FB: American Rivers Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Seeing how we're having a little fun with each other, this just dawned on me when I read this news release on the NWU Athletics page

Nebraska Wesleyan Adds Wrestling to Athletics Program
http://nwusports.com/news/2015/7/13/GEN_0713154918.aspx

One line kind of sticks out
"A search for a head coach is currently underway with competition scheduled to begin with the 2016-17 winter sports season."

Sounds like a tough road...start a college wrestling team at a school that hasn't had the sport since 1982, recruit athletes from a prominently football/baseball state, and wrestle a conference schedule that includes the national champ/runner-up in 16 of the last 19 years, along with 3-4 teams that could legitimately vie for the conference championship in any wrestling conference in the country.

I would love an opportunity to be the head coach of any team at the collegiate level, but I think I would rather be the NWU's 2nd wrestling coach since 1982...not the 1st...

But in all seriousness, I think they are a great fit and I'm excited to welcome them into the conference.

I believe wrestling is required for IIAC membership.

[Gregory Sager]

 

Speculation is Nebraska Wesleyan's addition is in large part a security blanket for the IIAC, so it will maintain automatic qualifier status for D-III regional and national tournaments.

Is someone expected to leave?

I don't know if anyone is expected to leave.  Insurance is always something nice to have.

Loras?  They have always relied heavily on Chicagoland recruiting.  There have been a number of Chicago area NAIA schools add football over the past few years...catholic schools at that.  St. Ambrose just joined a Chicago area based conference.  If Loras had an opportunity to join a catholic based all-sports conference with St. Ambrose and a bunch of chicagoland schools it wouldn't be crazy for the Duhawks to at least give that option a look see.

I suppose that anything's possible, but I would heavily bet against this. First of all, there aren't any Catholic-based all-sports conferences in Chicagoland, whether in the NAIA or the NCAA. There are only three Catholic schools in Chicagoland that offer football: Benedictine (D3, Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference), St. Xavier, and St. Francis (IL) (both NAIA, Mid-States Football Association). You can't have a conference, football-only or all-sports, that only has five members; neither D3 nor the NAIA gives out automatic bids to leagues that small. You'd need to add more D3 and/or NAIA Catholic schools with football programs in order to make it viable -- and the nearest ones are Marian (NAIA, in Indianapolis) and St. Francis (IN) (NAIA, in Fort Wayne), or the four Minnesota-based D3 Catholic schools that have football programs (St. John's/St. Benedict, St. Mary's, St. Scholastica, and St. Thomas).

Frankly, the odds of all of these pieces falling into place are right up there with the sun rising in the west tomorrow.

I have a strong suspicion that Loras is quite happy right where it is. It's in a well-respected D3 league (Outside the Crate is right on the money when he says that the academic cachet of D3 is much better than that of the NAIA); the IIAC's travel distances aren't too bad (although NebWes will definitely affect that for the worse); and Duhawks teams enjoy the recruiting advantage of relative proximity (by IIAC standards) to Chicagoland, which Loras has exploited to the fullest in its nationally-competitive soccer program. Aside from receiving an unexpected invitation to join the CCIW (which ain't gonna happen), I can't imagine Loras considering an exit from the IIAC under any circumstances.

The post from Cedar Rapids Gazette blogger Jeff Johnson that you quoted, in which he speculated that the IIAC was expanding as insurance against losing automatic qualifiers, strikes me as being pretty unfounded.

[Pat Coleman]

But if one school left the IIAC, they would be at the minimum seven members, and I'm not sure if there are sports where they would fall below seven and lose an AQ.

People are wondering/worried/speculating about Dubuque. They have been building up their facilities. Would they go to D-II? I don't think it's a good fit but if someone with ambition is calling the shots, then it could happen.

[Gregory Sager]

Nine schools isn't nearly enough to go divisions, folks.

I was thinking of some years down the line when 12 schools or more could make up two divisions ... recognizing that two, six team divisions create  some interesting scheduling challenges.

