FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[GoldandBlueBU]

Congrats to Bethel University Royals All-Americans Dawson Brown and Kyle Kilgore on receiving rookie minicamp invitations from the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings!

Very cool! I hadn't heard that.  They've had a number of guys go to Vikings rookie minicamps, but not other teams, at least that I know of.

[OzJohnnie]

More St. Thomas coverage from the Fargo/Moorhead area.

https://www.inforum.com/sports/1013427-MIAC-decision-weighing-heavily-on-St.-Thomas-and-its-fans

Concordia baseball coach Chris Coste was asked if he felt St. Thomas belongs in the MIAC.

"Sure. I don't know all the situations," Coste said. "On the baseball side of things, I really like their coach and always love playing against their program."

[USTBench]

Statement from the UST AD:

I am grateful for the opportunity to return to St. Thomas as the Vice President and Director of Athletics. As a former student-athlete, it's a privilege for me and my wife, Dani, who is also an alumna, to be back on campus in St. Paul.

Steve Fritz has built a successful athletics program based on values and integrity, neither of which will be compromised moving forward. While we have a very proud past, one that should and will be celebrated, we have an equally as bright – if not even brighter – future. Our program will be built around the pursuit and accomplishment of comprehensive excellence: in the classroom, engaging with our community, building and operating with character and of course in competition.

In my short time on campus I can attest that our coaches are among the best that I've ever worked with, at any level, and I am optimistic that we'll continue to celebrate success together in the future. Their level of character and interest in building high-performance cultures should make you all very proud.

As you may be aware, there are ongoing conversations around the stability and continuity of MIAC membership, and our place in particular. We have great respect for the history of the league and are taking these conversations very seriously.

Rest assured that, regardless of outcome, our commitment to student-athlete welfare, responsibility to represent the broader institution, and the pursuit of excellence will not waiver. Our resolve around committing to high standards (in all aspects of comprehensive excellence) will not relinquish – St. Thomas will always be St. Thomas.

More than anything today, we need your support as ambassadors for our program and advocates for our student-athletes. 

Thank you for what you have done to provide the support and resources needed to ensure a strong reputation and infrastructure that create conditions for success. While there may be a few obstacles in our future, St. Thomas has long prided itself on an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, capturing opportunities to leverage on past successes for future possibilities.

-Phil Esten, Vice President and Director of Athletics

tl/dr: We're taking the rest of the MIAC's concerns seriously, but, like, we're still going to try.

[OzJohnnie]

The worst thing about this whole shemozzle?  STO are doing everything they can to prove Ole's suck harder than Tommies.  And they're succeeding.  100 years of true blue suckitude and rivalry shot down.

[TheChucker]

Not sure if Reusse is just stirring the pot for more clicks or if this MIAC issue is warming up...

Per Tweet: "Keep getting this message in whispers from behind-the-scenes: Anti-St. Thomas presidents have the nine of 13 votes needed & still plan to boot Tommies from MIAC in near future. School presidents also have issued warnings to employees to not talk to media."

https://mobile.twitter.com/Patrick_Reusse/status/1122868674799468546

[Gregory Sager]

The worst thing about this whole shemozzle?  STO are doing everything they can to prove Ole's suck harder than Tommies.  And they're succeeding.  100 years of true blue suckitude and rivalry shot down.

At least it's likely that the Oles know the difference between "waver" and "waiver". 

[GoldandBlueBU]

At least it's likely that the Oles know the difference between "waver" and "waiver". 

Is this a waver?

[Gregory Sager]

"Now, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could wave like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was goin' somewhere, I was wavin'!"

[Mr.MIAC]

The media are widely reporting that St. Olaf et al. cite UST's undergraduate enrollment as a reason for its expulsion from the MIAC. Why aren't the media calling BS on this point?

Here's the current DIII Director's Cup T-10. I've listed institutions with their undergraduate enrollments:

1. Johns Hopkins: 5,615
2. Williams: 2,052
3. Washington - St. Louis: 7,604
4. Middlebury: 2,526
5. Chicago: 6,286
6. MIT: 4,602
7. Amherst: 1,785
8. Tufts: 5,186
9. Wisconsin Eau Claire: 10,022
10. UST: 6,199

It's clear that institutions with smaller enrollments—Williams, Middlebury, and Amherst—can compete at the highest level of DIII athletics.  It's also clear that institutions with larger enrollments are common to DIII athletics, at least at the highest level. Most of the T-10 institutions have an undergraduate enrollment above 4,500.

You could argue that the national T-10 is irrelevant because enrollment advantages are felt at the conference level. I guess we would need data that indicate there are advantages that come with larger enrollments. I haven't seen any.

