No surprise: St. Cloud State will remain DII-NSIC

[Mid-Con_Jack]

The St. Cloud newspaper reported St. Cloud will remain DII and apply for admission to the NSIC.

http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061213/NEWS01/112130033

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

Good choice. They have struggled in the NCC and it would be an unmitigated disaster if they tried to go D-I. Wow, what a mess that would be.

[southpaw]

They have struggled in the NCC

like that stopped other schools from going d1.

[TheBisonator]

They have a nice new football stadium that's a million times better then old Selke State Prison, but it still only seats 4,200. Never mind that their basketball arena isn't much better (if at all) than the BSA. And with less than 30 schollies right now for FB, it's a good decision for them.

I personally believe that between SCSU and MSU-Mankato, that Mankato has a theoretically better opportunity to make a move to DI. Their facilities are better, they have a nicer campus, and they aren't as close to the Twin Cities as St. Cloud is, so local fans won't just opt to follow the Gophers and shun the local college like St. Cloud residents do. Mankato is comparatively more isolated from the Twin Cities than St. Cloud. (I drive up and down I-94 all the time, and it's almost just one continuous suburb between them.) I think Mankato will opt to stay in DII, but I think once they upgrade Blakeslee Stadium and try to move the NSIC towards the DII max, they may revisit the issue in 10 years or so. Mankato is a fastly growing town, and Minnesota needs another DI school like humans need food and water.

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

Also, I believe that SCSU is pairing with the St. Cloud Riverbats (one of the better Northwoods League franchises) to build a new baseball stadium. Not that baseball is a big revenue generator.

[2006gwfcchamps]

Also, Mankato doesn't have a Saint John's 5 miles from campus.

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

Mankato is in a location that makes it ideal for making the D-I move if their athletic department can make the push to get into position to do it. They are only and hour from the southwest suburbs, but for whatever reason it is far enough away in the minds of most people from the Twin Cities that it could be successful. The area is also improving and growing and when I lived there for a while I really liked it.

[2006gwfcchamps]

I don't think they have enough money to make the move with football.

If they focus on bball and hockey, they could do well.

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

Agreed. D-II is clearly the appropriate level for SCSU.

[bisonranch]

MN St. would be the more ready to move to DI with their decent facilities, but of course for teams and fan support they've got a long way to go.

[IowaBisonToo]

I have to respectfully disagree with those that say SC couldn't make the jump to DI. *I'll go one further. *I believe SC would be in a better position - fundraising-wise than USD. *Yes, the new football stadium only holds 4500 but, it could be expanded. *It's in a nice area and at least it's on campus again.

Yes, Halenbeck needs work - badly! *I don't think they'd have to increase the number of seats but, they would still need to build a new arena. *To many issues with sight lines in that hole. *I remember both in high school and college sitting in the upper deck and not being able to see portions of the floor. *In terms of a following, there used to be a pretty good following for basketball. *Ever since they went DI in hockey, it's pretty hard to get people to go to a basketball game when there's a hockey game going on just down the street a block. *Morris would need to schedule a little better, not to mention there would be basketball games during the week, too.

I actually think the proximity to the Cities might help SC rather than hurt it. *If you could generate interest, you could get Alumni to come back to SC from the Cities to watch football and basketball games. And if not from the Cities, there are plenty of surrounding communities that might support a DI SCS.

Overall, there would need to be some serious changes taking place in order for them to justify the move but, I think they could handle the budget, fan base, etc.

I get so tired of people using the, "but SJU is just up the road" argument. *It's old and has limited effect on a decision like this. *SJU has their following but, during the early - mid 80's SCS held their own in terms of a following, too. *Both schools were doing well in a variety of sports at that time. *There are few people that follow both. *Plus, the same argument could be used for SCS as with any school going to DI and that is, the increased level of competition will help bring in the fans; winning will help bring in the fans; time will help bring in the fans. *Look at what has happened over the last few years at NDSU. *Men's basketball had a paltry following not that long ago and now look at the interest it has generated.

Now, at this point in time no, I don't think SCS should jump to DI. *Personally, I think they need new administration - both in the president's office and the AD's office. *Right now they're happy with the status quo. *Morris now has to worry about getting into a lame-ass conference just so they can still compete for conference championships (who knows, it might work out better) but maybe some day down the road, they'll get some vision into that school, too, and look at a higher level of competition.

