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Augustana to the Summit?


91jack

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I just figured that I'd let you know that according to the Argus Leader (Sioux Falls paper), " The NSIC said in a news release Thursday night that Augie's goal is to find a DI conference by the 2021-2022 academic year".  

The NSIC is Augie's conference- Northern Sun Intercollegic Conference".   They are DII.

I know that this will seem terrible and I don't know how to feel about it myself.  South Dakota already has 2 DI universities, can they handle another one?  I don't know how many schools you can bus to down there but it should make travel better if you have Thursday/Saturday games in conference.  It would make the Summit more stable.  Angie does have baseball so if they stay pat with their sports that should help.  

There are plusses and minuses and they might not be joining the Summit but if they go DI I would assume it would be a sure thing.

They are discussing it on sdsufans.com if you want to see what some local people have to say about it.

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Too demoralized about the current state of ORU athletics to get fired up about the addition of yet another school in the Dakotas.

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I really don't understand who the constituency for this is. What current Summit League members will vote for this?

  • Denver - no
  • IPFW - no
  • Western Illinois - no
  • ORU - no
  • Omaha - ?

South Dakota is a state with a population of over 100,000 fewer people than the Tulsa metro area... but they think it can support three D1 schools? I would have to think the Dakota schools would be hesitant about admitting a member that would impact them the most.

BUT it seems like Sanford who already got the league office moved to Sioux Falls may get what he wants again.

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The Summit has lost Valpo, Oakland, IUPUI, UMKC and us at one point and their answer is to try and bring up Augustana?  As Dr. Cornelius stated above, if it is put to a vote of the League Presidents I do not see Denver, IPFW, WIU or us voting for it.  So how can it pass?  If I were either of the XDSU's I would not be in favor of this either.  Augustana brings NOTHING to the table for us to even consider them for membership.  If it is a done deal already, I would like to know exactly how that was accomplished and if we voted in favor of it, what did we get in return?

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We do need another baseball team in the Summit and with potential future defections we do probably need another member.  The Dakotas would probably prefer to add another team within the geographic footprint (whether that be Augustana or someone else).  I think even Minnesota State Mankato might offer more than Augustana but I am not sure about their D1 interest and that doesn’t mean that they should necessarily be considered either.  

Northern Colorado would be nice to pair with Denver.  The Grand Canyon and NMSU mention was interesting and would offer more competitively than Augustana, but I think their geographic location would likely prevent their addition.  

It might be that UMKC and Northern Colorado would be good options to pursue and would setup good travel partners.

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I do think that Grand Canyon and NMSU would be the ideal adds for the Summit but I don't see that happening.  I sure hope I am wrong though.

The other options would probably be UMKC and Northern Colorado.  UMKC hasn't been real attractive lately but they are right down I-29 and not far from Omaha.  UNC used to be in the NCC (North Central Conference) with UND, NDSU, USD, SDSU, Omaha and Augie when they were all DII so there is a familiarity there.  

Augie did win the DII college world series last year so that aren't terrible in baseball.  They aren't real consistent but they are fairly good.  They have a long was to go to catch ORU but they probably aren't far behind the rest of the league.  Their MBB team also won the DII national championship in 2015-16.  I don't think they can come in and beat SDSU and USD right away but they probably wouldn't finish last in the Summit.  This is just a guess.

I'm still undecided about if Augie would be a good add or not but I would like to see 10 or 12 teams in the Summit so they need to add somebody.

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T. Denny Sanford has plans to give away $2.2 billion before his passing and is 82 right now.  Each of USD, SDSU, and NDSU have gotten ten of millions from him for facilities.  He can get on a phone and they would votes yes in an instant if he threatens.  It probably was written into their facilities contract.  UND and Omaha haven’t gotten yet, but a “yes” might take $10million or so.