You could also argue that in-conference competitors should have similar enrollments. However, returning to the T-10, Williams, Middlebury, Amherst, and Tufts are in the same conference and no one is calling to expel Tufts. Johns Hopkins, Washington - St. Louis, Chicago, and MIT compete against plenty of smaller conference opponents and they aren't being asked to leave. It seems like there isn't an existing norm that calls for enrollment parity.

Again, why aren't the media calling BS on this cabal?

[wm4]

Again, why aren't the media calling BS on this cabal?

I think most of the reporting on this UST/MIAC issue has the goal of reporting what's happening and why, with little in the way of opinion or more in depth articles and research. 

[TheChucker]

The media are widely reporting that St. Olaf et al. cite UST's undergraduate enrollment as a reason for its expulsion from the MIAC. Why aren't the media calling BS on this point?

Here's the current DIII Director's Cup T-10. I've listed institutions with their undergraduate enrollments:

1. Johns Hopkins: 5,615
2. Williams: 2,052
3. Washington - St. Louis: 7,604
4. Middlebury: 2,526
5. Chicago: 6,286
6. MIT: 4,602
7. Amherst: 1,785
8. Tufts: 5,186
9. Wisconsin Eau Claire: 10,022
10. UST: 6,199
...

I don't have a comment on the enrollment issue (it isn't the only driver of the disparity). It's interesting that the list clearly illustrates the lead St. Thomas has in the MIAC (thus root of the controversy) in that it is the only school that actually competes nationally across the spectrum of sports. For example, the NESCAC, UAA and WIAC all have multiple schools in the top 25 implying more parity in those conferences. MIT and Johns Hopkins appear to dominate their conferences like UST.

[AO]

Again, why aren't the media calling BS on this cabal?

I think most of the reporting on this UST/MIAC issue has the goal of reporting what's happening and why, with little in the way of opinion or more in depth articles and research.

Everything from Reusse and Izzo has been very critical of kicking out St. Thomas.

[Mr.MIAC]

Again, why aren't the media calling BS on this cabal?

I think most of the reporting on this UST/MIAC issue has the goal of reporting what's happening and why, with little in the way of opinion or more in depth articles and research.

Everything from Reusse and Izzo has been very critical of kicking out St. Thomas.

You're right in that people are being critical. I just don't hear them attacking the heart of St. Olaf and Company's argument.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Again, why aren't the media calling BS on this cabal?

I think most of the reporting on this UST/MIAC issue has the goal of reporting what's happening and why, with little in the way of opinion or more in depth articles and research.

Everything from Reusse and Izzo has been very critical of kicking out St. Thomas.

You're right in that people are being critical. I just don't hear them attacking the heart of St. Olaf and Company's argument.

While I'm firmly in the camp for keeping UST in the MIAC, I guess I don't see the logic of your point?  STO and others are certainly free to argue to argue that UST has too high of an undergrad enrollment for the MIAC.  You posted a list of a bunch of non-MIAC schools as a foundation for your position that UST isn't too big for the MIAC.  I don't believe that STO, or anyone else is arguing (at least out loud) that UST doesn't belong in D3, just that they've outgrown the MIAC.

Again, I prefer that UST stays, but I'm confused about how you're calling BS on the STO position on the basis of non-MIAC enrollments when the STO argument is based on MIAC schools?

[TheChucker]

Here's the summary of a 2015 study done on the D3 athletic success issue (pg. 114, https://www.academia.edu/27346598/Factors_for_Success_in_NCAA_Division_III_Athletics). I only scanned it, so read it at your leisure:

"The results suggest that a particular profile for success emerged in Division III athletics. Specifically, two types of institutions appear to maintain the greatest opportunity for athletic success: (a) institutions with large student-body populations, and (b) small highly selective institutions. Thus, of the four typologies (Bass, et. al., 2014), a disproportionate amount of academic elite institutions and large public institutions were successful when compared to liberal arts and mission-driven member institutions. Large public institutions such as those seen in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regularly boast student populations over 10,000, and acceptance rates over 75% (UWLAX, 2013; UWOSH, 2011; UWSP, n.d.). Historically, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, and the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point combined to win more than 70 national championships. Similar to institutions in the WIAC, member schools of the New England Small Colleges Athletic Conference (NESCAC) such as Williams College, Middlebury College, and Amherst College supported historically successful athletic programs (i.e., more than 75 national championships). However, unlike the WIAC institutions, NESCAC members regularly have student populations below 3,000, and  preserve acceptance rates between 10 and 20 percent (Amherst College, n.d.; Middlebury, n.d.; Williams, n.d.). Ultimately, it appears that in order to be athletically successful in Division III athletic competition, institutions can be large or selective, and there does not appear to be substantial opportunities for institutions that do not fall into one of these profiles. The findings of the current study illuminate the outcomes showcased in the previously  presented research by Lawrence and Li (2007) and Lawrence, et al. (2012)."