Originally Posted by
MrAugustana
Based on how poorly the D1 attempt went for us last time, I'm not really all that in favor of it anymore. For one, it killed men's basketball's recruiting for 2-3 years when our future was in limbo (we're finally back on track with a recruiting class that could/should have us more nationally competitive again at the D2 level...if we can keep them from diving into the transfer portal after a year or two...), but it's also just annoying to be dealing with uncertainty. So at this point, I hope we stay D2.
That being said, I'll be curious to see what the Summit's plan is if WIU leaves. UMKC is already looking to move on, and as the end of that LetsGoDU article points out, I would be surprised if St. Thomas stays in the Summit more than a few years beyond its 5-year waiting period, if that. With the recruits they're signing, I think they are going to be way ahead of most Summit teams by the end of year 5, at least in men's basketball, and a call from the Big East (with all of their Catholic private schools) or even something a step higher than the Summit is going to be pretty tough to turn down.
If the Summit loses WIU, UMKC, and St. Thomas, they're getting dangerously close to that minimum threshold for the automatic tournament bid, right?
I know someone on here will inevitably say, "I'd rather see St. Cloud or Mankato move up than see Augie move up," which is a perfectly reasonable perspective, but anyone who has paid any attention to both schools in the last few years is probably going to recognize that neither school has given even a hint of an indication that they have the budget (or even the desire) to go D1 in the near future. Unless things have been shifting behind the scenes on that front in the last year or so.
Bottom line, I no longer care if Augie moves up like I used to. Our football team is on a steady upward trajectory, men's basketball is looking like it could be back on track to be nationally competitive, and several of our other sports are performing at high levels year in and year out. If the pro-D1 Augie crowd is still fired up, they can jump on board with the hockey program and get their D1 fix that way.
Either way, I will find it pretty funny if the Summit finds itself in a bind upon 2-3 teams leaving before they're able to suck in a suitable replacement and they end up screwing themselves over, if that happens. I doubt it will come to that, but it would be entertaining. Should be interesting to see what steps the new commissioner takes to make sure that's not an issue.