Future of Division III

[NJRoyal137]

D1 Hartford is very likely to downgrade to DIII:

https://www.wtnh.com/news/news-8-exclusive/exclusive-could-the-university-of-hartford-downgrade-its-athletic-program/

Some highlights:

Only 22 schools make money off athletics

They are losing $13 million annually

This is very likely going to start a major shift of schools downgrading. I do wonder if the NCAA allows certain programs to maintain two D1 programs (likely m+w bb) and downgrade other programs in order to save money, otherwise there might not be too many D1 conferences left, especially when the Power 5 break off and form their own thing.

[Caz Bombers]

D1 Hartford is very likely to downgrade to DIII:

https://www.wtnh.com/news/news-8-exclusive/exclusive-could-the-university-of-hartford-downgrade-its-athletic-program/

Some highlights:

Only 22 schools make money off athletics

They are losing $13 million annually

This is very likely going to start a major shift of schools downgrading. I do wonder if the NCAA allows certain programs to maintain two D1 programs (likely m+w bb) and downgrade other programs in order to save money, otherwise there might not be too many D1 conferences left, especially when the Power 5 break off and form their own thing.

Maybe Hartford moves. "Very likely" is doing a lot of work in each sentence and represents an overstatement.

Also the "D1 in hoops, D3 in everything else" violates the hell out of the Dayton Rule and will be a complete non-starter for the D3 membership.

[NJRoyal137]

I dunno - between NIL, COVID, the G-League attracting high school players, Knight Commission, virtual education - among other issues facing the NCAA - we could see schools save try to considerable money by trimming athletics - either football or reclassifying completely.

We're in unprecedented times, the Dayton rule was not created with these challenges in mind. Nothing is written in stone, especially when money and power are at stake. I'm just saying you never know. 

[jknezek]

I dunno - between NIL, COVID, the G-League attracting high school players, Knight Commission, virtual education - among other issues facing the NCAA - we could see schools save try to considerable money by trimming athletics - either football or reclassifying completely.

We're in unprecedented times, the Dayton rule was not created with these challenges in mind. Nothing is written in stone, especially when money and power are at stake. I'm just saying you never know.

I don't think the Dayton rule is going anywhere. The current D3 membership seems pretty happy with the all in concept and they aren't likely to bend that to attract a bunch of new schools that want to drop out of D1 for most sports. There is no upside. And D3 is already the largest, by number of institutions, division in the NCAA.

Schools that want a half in, half out option are better off looking to create non-scholarship leagues inside D1. That way you have your basketball programs in a scholarship conference (or football plus whatever you need to balance it out for Title IX purposes), and your other sports in non-scholarship conferences. Get enough like minded schools within a close distance and it serves the same purpose, except having almost no shot at winning a DI national title.

if you want to go D3, you are going to need to be D3 across the board.

[Gregory Sager]

I dunno - between NIL, COVID, the G-League attracting high school players, Knight Commission, virtual education - among other issues facing the NCAA - we could see schools save try to considerable money by trimming athletics - either football or reclassifying completely.

We're in unprecedented times, the Dayton rule was not created with these challenges in mind. Nothing is written in stone, especially when money and power are at stake. I'm just saying you never know.

I don't think the Dayton rule is going anywhere. The current D3 membership seems pretty happy with the all in concept and they aren't likely to bend that to attract a bunch of new schools that want to drop out of D1 for most sports. There is no upside. And D3 is already the largest, by number of institutions, division in the NCAA.

Schools that want a half in, half out option are better off looking to create non-scholarship leagues inside D1. That way you have your basketball programs in a scholarship conference (or football plus whatever you need to balance it out for Title IX purposes), and your other sports in non-scholarship conferences. Get enough like minded schools within a close distance and it serves the same purpose, except having almost no shot at winning a DI national title.

if you want to go D3, you are going to need to be D3 across the board.

This. And it's not as though the idea of forming non-scholarship leagues inside D1 is some novel concept. Leagues like that already exist. For the Hartfords of the world, it's simply a matter of either getting into one or helping to start a new one with whatever other like-minded refugees from big-time D1 athletics they can find.

[NJRoyal137]

I dunno - between NIL, COVID, the G-League attracting high school players, Knight Commission, virtual education - among other issues facing the NCAA - we could see schools save try to considerable money by trimming athletics - either football or reclassifying completely.

We're in unprecedented times, the Dayton rule was not created with these challenges in mind. Nothing is written in stone, especially when money and power are at stake. I'm just saying you never know.

I don't think the Dayton rule is going anywhere. The current D3 membership seems pretty happy with the all in concept and they aren't likely to bend that to attract a bunch of new schools that want to drop out of D1 for most sports. There is no upside. And D3 is already the largest, by number of institutions, division in the NCAA.

Schools that want a half in, half out option are better off looking to create non-scholarship leagues inside D1. That way you have your basketball programs in a scholarship conference (or football plus whatever you need to balance it out for Title IX purposes), and your other sports in non-scholarship conferences. Get enough like minded schools within a close distance and it serves the same purpose, except having almost no shot at winning a DI national title.

if you want to go D3, you are going to need to be D3 across the board.

This. And it's not as though the idea of forming non-scholarship leagues inside D1 is some novel concept. Leagues like that already exist. For the Hartfords of the world, it's simply a matter of either getting into one or helping to start a new one with whatever other like-minded refugees from big-time D1 athletics they can find.

All fair points. There is going to be some change no matter what, will be fascinating to watch. I just hope we see schools invest more in the marketing and content around their D3 programs in the future.