That's true for football purposes. But if expansion to get to an even number of schools is in any way a driver of the IIAC's next move, it wouldn't be for football purposes. Football only involves one game per season versus each opponent, so a lengthy trip to Storm Lake or Lincoln will only happen once every other year for the other seven IIAC programs. And, since the league's membership will still be smaller than the ten-game limit to the regular season imposed by D3, it's not as though the IIAC is going to have to eliminate the round-robin schedule, which would be the only other reason to force a switch to divisions for football. Plus, the addition of three schools instead of just one, post-NWU, is rather hard to contemplate. The old phrase "biting off more than you can chew" comes to mind.

Now, sports such as basketball and baseball are another matter entirely. They involve multiple games played against each IIAC foe, with home-and-away schedule scenarios and weeknight contests. Those are sports that could definitely use a boost to ten teams and the splitting of the IIAC into divisions in order to cut down on travel and (in the case of basketball) to retain a reasonable number of non-conference games by adopting a double round-robin intradivisionally and a single round-robin interdivisionally for IIAC play.

But the beauty of it is that a league can go to divisions in certain sports and remain a unitary body in others.

Luther radio has a broadcast up with the IIAC commissioner and I think the NWU AD.

http://www.spreaker.com/user/7659970/iowa-conference-adds-nebraska-wesleyan

They mention a name change will be something they look at and could be a possibility. 

If that happens, would conference records start over???  Would Central go from 30 conference titles in football back down to 0?

I doubt it. After all, it's just the addition of one school plus a name change. The IIAC prides itself upon having a 93-year history, and conference records are the nuts and bolts of that long history. Lots of schools have come and gone throughout those 93 years (NWU will become the twentieth school to have been a part of this league over that span), so this is not some sort of major facelift in terms of who's participating in the league.

But if one school left the IIAC, they would be at the minimum seven members, and I'm not sure if there are sports where they would fall below seven and lose an AQ.

People are wondering/worried/speculating about Dubuque. They have been building up their facilities. Would they go to D-II? I don't think it's a good fit but if someone with ambition is calling the shots, then it could happen.

I suppose it's a remote possibility, although I haven't seen any prior speculation on that score from the people who would presumably have inside info in this matter (i.e., doolittledog and DBQ1965). This still doesn't look to me like a where-there's-smoke-there's-fire situation.

To address your first sentence, the IIAC sponsors 22 sports. All eight current members participate in 20 of them, with men's and women's swimming being the only sports that don't have full IIAC participation. (The IIAC clearly doesn't require participation in men's and women's swimming, because Dubuque participates in those sports under the aegis of the CCIW.) By adding wrestling, NWU will be able to participate in all 22.

[Gregory Sager]

In the ever changing NCAA conference shuffle, I think this move is the first step of a long term plan the IIAC is looking to implement.
1. The IIAC is somewhat landlocked to the north, east and south not including St Ambrose, which would most likely join the CCIW with their Chicago based recruiting plan if they choose to leave NAIA.

Pigs will fly before St. Ambrose joins the CCIW. You can quote me on that to anyone you like.

(And I mean real pigs, not the Pink Floyd balloon kind. )

You can't join a league that doesn't want you, and the CCIW wouldn't touch St. Ambrose with a ten-foot pole. Not that there's anything intrinsically wrong with SAU, mind you, but the school's profile and location are completely unsuitable for CCIW membership.

Leaving the IIAC looking West for possible expansion.

If the IIAC expands again, I think that the league would be far more likely to take in a school located west of the Loras/Dubuque/Wartburg/Coe/Luther axis in northeastern Iowa that defines the core of the league's footprint. That's especially true because it would ease some of the travel burden of NebWes and Buena Vista, as well as open up possibilities for travel-partner situations.

The problem is that there aren't any more D3 schools to the west until you hit Colorado College, and I really don't see the IIAC taking on the humungous travel burden of adding a school located in Colorado Springs. The logical school to add in terms of geography is Iowa Wesleyan, which was a charter member of the IIAC back in 1922. However, IWC is very small at the moment (approximately 500 students) and not all that financially stable, which makes the school much less attractive as a possible addition to the IIAC. Plus, IWC would have to add wrestling (and possibly men's and women's tennis as well; I'm not sure if those are required sports for the IIAC).

