Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[floydnimrod]

6 hours ago, leopard88 said:

 

I'm sure the powers-that-be in Morgantown long for the days when their shortest conference trip wasn't to Lawrence, KS or Ames, IA (which is just a guess because I didn't feel like looking this up).

Cincinnati would be happy to help with that.

[sportsfan7]

Some real realignment news for a change, instead of just speculation.

https://www.stthomas.edu/athletics-future/

 

The NCAA grants St Thomas a waiver to go from D3 to D1, the first time this has happened since it was forbidden in 2010, the last team to do this was Buffalo in 1993. St Thomas is best known for getting kicked out of the MIAC for being to dominant. They will join the Summit League and play football in the Pioneer. Mens hockey is likely to join the newly recreated CCHA, while the Womens team joins the WCHA. They will be the second largest, and largest private, school in the Pioneer and are only Minnesota's second D1 program. The Tommies won the D3 Basketball tourney in 2011 and 2016 and won 8 straight dance titles from 2010-17 and 10 in the last 15 years. Facilities are a bit of a concern as only 14 D1 schools (7 from the NEC) have a smaller football stadium, only 22 have a smaller basketball arena, 3 have a smaller full-time ice arena, and 7 (Including 4 from the MAAC) have a smaller baseball field (I looked at pictures of some of the baseball fields that are smaller than St Thomas and I they look worse than most High School stadiums in my area, which is not a baseball hotbed).

[Seadragon76]

This is going to be a five year process, so the earliest St. Thomas can become a full time Division 1 member is 2026.

 

It's enough time to fix this issue.

[Burmy]

I always did find it strange that Minnesota had only one D1 school (especially when Wisconsin and Iowa have four each, and even the two Dakotas have two each). 

 

In addition to being the North Star State's second D1 school, it is also (I think) the second Catholic school in D1 not to be affiliated with any specific religious order (it's affiliated directly with the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, just as Seton Hall is with the Archdiocese of Newark).

 

Welcome to D1, Tommies...I look forward to everything to come!

[stumpygremlin]

1 hour ago, MBurmy said:

In addition to being the North Star State's second D1 school, it is also (I think) the second Catholic school in D1 not to be affiliated with any specific religious order (it's affiliated directly with the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, just as Seton Hall is with the Archdiocese of Newark).

With some quick Wikipedia research, so take that for what it's worth, it seems that there are a handful of such schools:

• Incarnate Word
• Mount St. Mary's
• Sacred Heart
• Seton Hall
• Bellarmine (reclassifying from D2)
• St. Thomas (will reclassify from D3)

[LMU]

11 minutes ago, stumpygremlin said:

With some quick Wikipedia research, so take that for what it's worth, it seems that there are a handful of such schools:

• Incarnate Word
• Mount St. Mary's
• Sacred Heart
• Seton Hall
• Bellarmine (reclassifying from D2)
• St. Thomas (will reclassify from D3)

Also add San Diego (formerly Diocese of San Diego, now has its own board of trustees but not affiliated with a particular order).

[Brian in Boston]

I believe Incarnate Word University is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

[Burmy]

5 hours ago, stumpygremlin said:

With some quick Wikipedia research, so take that for what it's worth, it seems that there are a handful of such schools:

• Incarnate Word
• Mount St. Mary's
• Sacred Heart
• Seton Hall
• Bellarmine (reclassifying from D2)
• St. Thomas (will reclassify from D3)

Touché. (For some reason, I'd always thought that Bellarmine and Sacred Heart were Jesuit schools)

[WJMorris3]

31 minutes ago, MBurmy said:

Touché. (For some reason, I'd always thought that Bellarmine and Sacred Heart were Jesuit schools)

Burmy, I think what you meant to say, and which I think is true, is that it's just the second diocesan post-secondary school in NCAA Division I.

[stumpygremlin]

6 hours ago, Brian in Boston said:

I believe Incarnate Word University is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

Yes they are. I included them on the list because they are a Texas-based thing with two "orders," one in Houston and one in San Antonio. Since it was Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word being the organization that--is it oversees?--UIW, I included them.

 

I'm not familiar enough with Catholic religious orders to know exactly how that all works, the differences between Jesuits, Franciscans, and however many others there are.

 

My Wiki research essentially was looking at each school's Wiki page and seeing whether the affiliation said "Roman Catholic (Jesuit)" or some other such thing, or if it was just "Roman Catholic."