The Augie President is making comparisons to Creighton, Drake, Valpo and Bradley as schools she wants Augie to be like, so obviously she knows donations will be landsliding in from a source.  Sanford made his fortune in the credit card industry, as SD passed a law to have no limits on credit card interest rates.  Sanford was waiting with Sioux Falls credit operations and made a fortune.  He wants to give back to Sioux Falls what was stolen from the rest of the country.  He oversees/finances a large chain of hospitals in the Dakota and Minnesota and there is talk he wants to establish a Augustana Medical School.  He has already given ten of millions to the U of Minnesota, as he was born in St Paul.

But it won’t matter to ORU, as you are WAC bound with Sam Houston St, Lamar, McNeese St, Incarnate Word as well as the California FCS schools.  UMKC will be your travel partner.

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40 minutes ago, UNDfan said:

T. Denny Sanford has plans to give away $2.2 billion before his passing and is 82 right now.  Each of USD, SDSU, and NDSU have gotten ten of millions from him for facilities.  He can get on a phone and they would votes yes in an instant if he threatens.  It probably was written into their facilities contract.  UND and Omaha haven’t gotten yet, but a “yes” might take $10million or so.

Sanford could give away $2.2 trillion... it still wouldn't change the Dakotas population problem.

I wonder if Sanford is as weird as that Ralph Engelstad guy was.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/17/2018 at 8:23 PM, UNDfan said:

T. Denny Sanford has plans to give away $2.2 billion before his passing and is 82 right now.  Each of USD, SDSU, and NDSU have gotten ten of millions from him for facilities.  He can get on a phone and they would votes yes in an instant if he threatens.  It probably was written into their facilities contract.  UND and Omaha haven’t gotten yet, but a “yes” might take $10million or so.

The Augie President is making comparisons to Creighton, Drake, Valpo and Bradley as schools she wants Augie to be like, so obviously she knows donations will be landsliding in from a source.  Sanford made his fortune in the credit card industry, as SD passed a law to have no limits on credit card interest rates.  Sanford was waiting with Sioux Falls credit operations and made a fortune.  He wants to give back to Sioux Falls what was stolen from the rest of the country.  He oversees/finances a large chain of hospitals in the Dakota and Minnesota and there is talk he wants to establish a Augustana Medical School.  He has already given ten of millions to the U of Minnesota, as he was born in St Paul.

But it won’t matter to ORU, as you are WAC bound with Sam Houston St, Lamar, McNeese St, Incarnate Word as well as the California FCS schools.  UMKC will be your travel partner.

I love how this guy disappeared during football season while his Fightin' Sues were stinking it up.  I thought they were going to dominate the vaunted Missouri Valley conference this year (maybe that was hockey; who really cares below the 46th Parallel?)

Just keep it up with the annual "Fake Summit League News", dude - maybe you'll luck into something marginally-correct some day year.

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On 12/28/2018 at 3:16 PM, Old Titan said:

I love how this guy disappeared during football season while his Fightin' Sues were stinking it up.  I thought they were going to dominate the vaunted Missouri Valley conference this year (maybe that was hockey; who really cares below the 46th Parallel?)

Just keep it up with the annual "Fake Summit League News", dude - maybe you'll luck into something marginally-correct some day year.

I am willing to bet a substantial sum that ORU will jump to the WAC and the Montanas and Idaho will move to the Summit.  Thought it would be nice to spread the word on message boards, but I should not have set a July 1st deadline, which was not met and set me up for ridicule.

Old Titan will become the new fool of this board.  Dixie St and Metro St will announce for DI shortly and they will go to the Big Sky not the WAC.

U Presidents move at glacial pace, which is much different from my corporate background.

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Who are Dixie St and Metro St?  For that matter, who is Augustana?  Better yet, why should we even care?   

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4 hours ago, ORU82 said:

Who are Dixie St and Metro St?  For that matter, who is Augustana?  Better yet, why should we even care?   

Dixie St is a DII public school in St George, Utah, which is close to the fastest growing city in the US.

Metro State is a DII public in Denver which has a 21k enrollment.

Both have said they will finish studies for DI in January.

Augustana is a DII Lutheran private in Sioux Falls, SD who has a billionaire supporting a move.

ORU should be in a more geographic friendly conference than the Summit to better advertise itself to prospective students and to interact with alumni.

