FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[AO]

I really don't see the WIAC happening. Way too many differences in strut

I have nothing to base this on, but I suspect the reason the whole vote was squashed in April was for UST to get their ducks in a row and set a glide path out of the MIAC. There probably had been some planning on it previously, but unlikely that they were ready to move so soon. I would anticipate this to be a lengthy departure (2 -4 years). If the MIAC isn't willing to do that, the school Presidents in the C.O.L may find themselves in a court tussle. Taking Auggie's (not the C.O.L Augie) spot in the NSIC seems most probable if there were odds on this thing.

I don't think the vote was squashed in April, that was just a teleconference to discuss it.  I really doubt any of the Presidents would have a problem letting the Tommies play 2 more years. 

[Mr.MIAC]

Just checking in. I'm currently in the Caribbean, sitting at the bar where Jimmy Buffett wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise. I might be partaking in a few too many Carib beers, but don't tell my wife. #postpatternsgoestropical

[wm4]

Just checking in. I'm currently in the Caribbean, sitting at the bar where Jimmy Buffett wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise. I might be partaking in a few too many Carib beers, but don't tell my wife. #postpatternsgoestropical

Is Chicago Tommie there with you too??

[Mr.MIAC]

Just checking in. I'm currently in the Caribbean, sitting at the bar where Jimmy Buffett wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise. I might be partaking in a few too many Carib beers, but don't tell my wife. #postpatternsgoestropical

Is Chicago Tommie there with you too??

No. I'm still allowed on premises, which is a clue that he's absent.

[Pat Coleman]

Pat Coleman makes the Star Tribune!
http://www.startribune.com/if-miac-drops-st-thomas-the-tommies-options-are-complicated/509992312/

I've met that guy before... still have his autograph on a Wheaties cereal box.

My apologies for devaluing your box like that.

[gbpuckfan]

My take is that those recruited by WIAC schools in MN are from a bit different pool than those recruited by MIAC schools. Private, high cost college vs Public, lower cost schools. I also think, as I've stated before, St Thomas would like to keep its niche as an academically more elite college than a public college, whose mission is to educate a larger more diverse group. Without looking closely, I would also guess that WIAC colleges have a wider choice of majors than does UST and other MIAC schools.

Yeah, they're just different. I don't see it happening. Besides, WIAC has long functioned as a brand extension of the UW education system as a whole, not just a cluster of sports teams. There would be multi-level resistance.

True, but...

The WIAC needs some help. It needs another football game. It could use (hard to say need, IMO) another hockey team. UST would be stiff competition in many sports, true. If all were perfect for the WIAC, it could simply ignore such discussion. Personally, I think UST helps them and might be worthwhile to add.

UST needs a place to go. The Midwest Conference isn't an option, due to distance. Guessing the UMAC isn't interested in playing the Tommies regularly. And travel to the American Rivers seems unlikely, too. If it wants to be D3, the WIAC is arguably the best option.

The WIAC has had "outsiders" in conference before, such as Lawrence, Finlandia, and now Northland. And although they picked up their puck and left SNC and CSS for hockey, a full-fledged member could be different.

And, in a world where the SEC includes a team in Missouri, and the Big Ten has 14 teams (plus 2 affiliates), a Minnesota team playing in the WIAC doesn't seem a big deal. It's all just branding.

[Gregory Sager]

The WIAC needs some help. It needs another football game. It could use (hard to say need, IMO) another hockey team.

... and again, as I said a day or so ago, the WIAC could also use another baseball program as well.

My take is that those recruited by WIAC schools in MN are from a bit different pool than those recruited by MIAC schools. Private, high cost college vs Public, lower cost schools. I also think, as I've stated before, St Thomas would like to keep its niche as an academically more elite college than a public college, whose mission is to educate a larger more diverse group. Without looking closely, I would also guess that WIAC colleges have a wider choice of majors than does UST and other MIAC schools.

Yeah, they're just different. I don't see it happening. Besides, WIAC has long functioned as a brand extension of the UW education system as a whole, not just a cluster of sports teams. There would be multi-level resistance.

UST needs a place to go. The Midwest Conference isn't an option, due to distance.

Not simply distance. The MWC is very much the sort of league that operates with the high-academic-cachet mindset of Carleton and Macalester, to the point where it has traditionally self-restricted its membership to play fewer games, conduct shorter seasons with regard to practices, curb off-campus recruiting activity for coaches, etc., than the rest of D3 allows. Of course you know that, being a SNC fan, but it bears repeating.

If people think that the rest of the MIAC has troubles with UST, they can't even begin to imagine the horror-stricken looks on the faces of people at Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, etc. at the thought of UST joining their ranks.