[Ron Boerger]

All fair points. There is going to be some change no matter what, will be fascinating to watch. I just hope we see schools invest more in the marketing and content around their D3 programs in the future.

So it's interesting.  I've been following D3 for basically 25 years now and there *has* been a definite increase in marketing and certainly online presence among the schools I follow.   I've also had the pleasure of watching a couple of schools make the D1 -> D3 transition (Birmingham Southern and Centenary(LA)) and those schools have retained a more D1-like presence from a marketing perspective (not huge but the difference is noticeable vs. at least some D3 schools).   

The schools that are having athletic success are realizing that they can have more success recruiting with a more professional presence, and are stepping up their online and social media efforts where spending a relatively few dollars can have a significant return and give them a presence they can't get from media who prefer covering pro and scholarship sports. 

[Pat Coleman]

Those are the two that have done it -- there have been others that have explored it, too, and have not gone through. Tulane talked about it publicly and others have explored it but it has not leaked out, I don't think (Lafayette and Winthrop are names which have crossed my proverbial desk).

It'll be interesting. Hartford is a fair amount bigger than Centenary and B-SC.

[NJRoyal137]

All fair points. There is going to be some change no matter what, will be fascinating to watch. I just hope we see schools invest more in the marketing and content around their D3 programs in the future.

So it's interesting.  I've been following D3 for basically 25 years now and there *has* been a definite increase in marketing and certainly online presence among the schools I follow.   I've also had the pleasure of watching a couple of schools make the D1 -> D3 transition (Birmingham Southern and Centenary(LA)) and those schools have retained a more D1-like presence from a marketing perspective (not huge but the difference is noticeable vs. at least some D3 schools).   

The schools that are having athletic success are realizing that they can have more success recruiting with a more professional presence, and are stepping up their online and social media efforts where spending a relatively few dollars can have a significant return and give them a presence they can't get from media who prefer covering pro and scholarship sports.

I need to look around more, but Tufts LAX, Ithaca, ETBU, Amherst, UC Santa Cruz has a great presence. I want to see A LOT more of that

[Hawks88]

I forget what year it was but remember Univ. of New Orleans announced they were going D3 and starting football and there was actually a game against them on our schedule for a short time that spring before some of their big donors shut the idea down.

[Caz Bombers]

I forget what year it was but remember Univ. of New Orleans announced they were going D3 and starting football and there was actually a game against them on our schedule for a short time that spring before some of their big donors shut the idea down.

late '00s probably, it was the effects of Katrina that nearly wiped them out of D1. They were going D3, then D2 (had been accepted to the Gulf South Conference), then picked up the Southland Conference invite that allowed them to remain in Division I.

[Ron Boerger]

In 2004 there was an article in the Houston Chronicle recommending Rice take the D3 route but I don't know if the school ever seriously considered the possibility.   According to this 2017 Chronicle article, it was a number of possible alternatives put on the table, none of which were apparently pursued.

[Gregory Sager]

In 2004 there was an article in the Houston Chronicle recommending Rice take the D3 route but I don't know if the school ever seriously considered the possibility.   According to this 2017 Chronicle article, it was a number of possible alternatives put on the table, none of which were apparently pursued.

It would've been interesting to see what would've happened if Rice had considered the change after the massive shakeup a little over a decade ago that made the SCAC a Texas-centric conference and the newly-minted SAA a more southeastern-oriented conference centered around former SCAC members. There are certainly more options for a wealthy and high-academic-cachet university such as Rice to find a D3 league "nearby" (in Texas, the word "nearby" ought to always be put in quotes ) containing schools that have a somewhat similar academic profile than there were before.

[Gregory Sager]

Those are the two that have done it -- there have been others that have explored it, too, and have not gone through. Tulane talked about it publicly and others have explored it but it has not leaked out, I don't think (Lafayette and Winthrop are names which have crossed my proverbial desk).

We gave the possibility of Tulane converting to D3 a lot of play here on d3boards.com back when it was a live topic, although that was fueled to some degree by the fact that David Collinge, a Tulane Law School alumnus, was heavily involved on d3boards.com back then.

Winthrop wouldn't have been much of a story, because it's not a school that's ever drawn a lot of attention, and the USA South has schools that are fairly close to Winthrop's profile. But Lafayette? That's a high-profile institution (the northeastern-centric nature of American higher education is partly responsible for that) that is not only essentially a NESCAC school that is slightly geographically misplaced, it's also a school that enjoys being half of the most heavily-played head-to-head series in all of college football (Lafayette vs. Lehigh, better known as "The Rivalry"). If Lafayette had chucked The Rivalry and gone D3 -- where it would've been a highly-prized addition to any of several conferences, although I'm guessing that the Landmark Conference would've been the frontrunner -- it would've been major news.

[hickory_cornhusker]

In 2004 there was an article in the Houston Chronicle recommending Rice take the D3 route but I don't know if the school ever seriously considered the possibility.   According to this 2017 Chronicle article, it was a number of possible alternatives put on the table, none of which were apparently pursued.

It would've been interesting to see what would've happened if Rice had considered the change after the massive shakeup a little over a decade ago that made the SCAC a Texas-centric conference and the newly-minted SAA a more southeastern-oriented conference centered around former SCAC members. There are certainly more options for a wealthy and high-academic-cachet university such as Rice to find a D3 league "nearby" (in Texas, the word "nearby" ought to always be put in quotes ) containing schools that have a somewhat similar academic profile than there were before.

Nearby isn't even necessary for them. Rice and Tulane are UAA type schools I don't know if Rice and/or Tulane went D3 they would want to (Johns Hopkins doesn't want to) or the UAA would even have wanted them but they would fit right in.