Logical D3 expansion would be to the north. UMAC member Northwestern, which is one of the two athletics powers in that league, could be a nice fit for the IIAC, since St. Paul is not all that far from the IIAC's five-school axis in northeastern Iowa and the Eagles would give the IIAC both a Twin Cities presence and a fairly solid competitor. And from Northwestern's point of view, the IIAC would be a step up from the UMAC, although the travel would be worse.

Aside from that, I think you're looking at adding an NAIA school, which comes with a separate set of headaches. As attractive as Dordt, Northwestern (IA), Grand View, or Briar Cliff, for example, might potentially be for the IIAC, the hurdles for any NAIA member to leap if it wanted to join the IIAC are not to be taken lightly. They include application to, and acceptance from, the NCAA and D3 in particular, followed by a four-year provisional period in which the school is ineligible for postseason competition in any sport -- and progression through that four-year process is by no means a given, as the NCAA has held back the progress of D3 provisional members more than once.

2. With the recent trend of increasing tuition rates, the NAIA business model, i.e. small schools awarding athletic scholarships, is becoming harder to justify in the accounting office, which would lead some to believe that if the trend continues, the NAIA model may not be financially viable in 10-15 years.

As Outside the Crate said, the NAIA isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The hemorrhage of NAIA members to NCAA D2 and D3 seems to have abated, in large part because: a) the financial outlay for D2 is considerably larger than it is for the NAIA; and: b) D3 put a cap on schools entering the provisional pipeline at four per year.

3. Should NAIA fold, the most likely destination for the "NAIA football powers" Morningside, Marien, and other large schools would be following Univ of Souix Falls to D2.

Not necessarily. As I said, D2 is a more expensive proposition than the NAIA. Morningside found that out before; it went from NAIA to NCAA D2, then fled back to NAIA with its tail between its legs.

Given their druthers, I could see several GPAC schools opting for D3 instead of D2. Of course, this is all a moot point, since the NAIA isn't going to dissolve.

4. That would leave the other NAIA schools in western tri-state area Briar Cliff, Dordt, Northwestern, looking for a conference home.
5. NAIA folding would also leave Grand View, the most coveted target, open for possible IIAC expansion.

I know it seems far fetched, but as we have seen before, it only takes the defection of 2-3 big names to start the domino's falling...Big East, late 90's WAC, Conference USA.

Again, though, the NAIA isn't gonna fold -- and the move from NAIA to D3 is neither easy nor automatic.

The NAIA is quite strong, and I don't anticipate its demise anytime soon.  Further, while NAIA colleges offer athletic scholarships this is unlikely to create extra financial pressure on the institutions from what is true for D3 colleges.  Gift aid is gift aid, no matter what you call it.  NAIA presidents all seem to say that D3 colleges are fully competitive with them on gift aid.  So, this is also to say that NWU will not save anything by joining a non-scholarship division of NCAA.

True. I also don't think that people realize just how small a lot of NAIA athletic scholarships are, especially when they're subdivided and distributed throughout an entire roster. I've heard of NAIA scholarships that are as tiny as $750 per year. What small NAIA schools that don't give out a lot of scholie money bank upon is prestige; lots of 18-to-21-year-olds crave the status symbol of an athletic scholarship, even if it's only a pittance. That, in large part, is what enables small-fry NAIA schools to compete for athletes with D3 schools, even if the D3 schools in question have more academic cachet than do the NAIA outfits.

Having listened to excerpts from the NWU press conference, my impression is that the biggest reason why the school is moving to the IIAC is because of the high regard NWU's leadership has for the IIAC and D3 in terms of governance and the overall academic profile of IIAC members specifically and of D3 members in general. The unspoken reason, I speculate, is the fact that Doane, Hastings, and all of the other current GPAC rivals of NWU can offer athletic scholarships (however paltry they actually may be) while NebWes can't, which is a nasty recruiting disadvantage.

College presidents are often quite status conscious.  Candidly, there were no tears shed by IAICU presidents when William Penn, Iowa Wesleyan and Upper Iowa moved out of the IAICU.  NWU is being welcomed because of their quality and all the things they bring to the table that are consistent with the other members.  That's also why, in my view, none of the other current members will leave unless there is some kind of major realignment involving some really top flight colleges.  That doesn't seem to be in the cards.

This.