 

So forgive me if I made any mistakes in my admittedly cursory research there.

[Brian in Boston]

14 hours ago, MBurmy said:

I'd always thought that Bellarmine and Sacred Heart were Jesuit schools

It's understandable. Bellarmine University, while founded as an archdiocesan institution, is named for the Italian Jesuit theologian Saint Robert Bellarmine. As for Sacred Heart, you may have conflated it with Fairfield University. Both schools are located in Fairfield, Connecticut (no more than 5 or 6 miles from one another), with Fairfield being a Jesuit institution.  

[sportsfan7]

As far as I can tell, these are the only D1 Catholic schools not affiliated with a specific Catholic Order

 

Mount St. Mary's - Associated with several Archdioceses, is the second largest Seminary in the US and home to a pilgrimage site

Seton Hall - Run by the Archdiocese of Newark (Diocese of Newark when it founded SH)

St Thomas - Run by the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis, formerly run by the Holy Cross Fathers

Bellarmine - Founded by the Archdiocese of Louisville, became independent after merging with Ursuline College

Sacred Heart - Founded by the Diocese of Bridgeport, first independent Catholic University in the US

San Diego - Founded by the Diocese of San Diego, now run by an Independent board, of which the Bishop of San Diego is a permanent member

 

Incarnate Word is run by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, who are part of the worldwide Sisters of Charity

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

The Tommy-Johnny game is going to be missed. It was really the only rivalry between the Twin Cities and outstate that anyone followed. Growing up Catholic in MN you need to pick a side (me being a ruralite picked St. John's) and it becomes a part of your identity. A 100 year rivalry gone just like that

[sportsfan7]

14 minutes ago, Maroon&Gold said:

The Tommy-Johnny game is going to be missed. It was really the only rivalry between the Twin Cities and outstate that anyone followed. Growing up Catholic in MN you need to pick a side (me being a ruralite picked St. John's) and it becomes a part of your identity. A 100 year rivalry gone just like that

I believe both sides have left open the possibility of playing it. I remember Davidson, St Thomas's new conference mate, played D3 Guilford last year.

[rams80]

Pioneer League-D3 matchups are fairly common tilts in non-COVID years.  Probably because most Pioneer League programs are glorified D3 teams that have to play D1 because of NCAA bylaws.

[Burkell007]

So me and my best friend had had this debate:

 

we all know most D1 FBS conferences will go to 16 teams. So I make the “out there” idea of the SEC adding UNC(not that far out there) &.....Cincinnati. I make the point it’s a new state and Ohio is a hotbed for recruits. He says “it’s not southern enough” and they should add UCF, Houston or Memphis. Your thoughts?

[Red Comet]

Cincinnati isn't southern enough. Then again, West Virginia is in the Big XII while Mizzou is in the SEC. 

 

:censored:, maybe Cincinnati and North Carolina do get poached. Its been that kind of year.

[Geoff]

Cincinnati’s hang up would be Nippert’s size. I could see the SEC giving it a sniff but they’re not gonna play every game at Paul Brown and Nippert can’t really be expanded.

 

I don’t see UCF, Houston, or Memphis simply because they don’t bring new markets. 

 

If the UVA-VT legal pairing could be ended, NCSU and VT would be great gets for the SEC. That or one of the two and WVU.

 

Honestly, I could see the SEC picking off one or two ACC teams, the ACC going after Cinci (bring back the Keg of Nails), maybe UCONN if they can get their ish together in football, and perhaps a school like Memphis (former Metro rivals of Louisville, Cinci, VT, and Florida State; gets them into Tennessee; and they’ve already bent a little on academics with Louisville). If they needed a fourth school, maybe school like App State to strengthen the football membership and reestablish having four North Carolina schools. All of this assumes ND to the B1G obviously.

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

26 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Cincinnati’s hang up would be Nippert’s size

Nippert holds about as many people as Vanderbilt stadium. That said, I'd much rather see UNC and NCSU in the SEC than anyone else, for geographies sake

[rams80]

1 hour ago, Maroon&Gold said:

Nippert holds about as many people as Vanderbilt stadium. That said, I'd much rather see UNC and NCSU in the SEC than anyone else, for geographies sake

 

Vandy's only in the SEC because they're a charter member (and its nice to have the Nashville presence, but seriously it's the charter member thing.)