Iowa almost makes UMC look like one of the "have's" of dII by comparison. Aside from it being reasonably close to Winona, I'm not really sure what they bring to the table for the NSIC.

[RD17]

Mary should do fine, but Upper Iowa? I'm not so sure about them. They were a combined 15-49 this season in the three most popular dII sports (football, and men's and women's basketball) for a winning percentage of .234. The school only has approximately 700 students on campus, and the town of Fayette has a population of 1300. It would appear that Upper Iowa almost makes UMC look like one of the "have's" of dII by comparison. Aside from it being reasonably close to Winona, I'm not really sure what they bring to the table for the NSIC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I actually think Upper Iowa will do just fine in the NSIC. Yes, it's a small school located in a very rural area, but UIU has the money to fully fund all of its sports and I think it's just a matter of time before the school becomes quite competitive in that league. The other major advantage UIU has is that there aren't any other "bigger" D2 schools in its back yard to compete with in recruiting.

I realize that 15-49 in the major sports isn't very good, but this year was the first that UIU had any scholarships available to use. Not to mention that in football anyway, many of the freshman recruits that were given scholarship money were red-shirted for the future and the team played this season with essentially a D3 roster. Very similar situation to what NDSU did with its men's basketball recruits this year- red-shirt them instead of "wasting" a year of eligibility, even if they could have likely helped the team.

Anyway, I've found out through my writing job for D2football that Upper Iowa fans and alumni are very passionate, which was very surprising to me considering the size of the school and the fact that it historically hasn't had much of a football program. There must be something positive going on down there for people to be so proud of the school.

[siouxfan499]

Good for Mary. They will do just fine in the NSIC. I transferred this year from Dickinson State University and I missed yelling "F*&# You Mary" at the football games. It's good for Mary, but DSU is gonna miss a great rival.

[sokarcrazy]

yeah the Dickinson rivalry will be missed. It was really kind of a hidden treasure in western ND. I like Mary will do fine, they may stuggle early in the big sports (football and MBB), but it won't take them long to get "DII" athletes there. I was at the UND v Mary soccer game this past fall and truly (like many of Marys other sports) their team was one of the better teams UND faced this fall

[Hansel]

Mary will NOT struggle in NSIC football

[siouxfan499]

What do you guys think the chances of seeing a UND vs. Mary football game now, or even mens or womens basketball?

[RD17]

Mary will NOT struggle in NSIC football

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree. Mary will do just fine in football. The only thing that may hurt them for awhile is the provisional status as far as recruiting(they are looking at being playoff eligible in 2008, at the earliest). Mary should be an annual NSIC title contender once it gets through the provisonal period.

[RD17]

What do you guys think the chances of seeing a UND vs. Mary football game now, or even mens or womens basketball?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The basketball teams already play occasionally. In fact Mary smoked the UND men by 30 in Bismarck a couple of years ago.

A football game will not happen until Mary gets through its period as a provisonal D2 member (as I noted in my other post- probably in 2008). The only thing that could happen here is that the NCAA will waive some of the provisional years. That has been talked about as a way to make Division II more attractive to new members. The reason UND will not play a provisional D2 team is because it seriously cripples UND's strength of schedule index, which is one of the top factors in selecting playoff teams.

I would imagine though that Mary will still be able to play Dickinson or Minot in non-conference games. The existing DAC schools are going to need opponents with there only being eight schools left.

[dakotadan]

It's official. UMary has accepted the NSIC's invitation and will move to DII.

UMary to DII

[dakotadan]

Also, a poster on USCHO.com stated that he had personally talked to the Minot State AD and the AD personally admitted that MSU is looking at DII.

[RD17]

Also, a poster on USCHO.com stated that he had personally talked to the Minot State AD and the AD personally admitted that MSU is looking at DII.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I also corresponded with the Minot AD (Rick Hedberg) via email in January and he also told me point blank that MSU was studying a move to D2. I would imagine that with Mary and Huron leaving the conference, MSU isn't the only remaining school in the DAC that will be seriously looking at it.

