University of St. Thomas Approved for D1 Hockey

JMCx4

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NCAA Division I Council approves elevation of 22 sports programs, including men's & women's hockey, at the private university in St. Paul, MN.
 
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JMCx4

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From: University of St. Thomas
Dear St. Thomas community

Today, we received long-awaited news from the NCAA that St. Thomas has been approved to begin reclassification to Division I athletics. This announcement paves the way for our St. Thomas student-athletes, coaches, fans and community to build Minnesota’s first private D-I collegiate athletics program and just the second D-I program in the state.

St. Thomas is the first university that has been approved to transition directly to D-I from D-III in the modern history of the NCAA. This approval recognizes St. Thomas’ growing reputation and academic and athletic success and will help us expand our mission and impact beyond Minnesota.

With this news, we enthusiastically accept invitations to join the Summit League for 19 of our 22 sports, as well as the Pioneer Football League and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) women’s league. We also are excited about conference options for our men’s hockey program. ...

Read more at: https://www.stthomas.edu/athletics-future/
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
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Cool, nice to see some underrated secondary programmes step into the light and have their take at DI hockey like we've seen with LIU and now St. Thomas. So the thinking is they're going to eventually join the new CCHA conference?

I actually have a curious question, considering they were already in DIII and simply jumping to DI, do St. Thomas have to create a women's sport for Title XI?
 

JMCx4

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I reckon UST Athletics are playing it patiently re. a decision on the men's hockey team conference. Besides the uncertainties with the pandemic, the way I read the University release & related media stories is that the teams won't be jumping into DI competition in the coming season. There's work to be done, including establishing whatever changes that may be required to comply with Title IX.
 

Big Z Man 1990

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This could have a ripple effect on D-III athletics in general.

Knowing that St. Thomas was successfully able to transfer to D-I, other successful D-III schools could soon question their commitment to the D-III philosophy, and seek membership in D-II (as the Tommies were only approved for D-I due to extenuating circumstances).

Mount Union (in Alliance, OH, near where I live) and Wisconsin-Whitewater moving to D-II would be especially devastating for the conferences they'd leave behind. There are a number of D-II football schools in Ohio, all of which (except Central State) will be in the G-MAC as of 2021. Those schools could form a new conference around Mount Union.

Wisconsin-Whitewater would have a home if the Northern Sun Conference splits along state lines. The non-Minnesota schools in the conference (barring any that decide to move up to D1) could form the core for a new conference, and UWW would be a good fit for it. The WIAC would likely have to invite its first full-time private member to replace them, with St. Norbert being my top candidate.

The NSIC could potentially poach some of the remaining schools of the MIAC, with Concordia-Moorhead, Gustavus Adolphus, and St. John's/St. Benedict being the most attractive candidates to join a reorganized NSIC based exclusively in Minnesota.
 

JMCx4

Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Sep 3, 2017
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... I actually have a curious question, considering they were already in DIII and simply jumping to DI, do St. Thomas have to create a women's sport for Title XI?
As indicated in my OP, the existing women's & men's DIII hockey programs will each be elevated. No mention of adding a women's sports program or any other Athletics structure adjustments in this cautionary Star Tribune article from Jan 2020.
 
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Barclay Donaldson

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I reckon UST Athletics are playing it patiently re. a decision on the men's hockey team conference. Besides the uncertainties with the pandemic, the way I read the University release & related media stories is that the teams won't be jumping into DI competition in the coming season. There's work to be done, including establishing whatever changes that may be required to comply with Title IX.

Them waiting before jumping was a pre-COVID plan. This upcoming season is their final one before they are officially voted out of the conference so they couldn't leave sooner than that.
 
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Barclay Donaldson

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This could have a ripple effect on D-III athletics in general.

Knowing that St. Thomas was successfully able to transfer to D-I, other successful D-III schools could soon question their commitment to the D-III philosophy, and seek membership in D-II (as the Tommies were only approved for D-I due to extenuating circumstances).

Mount Union (in Alliance, OH, near where I live) and Wisconsin-Whitewater moving to D-II would be especially devastating for the conferences they'd leave behind. There are a number of D-II football schools in Ohio, all of which (except Central State) will be in the G-MAC as of 2021. Those schools could form a new conference around Mount Union.

Wisconsin-Whitewater would have a home if the Northern Sun Conference splits along state lines. The non-Minnesota schools in the conference (barring any that decide to move up to D1) could form the core for a new conference, and UWW would be a good fit for it. The WIAC would likely have to invite its first full-time private member to replace them, with St. Norbert being my top candidate.

The NSIC could potentially poach some of the remaining schools of the MIAC, with Concordia-Moorhead, Gustavus Adolphus, and St. John's/St. Benedict being the most attractive candidates to join a reorganized NSIC based exclusively in Minnesota.

St. Thomas was only able to do it because they essentially run most of their sports at a D1 level already and they were getting kicked out of their conference for being too good at everything. That isn't going to happen again. No school is running their athletics program like them. You're dreaming about unrealistic stuff, we keep it realistic and logical here.
 

Barclay Donaldson

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Where've you been, @Barclay Donaldson? I'm dyin' in this thread. :eek:

I was busy doing foreigner tasks. Undermining American culture, watching soccer, eating healthy.