The American Rivers Conference would be a satisfactory alternative landing spot for UST, I think, but that would add a lot of travel to a league that just recently added another member that expanded the league's geographic footprint in a completely different direction (Nebraska Wesleyan), so I have a hard time imagining the ARC being willing to extend itself even more.

The WIAC has had "outsiders" in conference before, such as Lawrence, Finlandia, and now Northland. And although they picked up their puck and left SNC and CSS for hockey, a full-fledged member could be different.

Yes, it's important to stress that there is a difference between affiliate members that are a part of the WIAC on a sport-by-sport basis, essentially just to fill out the league to get it to the seven-member AQ minimum, and an actual full member. UST would be seeking to become the first-ever full member that isn't a part of the University of Wisconsin system.

And, in a world where the SEC includes a team in Missouri, and the Big Ten has 14 teams (plus 2 affiliates), a Minnesota team playing in the WIAC doesn't seem a big deal. It's all just branding.

True dat. Trine is a full member of the MIAA (Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association), and it's located in Indiana rather than Michigan. And before Trine joined, Ohio-based Defiance was a full member of the MIAA. And Guilford is a member of the ODAC (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) despite being located in North Carolina rather than Virginia; Virginia's state nickname is "the Old Dominion".

[gbpuckfan]

Yes, it's important to stress that there is a difference between affiliate members that are a part of the WIAC on a sport-by-sport basis, essentially just to fill out the league to get it to the seven-member AQ minimum, and an actual full member. UST would be seeking to become the first-ever full member that isn't a part of the University of Wisconsin system.

===

Well, back in the early days of women's sports, Ripon, Carthage, Marquette, and Carroll were full members of the WIAC's predecessor conference, the WWIAC. That is, arguably, ancient history, of course. But it has happened...

https://wiacsports.com/sports/2010/7/29/GEN_0729100843.aspx

[OzJohnnie]

It just occurred to me that I don't think we saw a date on the Auggie Pres' email.  We assumed it was recent, but it may not have been.  It may have been sent previously to the last meeting which seemed to have a "Let the Tommies Stay" feel.  Perhaps the stayers managed to take the day after all.

[Pat Coleman]

  It may have been sent previously to the last meeting which seemed to have a "Let the Tommies Stay" feel. 

I know this was a popular interpretation of the MIAC's statement, but I did not read it that way. I explained in a previous post, but you could read that exact same statement to say the conversation was continuing and would be on the agenda at the next presidents' meeting.

[OzJohnnie]

  It may have been sent previously to the last meeting which seemed to have a "Let the Tommies Stay" feel. 

I know this was a popular interpretation of the MIAC's statement, but I did not read it that way. I explained in a previous post, but you could read that exact same statement to say the conversation was continuing and would be on the agenda at the next presidents' meeting.

I agree that it wasn't clear.  Who ever wrote it majored in fence sitting, that's for sure.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

  It may have been sent previously to the last meeting which seemed to have a "Let the Tommies Stay" feel. 

I know this was a popular interpretation of the MIAC's statement, but I did not read it that way. I explained in a previous post, but you could read that exact same statement to say the conversation was continuing and would be on the agenda at the next presidents' meeting.

Exactly, and there was no time line was set. Nothing was said to the effect that "we will resolve this at the next meeting and take a vote." In fact, the statement said the discussion would be continued at future meetingS (emphasis mine)---note the plural.  Also, going back to the first column by Reusse, the by-law change would be approved at one meeting, and action resulting form that change would happen at a future meeting. Presumably, it would be a two-step process.

[Gregory Sager]

Well, back in the early days of women's sports, Ripon, Carthage, Marquette, and Carroll were full members of the WIAC's predecessor conference, the WWIAC. That is, arguably, ancient history, of course. But it has happened...

https://wiacsports.com/sports/2010/7/29/GEN_0729100843.aspx

Interesting. I didn't know that. Of course, women's athletics on the college level was a very different creature back then than it is today. Lots of schools didn't even have intercollegiate athletics for women in that era.

[BDB]

FWIW, only a few years ago in football the WIAC made each team schedule another conference team twice in a season.  One game that counted in the standings and one that didn't. Fortunately that concept didn't last.
Don't discount the desire for another conference team is all I'm saying.

[OzJohnnie]

There was a national election tonight in Australia and as we were watching the wrap up a reporter on one of the news channels provided his summary of the evening from the losing side’s very gloomy headquarters... yes he said this on TV:

“As they say, ‘Winners are grinners and losers can go please themselves.’ “

And yes that phrase means exactly what you suspect it may mean in terms of self gratification.  Sometimes this country still makes me laugh.