MSU is also (along with the city of Minot) making a major push for a new football facility, something similar to the Bismarck Community Bowl. The latest I've heard is that it would be a complete renovation of MSU's current stadium with field turf, new stands, new pressbox, etc. If that goes through, MSU would have excellent facilities for a D2 school.

My bet is that Minot State will announce by the December 1st deadline that it is entering the exploratory year for Division II and also begin aggressively pursuing membership in the NSIC.

[UND92,96]

My bet is that Minot State will announce by the December 1st deadline that it is entering the exploratory year for Division II and also begin aggressively pursuing membership in the NSIC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would the NSIC realistically be looking to expand beyond 10 teams? I suppose if nothing else, Minot St. would give them an insurance policy should one of the better NSIC programs look seriously at joining the NCC.

[bigmrg74]

Would the NSIC realistically be looking to expand beyond 10 teams? I suppose if nothing else, Minot St. would give them an insurance policy should one of the better NSIC programs look seriously at joining the NCC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is always a thought. The NCC is looking to pick up a couple of teams and it would be wise to think that somebody in the NSIC might jump ship.

[The Sicatoka]

There are quite a few 12 team conferences out there. It makes scheduling pretty simple for some sports.

In football you split into two six-team divisions and play the five you're with and half of the other: instant eight-game schedule. If teams only played 10 games, you play a "championship" game between divisions for the eleventh game. Heck, you could just play within your conference and have 11 games. (The GLIAC is very close to that.)

In basketball you play the other 11 teams twice each: 22 game basketball schedule.

Having that in hand makes budgeting for travel every year pretty straight-forward.

[UND92,96]

There are quite a few 12 team conferences out there. It makes scheduling pretty simple for some sports.

In football you split into two six-team divisions and play the five you're with and half of the other: instant eight-game schedule. If teams only played 10 games, you play a "championship" game between divisions for the eleventh game. Heck, you could just play within your conference and have 11 games. (The GLIAC is very close to that.)

In basketball you play the other 11 teams twice each: 22 game basketball schedule.

Having that in hand makes budgeting for travel every year pretty straight-forward.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As RD17 pointed out in a different thread, this would potentially be bad for the NCC in terms of non-conference scheduling--particularly for basketball. The NSIC adding three teams would mean six more conference games for them, and correspondingly that would mean far fewer regional dII opponents for the NCC to play in basketball.

Such a move could possibly make Winona St. re-evaluate their situation, however. Based upon what I have been able to gather from Winona fans on the d2football.com board, they realize that as things stand now, they're only going to potentially be challenged a couple of times a year in the NSIC in football. As such, they enjoy the idea of being able to play stronger opponents in non-conference games. An 11-team NSIC would presumably mean a 10-game conference schedule, meaning there could only be one non-conference game per year. Maybe this would be the nudge they need to go into a far more competitive football conference. Even though they would be giving up a virtual guaranteed playoff spot, the flip side would be at least their fans would have a much more interesting schedule.

[RD17]

I have always said (and if you read today's Bismarck Tribune, NSIC commissioner Butch Raymond agrees with me ) that in Division II, a 10 team conference is perfect. Nine football games and 18 basketball games and playing everyone an equal number of times is the way to go in Division II. Many of the DI leagues are trending toward the 12 team "superconference" and holding a league championship game, but that obviously will not work at this level because D2 has playoffs.

That said, I still think the NSIC would look at adding more schools. Like UND9296 stated, there will be pressure for schools like Northern or Winona to consider moving to the NCC and how long can UMC keep trying to pretend it is running a Division II athletic program before someone there wises up and moves the school back to the NAIA or D3? In other words, as long as the NCC and NSIC coexist as Division II conferences in the same geographic area, the possibility exists that the NSIC will lose some of its more established members to the NCC. Having the extra cushion of one or two schools can help offset the problems of losing members.