I never played against them in college, but we did play in the same showcase tournament as them so I do not know much about them outside of their famous ejection from MIAC. This article brings up several excellent points we should be touching on instead of other schools that will never go NCAA D1 *cough cough*. Tommies men face conference, arena questions as move to Division I begins | Grand Forks Herald. They play 15 minutes off-campus at a school-owned facility that will certainly need to be replaced in the medium- to long-term to accommodate a sustainable men's hockey program.
 

Big Z Man 1990

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Jun 4, 2011
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Never rule anything out.

This isn't the first time a school has moved from D-III to a higher level of play. It's going to continue to happen over the years. Many times schools that have left D-III is because they were very successful in the level and sought a higher level of play. Some of today's D-I schools - like UNC Greensboro or UC-San Diego - were once successful D-III programs.
 

tealhockey

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I was busy doing foreigner tasks. Undermining American culture, watching soccer, eating healthy.

I never played against them in college, but we did play in the same showcase tournament as them so I do not know much about them outside of their famous ejection from MIAC. This article brings up several excellent points we should be touching on instead of other schools that will never go NCAA D1 *cough cough*. Tommies men face conference, arena questions as move to Division I begins | Grand Forks Herald. They play 15 minutes off-campus at a school-owned facility that will certainly need to be replaced in the medium- to long-term to accommodate a sustainable men's hockey program.
The MIAC was really a perfect storm of factors for St. Thomas. You have a very central, quality university with a strong emphasis on athletics (not necessarily true of the rest of the conference) as you noted and they are at least double the enrollment of everyone else. They were the 'big bad' when I went to a MIAC school, you always wanted to beat them. St John's were pretty good too if I recall correctly and they played at St. Cloud State.

D1 is a whole different ball game.
 
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GindyDraws

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St. Thomas may do alright in ice hockey.

Every other sport, however? Oof.

Division 1 is way different than D-III. Hell, there's plenty of schools (looking at Chicago State especially) that should go down due to not having any practical means of not making asses of themselves in any sport and the smaller budgets may be better. They'd lose out on those paydays where they go to a large school and get humiliated, but if you're a student athlete at these places, do you really need to feel like you're a lamb out to slaughter?
 

No Fun Shogun

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Good luck to them, but I do not envy the situation they're entering. Barring another split in WCHA ranks, they're going to be joining a very far flung conference in all likelihood.
 

Barclay Donaldson

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St. Thomas may do alright in ice hockey.

Every other sport, however? Oof.

Division 1 is way different than D-III. Hell, there's plenty of schools (looking at Chicago State especially) that should go down due to not having any practical means of not making asses of themselves in any sport and the smaller budgets may be better. They'd lose out on those paydays where they go to a large school and get humiliated, but if you're a student athlete at these places, do you really need to feel like you're a lamb out to slaughter?

It's all about the money invested in a program. NCAA D1 has schools like Holy Cross and Colgate competing with Boston University and University of Michigan. That school has a lot of donors who are very rich and a disproportionately large endowment. If they pump a even a decent amount of that money into the athletics program, they'll be more than competitive.
 

BOS358

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Mount Union (in Alliance, OH, near where I live) and Wisconsin-Whitewater

Two schools that don't have hockey, and therefore would have no impact on the sport whatsoever. This is as likely to happen as the Patriot League forming a conference or an expanded Beanpot.
 

Barclay Donaldson

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You're surprised by this? Clearly this is the first post by him that you've ever read...on second thought, you're lucky.

Unfortunately I have read things he has written. And after taking the forks out of my eyes, I responded with deserved criticism of his ideas, if that’s what you can call it. I have found with this particular user that criticism results in direct messages threatening me with violence. I chose to instead caution him this time. If that doesn’t work, I will donate to the closest charity to help the mentally feeble.
 
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Barclay Donaldson

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Good luck to them, but I do not envy the situation they're entering. Barring another split in WCHA ranks, they're going to be joining a very far flung conference in all likelihood.

The reformed CCHA starts the same time St. Thomas goes D1. They have two Minnesota schools in Bemidji State and Minnesota State-Mankato. Only seven members total. More than reasonable travel since UAF, UAA, and UAH will be discourse. The conference have been actively looking for an 8th member. I’m surprised they haven’t joined yet.
 
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JMCx4

Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
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The reformed CCHA starts the same time St. Thomas goes D1. They have two Minnesota schools in Bemidji State and Minnesota State-Mankato. Only seven members total. More than reasonable travel since UAF, UAA, and UAH will be discourse. The conference have been actively looking for an 8th member. I’m surprised they haven’t joined yet.
Probably just working out the final value & schedule of the "tribute payments" that St. Thomas will owe the other 7 teams. :yashin:

ETA: And what the heck does "UAF, UAA, and UAH will be discourse" mean? :huh:
 

Barclay Donaldson

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Probably just working out the final value & schedule of the "tribute payments" that St. Thomas will owe the other 7 teams. :yashin:

ETA: And what the heck does "UAF, UAA, and UAH will be discourse" mean? :huh:

I think I mean to say <<discluded>> and it auto corrected to <<discourse>> because <<discluded>> isn't a word LOL. English is difficult.
 

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