News sweep on DI

[tony]

A Billings Gazette sportswriter seems to like the idea of NDSU in the Big Sky and has said so in two separate articles. Since one link is already gone and the next one is only likely to be valid for a day or so, I'll just summarize: he says that NDSU might be accepted within the month (let's hope he's better informed than most sportswriters in the Fargo-Grand Forks area) and he is excited about the idea. In his first article, he points out that Northern Arizona and Sacramento State are against it and takes a mild shot at Wanless for pretending to have a soft spot for NDSU.

The Gazette also has a poll on their newspaper site asking whether SDSU and NDSU should be admitted to the Big Sky. 85% are in favor, 15% are not.

Ah yes, and finally, the Grand Forks Herald devotes another hand-wringing editorial on the dangers of UND "going DI-A" as if UND was in imminent danger of flinging themselves over the DI precipice. Here's the article:
Blah, blah, blah DI, blah (http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/news/opinion/4827426.htm)

[BisonInTexas]

Another fine piece of journalism from the Herald. Question: Who edits an editorial? Obviously no one. I am amazed that they even published this.

First, someone please tell Mr. Dennis that NDSU is not "going DI-A". They are moving up to DI. The football team is going to be DI-AA. There is no DI-A basketball, or hockey for that matter (you would think that someone living in Grand Forks would know this stuff). The affairs of Rutgers do not apply to anyone in the Big Sky Conference or the Mid-Continent or the Gateway or any other conference that plays DI-AA football. Their situation (a school with little athletic accomplishments living in the shadow of the Ivy League) is nowhere near indicative of NDSU's or UND's as it applies to DI status. NDSU will not have (nor does anyone in the previously mentioned conferences) a $40 million dollar athletic budget.

If the Herald wants to compare apples to apples, let's see a rundown of all of the scandals in the conferences that NDSU and UND would join in DI - the Big Sky, the Mid-Continent, the Gateway/Missouri Valley, the Horizon, etc. I don't know this for fact, but I suspect that it is no worse than what exists on the UND campus today. The editorial conveniently omits the Myron Allen issue.

As far as the "least scandal-prone" major sport of hockey, it is also the least participated major sport (how many DI hockey programs are there - 30 to 40?), and I would guess it is also one with a similar graduation rate to DI BB, if not worse. If anyone has seen a DI Hockey grad rate report (whether for UND or the NCAA as a whole), I would appreciate it posted here.

Here is a link that I found on the NCAA site for UND: http://www.ncaa.org/grad_rates/2002/d2-3/Rpt00494.html

I assume that the hockey program is in the "other" category as it is not listed separately (a "major" sport not listed ???). So it seems that their grad rate is 38%, unless that includes some other programs.

(As an aside, looking up the grad rates for 95-96, NDSU graduated 63% while UND graduated 55% - great job NDSU!).

Speaking of graduation rates, DI is better than DII, both for athletes and non-athletes (http://www.ncaa.org/news/2002/20020930/active/3920n01.html),
so that is also conveniently left out.

What (besides ignorance) is the impetus for this FUD being thrown periodically about DI scandals by the Herald? If UND says it is too expensive, fine, I can accept that, but please don't cry sour grapes because NDSU is moving forward with their plan.

I just can't stand this type of small-town, isolationist, "we don't want to be tainted by the big bad world" type of thinking. If you don't want scandal at your institution, fine, take the steps necessary to make sure it doesn't happen. If it does happen, make sure that it doesn't happen again. But please don't blame it on being DI. There are a lot of scandal-free institutions that compete in DI and do it well and have no complaints.

Craig

edit info: Fixed some grammatical errors. I guess that reading Herald editorials lessens the ability to write correctly for a period of time.

[Guest]

Both articles are still there for a least a little while longer.

First article (http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2002/12/24/build/sports/tuestake.inc)

second (http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=2&display=rednews/2002/12/30/build/sports/fritz.inc)

Poll results show on both in lower left column.

[SDSUFAN]

With D1 hockey, the sport has a common place for athletes such as Myron Allen. *These hockey guys drift back and forth from college to minor league hockey until they are 30 years old and find out that they had their brains kicked in and no longer repairable and cant make in the NHL. Maybe that is why there is such a low graduation rate, too many head injuries.

Now if Myron had played hockey instead of basketball he would not have to worry about his professional basketball career with the ;D Beez.

[BisonInTexas]

A Billings Gazette sportswriter seems to like the idea of NDSU in the Big Sky and has said so in two separate articles. Since one link is already gone and the next one is only likely to be valid for a day or so, I'll just summarize: he says that NDSU might be accepted within the month (let's hope he's better informed than most sportswriters in the Fargo-Grand Forks area) and he is excited about the idea. In his first article, he points out that Northern Arizona and Sacramento State are against it and takes a mild shot at Wanless for pretending to have a soft spot for NDSU.

The Gazette also has a poll on their newspaper site asking whether SDSU and NDSU should be admitted to the Big Sky. 85% are in favor, 15% are not.


It's good to see support from some of the Montana media but I hope the writer is more informed on the expansion inclination of the Big Sky than he is of the scholarship levels for football in DII and DI-AA. I am interested to see the opinion of the media outlets actually situated in the Big Sky (i.e. Bozeman, Missoula, Portland, Spokane, Pocatello, Flagstaff, Ogden, and Sacramento).