Besides Minot, I know that both Dakota State and Jamestown College have at least talked to the NSIC in the past and the rumor out of Sioux Falls is that the University of Sioux Falls is also beginning to take a look at Division II. If the NSIC tells Minot that it doesn't want to go to the odd number of 11 members, I don't think MSU will have a terribly difficult time finding another school to move with it and get the league back to an even number.

[UND92,96]

It looks like the DAC-10 has been in contact with UMC about a possible move back to that conference according to the Minot paper:

The DAC-10 does have a committee in place to look for possible replacement teams for the open two spots.

"We are reviewing that," Hedberg said. "There are a couple of university presidents and LaVern Jessen (the DAC-10 commissioner) who are looking at possible replacements."

Two of the schools that have received most of the attention are Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell, S.D., and the University of Minnesota-Crookston. Crookston was once an NAIA member and now competes at the NCAA Division II level in the NSIC.

[RD17]

That would make things really simple- just trade UMC for MSU and the conference stays at 10 teams. MSU might not be ready to be a D2 power, but the Beavers would be a huge upgrade from UMC.

I also thought it was interesting that Hedberg said that MSU needed to keep its eye on the changing landscape in Division II over the next five to ten years. He then went on to say that they were bringing in the NSIC commissioner to meet with coaches and administrators.

If you say you don't have any immediate plans to move to D2, but then you are bringing in Butch Raymond to meet with your school, something isn't quite adding up. It certainly sounds like a situation similar to that of UMary- the school isn't going to say too much until a move is actually in the works. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[RD17]

Getting back to Crookston, going back to the NAIA (or D3) is really a move that school needs to make. UMC has only been a 4-year school for a decade or so and there just isn't the alumni base (or much of anything else) to support an athletic program at this level. The only problem with the NAIA in this instance is that UMC has a hockey program so I'm not sure if they would be allowed to do some sort of dual affiliation or what would happen there. D2 hockey teams are ineligible for the postseason, so as long as they could remain in their hockey conference, things should be fine. I've always thought that UMC, Mayville, Valley City, and UM-Morris should be in the same conference in either the NAIA or D3. Those four schools are too similar not to be.

[dakotadan]

It looks like the DAC-10 has been in contact with UMC about a possible move back to that conference according to the Minot paper:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you happen to have a link to this?

[UND92,96]

Do you happen to have a link to this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here it is: link This link probably won't work for very long, however.

[RD17]

Interesting to note that the UMC folks are very displeased with the Minot paper printing anything about them having an interest in the DAC-10. In fact it appears some of the UMC higher ups denied it when questioned and it was printed anyway. This is from KROX's weekly sports column:

Why newspapers like to pick on UMC is beyond me but it seems to never end, this time it comes from Minot, North Dakota (need we say more?).

[RD17]

Also, I confirmed with NSIC commissioner Butch Raymond today that the NSIC is bumping it's scholarship maximum in football from 21 to 24, effective in the 2006 season. Not a huge increase, I know, but at least a signal that the league may be starting to get somewhat serious about trying to compete in Division II.

Mr. Raymond informed me that about half of the current conference members should be in a position to take advantage of the increase at that time, so it certainly appears as if many NSIC schools will be putting more resources into football. Throw in Upper Iowa and U-Mary (both schools plan to be full scholarship) and the NSIC should be much more competitive with the NCC in the future. Currently, the NSIC averages about 15 football scholarships per school.

[dakotadan]

It is nice to see UMC is looking at creating more fundraising for it's athletics. It would be nice if UMC could be more competative in the NSIC. Also, I think we are more likely to see other NAIA schools in the area moving up to DII (read Minot State) than dropping down. Maybe the folks in Minot would like to convince UMC to move to the DAC-10 so that Minot could replace them in the NSIC. That would be quite the back-stabbing