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

SCSU is in a position much like Mankato in my mind, in that if they make a succession of good decisions with an eye towards making the jump over the next ten or so years, they could put themselves in a good position to make a very successful transition to D-I. SCSU is also similar to Mankato in my mind though, in that if they made the move now or in the next couple years they would fall flat on their faces.

[tony]

I think both Mankato and St. Cloud could make good cases for going DI. Both are big schools and St. Cloud is something like 35 miles from suburban Minneapolis right now. Plus, I think they'd be better off going together than separately. OTOH, I think it would be better for NDSU if neither went DI, but somehow I don't think that factors into their plans.

[IowaBisonToo]

This is exactly how I see it, Jeff and Tony. Change admin, prep the two towns and student bodies, do extremely well in the NSIC (WIN so your following grows), fundraise, fundraise, fundraise, move together.

[Bison_Dan]

I think both Mankato and St. Cloud could make good cases for going DI. Both are big schools and St. Cloud is something like 35 miles from suburban Minneapolis right now. Plus, I think they'd be better off going together than separately. OTOH, I think it would be better for NDSU if neither went DI, but somehow I don't think that factors into their plans.

They only have dii facilities and poor fan support. They have a hard time in dii with scholarships, etc. The only thing going for them is a large student body that they could tap for major dollars. I don't know why everyone thinks that these so-so dii schools will be successful in DI? I know the Bison have made it look easy but I guarantee you some of these johnny come lately schools are going to fail.

[KTF]

On Gopherhole there is a thread about MSU,Mankato and the D-I process. *They included a link to an article written by the Mankato Free Press that stated that MSUM President Richards(?) held a meeting about moving up or NSIC. *The meeting was attended by 100 or so from the university. *The support from the crowd was 50/50. *The football team was for it, the remaining were not. *

The naysayers, including student body president, stated the obvious where is the $2-$3 million extra going to come from. *

MHO, Mankato will not make the move up. *Why do I believe this? *I grew up near Mankato and attended MSU,Mankato for a year. *The Mankato area has too many other "activities" they can donate their money towards. *The school does not have a reputation of winning within the region (or anywhere). *The school administration focus is more on the academic side then the athletic side.

The student body consists of mostly students from the cities. *With the class structure being monday thru thursday for a 4 credit class, most of the students leave thursday night to attend functions in the cities since they are close geographically. *When I lived in the dorms, *students residing on the weekend was roughly 10-20% of what weekday residing was. *The students did not care about the athletics, it just was in the way of their party time. *The only real big thing was hockey and that was only because it was a "new" sport that had some success at the D-I level when they moved up in the late 90's.

NDSU is in a unique situation that they have so much support from students, businesses, and alumni. *The student body passionately cares about the school and the leaders of the university have vision. *The alumni support and embrace the university with open arms and wallets, not many other schools except for maybe UND and SDSU can say that in the region. * If you look back, the competition within in the state with UND has actually put NDSU in a good situation as they have always had to look cautiously but optimistically to future. *The Minnesota schools don't have that same "drive"and "push" as NDSU.

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

I agree with what you say, Mankato isn't an ideal candidate for D-I. However, I think that they, like St. Cloud, could put themselves in a solid position to start the transition in about ten years if they were to make some good decisions, find some money and just kind of have some things bounce the right way. Now, I'm not saying it will happen, just saying that long-term it could happen. I agree though, that the current NCC schools deciding whether or not to move up are going to be in for a rude awakening. I think USD and UND are going to flounder in D-I.

[KTF]

I agree that the long-term solution should be D-I for Mankato however it is going to take a lot and I mean a lot of work to change the environment/landscape for a successful transistion. *I question the administrations leadership/stamina to grow the fan base and support to make them a highly-touted D-II school that can make that move up. *A family friend's son is one of the top football players in the Mankato area (less than 10 miles out of Mankato) and he is not being recruited by Mankato at all. *Granted he is not a D-I or I-aa player but he is getting a lot of looks from other schools such as Winona State. *If Mankato is going to make the push they need to involve the area so that the fan base will grow. *I just don't see it happening for MSUM but I could be wrong...

[Jeffdaryl3rd]

Yeah, just because I think they could do it doesn't mean I think they will. They could make the push to D-I, but I'm thinking that they most likely will not be able to do it or just won't care to.