The WAC will also get upper level Southland teams and lose schools like Seattle and Chicago St and will only be in the Southwest quadrant.

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18 hours ago, UNDfan said:

 

I am willing to bet a substantial sum that ORU will jump to the WAC and the Montanas and Idaho will move to the Summit.  Thought it would be nice to spread the word on message boards, but I should not have set a July 1st deadline, which was not met and set me up for ridicule.

Old Titan will become the new fool of this board.  Dixie St and Metro St will announce for DI shortly and they will go to the Big Sky not the WAC.

U Presidents move at glacial pace, which is much different from my corporate background.

What a clown! (but, apparently, a "corporate" clown, which means he wears a squirting lapel flower?)

I like how the "July 1st deadline not being met set me up for ridicule", like it's somehow the schools' and the conference's fault that he looks dumb now.

Friend, you managed that all. by. your. self. 🤡

(For what it's worth:  in the unlikely event that the Summit League decides to concentrate geographically on the upper Great Plains and Rocky Mountains and give up on baseball in the process, it's more likely that ORU would go D2 before they would ever join the WAC, or anything closely resembling it [meaning neither scenario is likely any time soon].  Can't imagine the powers that be at ORU spending the money to send their non-revenue teams all over the Pacific time zone in the name of conference play).

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10 hours ago, Old Titan said:

What a clown! (but, apparently, a "corporate" clown, which means he wears a squirting lapel flower?)

I like how the "July 1st deadline not being met set me up for ridicule", like it's somehow the schools' and the conference's fault that he looks dumb now.

Friend, you managed that all. by. your. self. 🤡

(For what it's worth:  in the unlikely event that the Summit League decides to concentrate geographically on the upper Great Plains and Rocky Mountains and give up on baseball in the process, it's more likely that ORU would go D2 before they would ever join the WAC, or anything closely resembling it [meaning neither scenario is likely any time soon].  Can't imagine the powers that be at ORU spending the money to send their non-revenue teams all over the Pacific time zone in the name of conference play).

You don't seem to realize that DI athletics is a major advertisement for ORU, even without FB.   Getting a tiny mention in LA, Phoenix, Houston,  and KC is worth much more than the Summit.  Your  Regents would be nuts to move a DII league which still has expenses. 

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7 hours ago, UNDfan said:

You don't seem to realize that DI athletics is a major advertisement for ORU, even without FB.   Getting a tiny mention in LA, Phoenix, Houston,  and KC is worth much more than the Summit.  Your  Regents would be nuts to move a DII league which still has expenses. 

Yeah, I've only held four different jobs in college athletics over the past 30 years; so what do I know?

But, do tell me more about how "D1 athletics is a major advertisement for ORU" and other schools, 'cause I think you might REALLY be on to something there!! 🤣

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12 hours ago, Old Titan said:

Yeah, I've only held four different jobs in college athletics over the past 30 years; so what do I know?

But, do tell me more about how "D1 athletics is a major advertisement for ORU" and other schools, 'cause I think you might REALLY be on to something there!! 🤣

Obviously, you know next to nothing if you are advocating for a ORU move down to DII, so ORU can merely recruit Oklahoma and Arkansas.  You obviously were not AD or President, as ORU never would have got to DI with your vision.

AD employees say they no so much, but the Presidents them in the dark.  There's a reason they haven't advanced to major role.

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18 hours ago, UNDfan said:

AD employees say they no so much, but the Presidents them in the dark.

Drink much? 😵

Once "your" sober, let me "no" this:  where in my previous posts do I ever "advocate" ORU switching to D2?

I was juxtaposing 1) switching to the WAC, or 2) dropping to D2, as EQUALLY unlikely. 

Simplified for your digestion (and in smaller words) it boils down to this:  ORU is not going to waste time and money sending their student-athletes all over three time zones in the pursuit of coveted WAC championships.

Which, in closing, concludes our discourse on this topic.

As the great philosopher Joe Walsh famously said, "You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind".

But, I'm sure you already "no" this...

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