[Gregory Sager]

As for adding Lincoln...umm, there is only one football team sports entity on the entire planet in Lincoln, at least as far as the media and fans are concerned. The level of obsession with Nebraska completely drowns out everything else , including births, deaths, weddings, politics, murders, and all possible items of interest short of global nuclear holocaust..

Fixed it for you.

Seeing how we're having a little fun with each other, this just dawned on me when I read this news release on the NWU Athletics page

Nebraska Wesleyan Adds Wrestling to Athletics Program
http://nwusports.com/news/2015/7/13/GEN_0713154918.aspx

One line kind of sticks out
"A search for a head coach is currently underway with competition scheduled to begin with the 2016-17 winter sports season."

Sounds like a tough road...start a college wrestling team at a school that hasn't had the sport since 1982, recruit athletes from a prominently football/baseball state, and wrestle a conference schedule that includes the national champ/runner-up in 16 of the last 19 years, along with 3-4 teams that could legitimately vie for the conference championship in any wrestling conference in the country.

I would love an opportunity to be the head coach of any team at the collegiate level, but I think I would rather be the NWU's 2nd wrestling coach since 1982...not the 1st...

While I'm sure that NWU would love to be successful in IIAC wrestling, I'm fairly certain that the only reason why the school is adding the sport (especially given Title IX) is because, as Pat said, the IIAC is forcing the school to do so in order to join the league. In other words, building a great wrestling program while competing against schools located in wrestling-mad Iowa is probably neither a motivating factor nor a priority for NWU.

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Hope we get some NWU posters soon.

[wally_wabash]

On the bright side, the NCAA championship handbook will finally be correct when they include NWU in the membership. 

[doolittledog]

Hope we get some NWU posters soon.

I ran into an NWU fan today...it's not good news for you Rex 

[AO]

Logical D3 expansion would be to the north. UMAC member Northwestern, which is one of the two athletics powers in that league, could be a nice fit for the IIAC, since St. Paul is not all that far from the IIAC's five-school axis in northeastern Iowa and the Eagles would give the IIAC both a Twin Cities presence and a fairly solid competitor. And from Northwestern's point of view, the IIAC would be a step up from the UMAC, although the travel would be worse.

If they change the name to the Northwestern Athletic Conference it might be attractive?   Maybe if this expansion also brought in a couple more Minnesota programs the travel would make sense?  In the meantime I'm hopeful UW-Superior is going to raise the level of competition in the UMAC.

[Gregory Sager]

For football?

[AO]

For football?

perhaps?  I'm sure they've noticed the early success St. Scholastica has achieved.   

[Gregory Sager]

Dude, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but UW-Superior isn't bringing back football. Not any time soon, at least. Wisconsin's state university system is in full retrenchment mode, to the tune of $300,000,000 over the next two years. The situation is so dire that UW-Oshkosh actually dropped two programs in April, men's soccer and men's tennis -- and UW-Oshkosh is in a much better position to handle athletics budget exigencies than is UW-Superior, given their huge disparity in student-fees revenue.

[Gregory Sager]

I borrowed this data from poster 5 Words Or Less on the IIAC men's basketball board:

Nebraska Wesleyan's current travel distances:
Briar Cliff – 154
College of St. Mary – 55
Concordia – 30
Dakota Wesleyan – 306
Doane – 28
Dordt – 197
Hastings – 107
Midland – 51
Morningside – 149
Mount Marty – 181
Northwestern – 192
11 schools = 1,450 total miles
Average = 132 miles

Nebraska Wesleyan's future travel distances:
Buena Vista – 360
Central – 235
Coe – 320
Dubuque – 390
Loras – 390
Luther – 390
Simpson – 210
Wartburg – 330
8 schools = 2,625 miles
Average = 328 miles

[AO]

Dude, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but UW-Superior isn't bringing back football. Not any time soon, at least. Wisconsin's state university system is in full retrenchment mode, to the tune of $300,000,000 over the next two years. The situation is so dire that UW-Oshkosh actually dropped two programs in April, men's soccer and men's tennis -- and UW-Oshkosh is in a much better position to handle athletics budget exigencies than is UW-Superior, given their huge disparity in student-fees revenue.

Isn't Superior worried about enrollment?  I'd think it would be a money maker for them, but yeah it will be a few years before they think about it.