SCBlueLiner
Registered User
- Dec 27, 2013
- 327
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Oh, I know about NDSU, but that's not to say things can't change in 10 years. Minn State Moorhead is more likely, and they couldn't pull the trigger a few years ago.
Realistically, the best bets are gonna by P5 schools or small, rich privates
Rhode Island has Division 1 football. It's an FCS program and not an FBS program. They are in the CAA, which is one of the better FCS conferences in the country, so just because they have a poor record does not mean it is a trash program. That would be akin to calling Rutgers football program trash. Well, maybe not a good example, but like Rutgers, I would say they have a decent football team but just play in a tough conference.
If you dump the football program there will be a ripple effect of negative consequences. It isn't that simple to just drop football and add hockey. They should be looking at how they elevate the performance of their football program AND add hockey. I don't understand the world today, always looking at cutting things just because they are difficult instead of trying to achieve greatness.
trust me, I went there. The football team is crap. And it wont have negative consequences at URI.
URI is a basketball school, not football. Basketball gets the attention and donor base going. Football is an economic anchor for the athletic dept.
They only draw ~4k per game and its been at that level for ages. The conference is not why the program is awful, 3 year over 500 out of 30 is a program wide issue. Especially since they were doormats in the old Yankee and A10 conferences too.
Really, if the current AD Thorr Bjorn wasnt such a big football guy the program may already be gone
A downtown arena in Champaign would be needed but that is being worked on as well:
A new arena in downtown Champaign?
We are excited to share the results of our feasibility study and continue advancing our efforts to bring Division I hockey to Champaign-Urbana," said Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman. "This is one of our most ambitious and potentially impactful projects in recent memory. Adding Division I hockey and building the new arena it would require would be transformative for the sport of hockey in the state of Illinois and for our university, our athletic program, and, importantly, for the Champaign-Urbana communities. We are grateful for the partnerships we have developed with the Chicago Blackhawks, the National Hockey League, and College Hockey, Inc., all of which have become true champions for this cause. We look forward to engaging with more people from across the state to generate the support necessary to make this project a reality."
NDSU has a nice 5000 seat arena in town but they won’t consider hockey because UND already owns the fan base. NDSU would get in the WCHA, but that is second class compared to the NCHC, so NDSU won’t attempt something that they can’t be better than UND.You are correct. It will be P5 schools the resources looking to expand their offerings, or just having a place to spend the rapidly increasing millions they make in TV revenue, these are non-profits after-all. The other move-ups will be small rich privates that are looking to find a niche and make a name for themselves. Impossible to do that in football. Basketball, difficult but doable. Hockey, much more attainable.
NDSU is focused on funding their relatively young D1 program and sustaining their football program. Hockey would suck up too many resources.
Sorry about that. I should know better, since BU did visit ASU for two games.
Here:
Just wanted to thank you for fixing the Clarkson-SLU(_) mixup in the first map.
The Illinois athletics director said during a media roundtable on Wednesday that he hopes to green-light a program by the end of the calendar year. Whitman said he is “increasingly confident” that Illinois has a feasible funding project and that he has received several “seven-figure” commitments for a downtown Champaign arena project that could cost $50-60 million.
Yea, that's the most promising thing I've ever heard regarding Illinois D1. Seems like he sees this as his legacy.Whitman's been a breath of competence for an athletic department where that hasn't been the norm, so this has definitely felt like something that he's been working towards. We'll see where it goes from here though, as there are a lot of areas where a project of this size could fall through.
Colin Likas wrote on August 17, 2018 at 12:08 pm
Hello, University of Illinois athletics fans. Welcome to the first of what could be many chats about Division I hockey in Champaign-Urbana.
We haven't had a true, official update on the sports's D-I future at Illinois since the March release of a feasibility study from Collegiate Consulting. But last night, we learned Josh Whitman met with potential donors at Urbana Country Club to discuss moving forward on the plan of establishing a D-I men's hockey program.