Future of Division III

[Ralph Turner]

As per your link in The Senior Reports, I have not heard of any schools seeking exploratory status.

Doane NE, Hastings NE and Concordia NE seemed to have pulled their names off the D-III table. William Jewell MO went D-II.  Berry Ga and Covenant GA went D-III.  I am waiting to see whether Berry joins the SCAC or the GSAC.

PSU-Abington is in the NEAC.  I would have expected a few more PSU system campuses to join Abington and Harrisburg in the NEAC.

UNO is still looking for a D-III home. I am sure they will working the coffee breaks at the ASC Presidents Meeting next month.  Centenary LA is on board with the ASC with its time line to be determined by the NCAA.

[RFMichigan]

Doane NE, Hastings NE and Concordia NE seemed to have pulled their names off the D-III table. William Jewell MO went D-II.  Berry Ga and Covenant GA went D-III.  I am waiting to see whether Berry joins the SCAC or the GSAC.

Do you have any ideas/thoughts why the Nebraska schools would seek exploratory status (or whatever the formal title is called) and then decide not to go dIII and stay NAIA? Why might they have looked into dIII in the first place?
I'm curious especially about Concordia.

[Just Bill]

As rumored, DePauw has accepted an invitation to join the NCAC.

http://www.depauw.edu/ath/news.asp?ID=25449

[Tacttm1]

With the DePauw shift, some people have asked me if that would create an opening for the University of New Orleans.  I replied that I still don't believe UNO to be a good fit with the SCAC based on size and location.  Am I right, not-so-right or all wet??

[hickory_cornhusker]

I don't know that part of the country as well as the Midwest area but from an outsider looking in I would agree that New Orleans is not a good fit in the SCAC. With Centenary coming in also the situation that would make the most sense is New Orleans to the American Southwest and Centernary to the SCAC. Centenary fits in much better with the SCAC than New Orleans.

[roocru]

Article from the NCAA

DIII  Takes Its Message to the Media

http://ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2010/division+iii/diii+takes+its+message+to+the+media_06_08_10_ncaa_news

[radiodavel]

THE SENIOR REPORTS - DePauw Joins North Coast Athletic Conference

www.theseniorreports.com/naiad2.htm

looks like a good move for DePauw

[Ralph Turner]

THE SENIOR REPORTS - DePauw Joins North Coast Athletic Conference

www.theseniorreports.com/naiad2.htm

looks like a good move for DePauw

Front page story

http://www.d3hoops.com/

Notables --D3football.com

[Ron Boerger]

I don't know that part of the country as well as the Midwest area but from an outsider looking in I would agree that New Orleans is not a good fit in the SCAC. With Centenary coming in also the situation that would make the most sense is New Orleans to the American Southwest and Centernary to the SCAC. Centenary fits in much better with the SCAC than New Orleans.

Centenary has already applied for and been accepted into the ASC.   I believe they made overtures to the SCAC but were rebuffed due to the conference being as large as it wanted to be.  No doubt things might be different if they were talking today. 

UNO is a terrible fit for the SCAC and even with DePauw's departure would not be a suitable candidate.

[Ralph Turner]

I don't know that part of the country as well as the Midwest area but from an outsider looking in I would agree that New Orleans is not a good fit in the SCAC. With Centenary coming in also the situation that would make the most sense is New Orleans to the American Southwest and Centernary to the SCAC. Centenary fits in much better with the SCAC than New Orleans.

Centenary has already applied for and been accepted into the ASC.   I believe they made overtures to the SCAC but were rebuffed due to the conference being as large as it wanted to be.  No doubt things might be different if they were talking today.  

UNO is a terrible fit for the SCAC and even with DePauw's departure would not be a suitable candidate.

What I fear will happen is that Centenary will spend its provisional years in the ASC, possibly from the 2011-12 academic year thru 2014-15.

During those years, new Centenary President David Rowe will effectively lead the institution back to what most D-III purists can accept as a private liberal arts institution, especially in the eyes of Centenary's academic peers, the Associated Colleges of the South.  Sometime around 2015 or 2016, Centenary will be re-assessed favorably by the presidents of the SCAC. (Wouldn't that be called interlocking directorates in the business world?)

Then, Centenary will be extended an invitation to take their football team and athletic program to the SCAC, and another team will have left the ASC.

[Ron Boerger]

That's a long time for the SCAC to hold a slot for Centenary.  I think they might take a Berry (esp. if they say they'll start FB) or maybe UDallas to get back to where they are today in most sports.

And, of course, if Hendrix would get off the pot and get their football program going, that would eliminate the short-term need to look for another FB school to take DPU's place.   They are just finishing up a $100M fundraiser (after increasing the original $70M goal) - maybe once that's done they'll get the football program back on track.  I sent Dr. Cloyd an e-mail on the topic earlier this week - unlikely I'll get a response (and he's out right now), but you never know.  Maybe Pat can work his magic there.

[Pat Coleman]

It's probably time for an official follow-up with Hendrix. It's a really busy summer with the transition to Presto but I'll see what I can do.

[radiodavel]

There must have been some schools who applied for D3,,,NCAA refuses to tell me how many...they insist that I wait until the process has been completed...

[Ralph Turner]

From a blog by NAIA guru Jason Dannelly,

...

The changing of conferences and divisions has created a ripple effect in the NAIA. Virginia-Wise joining the Mid South reduced the number of members of the Appalachian Athletic Conference for the upcoming year. Covenant also appears to be leaving the AAC for NCAA DIII and King College will be moving to NCAA DII. Montreat College is unsure of what its future in the conference might be. The school located in Montreat, N.C. is a school stuck between a rock and a hard place as they try to determine what is best for their institution overall. The school recently announced they will move away from awarding athletic scholarships and are contemplating a move to NCAA DIII. The potential moves in the conference could take the AAC from ten this last season to six in the near future.
...

Distances from Montreat to ...

Three miles off I-40 and 15 miles from Asheville NC, they are between the GSAC and the USA South.

We can look for their name on the exploratory list this summer.

[dodgerwv]

Ralph,
That's an old posting on the NAIA/VSN site.  Montreat announced that they would stay in the NAIA last fall.  Kind of a shame.  That would be a great fit in the Great South.

http://www.montreat.edu/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/3615/ItemID/858/Default.aspx