Based on the poll choices, it sounds as if Northern Arizona and Sac State are not exactly revered members of the Big Sky, at least not in Montana.

Craig

[JBB]

BISON in Texas. Excellent post.

[Bisonguy]

BisonInTexas,

I second the very good post sentiment. btw, there are 60 schools that have a DI hockey program-LINK (http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/membership_svcs/sponssummary)-that's only 6 more than the prestigious sport of Lacrosse, but there are about 80 more Lacrosse schools in all divisions. ;D

[NDSU_grad]

I saw on another board where a UND guy said wrestling wouldn't be a college sport in something like 10 years. I think it's funny there are more wrestling programs than hockey programs in D1 athletics. And personally, I would rather watch a wrestling dual than a hockey game anyday. I should mention that I have been living in Iowa for a year and a half, though.

[BisonInTexas]

I saw on another board where a UND guy said wrestling wouldn't be a college sport in something like 10 years. I think it's funny there are more wrestling programs than hockey programs in D1 athletics. And personally, I would rather watch a wrestling dual than a hockey game anyday. I should mention that I have been living in Iowa for a year and a half, though.

Unfortunately, Title IX is effectively eliminating non-revenue men's sports. College wrestling is becoming an endangered species. However, I don't see the number of hockey programs increasing either - the cost is too high to start up a program (or two to comply with Title IX).

I was thinking of the Herald editorial today (again-that has still got me spun up! Then again I should never be surprised at the drivel that the Herald produces) and found it ironic that the Herald would call attention to Rutgers, the home of the two professors that proposed a 600,000 mile "Buffalo Commons" between the 100th meridian and the Rockies back in 1989, since the Great Plains was so sparsely populated. They wanted to just move everybody out and restore it to its 18th century glory. Another example of how NDSU and SDSU have nothing in common with Rutgers.

Craig

[BisonMav]

Looks like UND will be moving to DI in the near future. This came from a article on one of UND's recruits from Winnipeg. Confirms why Lennon did not take the Sac St job.


"Lennon came to Winnipeg and had dinner at the Alexander household. He also told his recruit that the blueprints for an indoor practice facility have been drawn up and a move up to Division I could happen within the next three years."

[BisonMav]

Something behind the UND DI talk? Hockey may be the driving force. Got this from the UND board.

WCHA, CHA Autobids in Jeopardy
by Adam Wodon/Columnist

The WCHA and CHA could lose their automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, beginning in 2004, under new rules clarified at the January NCAA Convention in Indianapolis.

The Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee was recently advised of the news by NCAA Director of Championships Tom Jacobs, during their most recent regularly-scheduled conference call.

Section 31.3.4.2 of the NCAA manual says, "To be considered eligible for automatic qualification, a member conference (including a single-sport conference) must include six core institutions that satisfy continuity of membership. For the purposes of this legislation, core refers to an institution that has been an active member of Division I the eight preceding years."

In other words, the WCHA and CHA do not have six all-sport Division I schools, as now required to receive an automatic bid.

The rule was implemented to discourage all-sport conferences from splitting in half, and therefore getting two automatic bids. However, its effect on the WCHA and CHA were made clear at the NCAA convention, and, as it stands, those conferences will not be grandfathered in.

College hockey could have been blindsided had the issue not come to light after the MAAC had approached the NCAA for clarification on a related matter.

According to sources, Robert Morris, Rhode Island and Navy have all recently inquired about upgrading their hockey programs to Division I varsity status, and joining the MAAC. This prompted the MAAC to consider the possibility of splitting in half.

MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor approached the NCAA Championships Cabinet about the ramifications of such a move, and its implications on automatic bids.

In so doing, the NCAA informed the hockey community of its interpretation of the new rule, and its effect on the WCHA and CHA.

Of the 10 current WCHA teams, only Michigan Tech, Minnesota and Wisconsin are full-fledged Division I schools. In the CHA, only two of the six — Air Force and Niagara — are D-I institutions.

Said Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna, the NCAA did not set out to harm ice hockey. This circumstance, he said, is just an unfortunate by-product of the shift in NCAA philosophy in recent years, towards an emphasis on Division I all-sport conferences.

"There's no villain here. The system as it is set up simply doesn't work well for who we are," Bertagna said.

There are 50 schools that have chosen to "play up" to Division I in some sport. Twenty-five of those are in ice hockey. A full 42 percent (25 of 60) of the Division I ice hockey schools are not all-sport Division I institutions.

Other examples of this: The NCAA only allows representatives from full D-I schools, or all-sport D-I conferences, to sit on committees. And only all-sport Division I conferences can propose legislation.

[tony]

Now, BisonMav, just because something is bad for UND doesn't mean that Bison fans necessarily have to act happy about it.

I haven't heard much about DI from Grand Forks (don't listen to their pet jackass, Eddie) except that Dale Lennon was telling recruits that UND could go DI in three years.

[mojobison]

Why the heck not? Maybe when they stop talking out of both sides of their asses, they'll get some respect.

[WYOBISONMAN]

Poor UND.......I feel so bad for them...................NOT!!!!
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[siouxrock]

there is 60 d-1 hockey teams and r of those r d-2 schools in other sports. UND has teh best program out of all of them.