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Report: Three schools set to leave Summit League


ORUTerry

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I appreciate you guy's in-depth analysis. I was wondering, just from a geographical standpoint, as long as these teams could be replaced with those from the Mid-west, central US, that it could be a real blessing in disguise (or undisguised)?

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I appreciate you guy's in-depth analysis. I was wondering, just from a geographical standpoint, as long as these teams could be replaced with those from the Mid-west, central US, that it could be a real blessing in disguise (or undisguised)?

We know this much: we now have to endure only one trip a year to the Dakotas, instead of the two-trips-a-season we might have had if the U of D's had joined.

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I would normally be real concerned about this situation, given the perception of the lack of leadership from the Conference administration coupled with the potential negative ramifications it could have on us. However, given the wisdom of Dr. Rutland in concert with the intellect of Mike Carter, I believe that we have one of the best President/AD combinations in the country, and I am confident that they will not only "do right" by ORU, but, as OT mentioned above, they will give stong consideration to the consequences that their decisions will have on the other parties involved. I believe that we are in a place today that we have the opporitunity and ablility to provide Conference leadership, and that in a few months we will look back and find that the Summit League sans CU, SUU, UND, and USD will be a much stronger conference than we thought possible a few months ago.

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I would normally be real concerned about this situation, given the perception of the lack of leadership from the Conference administration coupled with the potential negative ramifications it could have on us. However, given the wisdom of Dr. Rutland in concert with the intellect of Mike Carter, I believe that we have one of the best President/AD combinations in the country, and I am confident that they will not only "do right" by ORU, but, as OT mentioned above, they will give stong consideration to the consequences that their decisions will have on the other parties involved. I believe that we are in a place today that we have the opporitunity and ablility to provide Conference leadership, and that in a few months we will look back and find that the Summit League sans CU, SUU, UND, and USD will be a much stronger conference than we thought possible a few months ago.

I think the key to saving the Summit is to land someone like UALR or Denver.

In this case, we can't take the Nebraska-Omaha's of the world - we need someone who is an established D-1 school.

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In this case, we can't take the Nebraska-Omaha's of the world - we need someone who is an established D-1 school.

Given the current NCAA bylaws regarding membership and autobids, this is absolutely the case. We have to find at least one school that has been in active DI for eight years or will hit that mark by 2014-15. If anyone is interested in the long, drawn-out reason why, read here. (note: some are saying that this bylaw will be changing soon which would clearly be beneficial to the Summit League).

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Given the current NCAA bylaws regarding membership and autobids, this is absolutely the case. We have to find at least one school that has been in active DI for eight years or will hit that mark by 2014-15. If anyone is interested in the long, drawn-out reason why, read here. (note: some are saying that this bylaw will be changing soon which would clearly be beneficial to the Summit League).

There's a link earlier in this thread to the NCAA News article regarding the new legislation (which will come up for a vote in January) - here it is again if you don't feel like scrolling back: Board Sponsors Legislation For New D-1 Membership Standards (NCAA News 8/12/10)

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There's a link earlier in this thread to the NCAA News article regarding the new legislation (which will come up for a vote in January) - here it is again if you don't feel like scrolling back: Board Sponsors Legislation For New D-1 Membership Standards (NCAA News 8/12/10)

Thanks for linking. My only beef with that article is that it just talks about DI membership and not necessarily conference Automatic Qualification standards. The way I interpret the current bylaw (which definitely could be different from that of another person) is that the Automatic Qualification isn't as much about "becoming" an active member as it is about "how long" you've been an active member. The key thing (once again, in my interpretation) is that the current bylaw says you must have seven schools who've been in DI for eight years (the "core" member thing). I really don't want to beat a dead horse, but I'm starting to feel like this "core" thing is like "the process of a catch" thing that happened between the Lions and Bears in Week 1 of the NFL this season. It's a thing that is easy to overlook, but it means a lot.

Anyway, another report does say that the specific autobid legislation is "on the books" to be changed but it didn't have any sources, timetables, or mention of the core aspect. So we'll have to wait and see.

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I am shocked that our league has not issued a statement on what is going on. What are those guys doing up there? What is the plan? Is there a plan?

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In this case, we can't take the Nebraska-Omaha's of the world - we need someone who is an established D-1 school.

UT Pan Am has been D1 for a long time, and South Padre is beautiful in February and March. They wouldn't be a bad travel partner for us, with easy SWA flights to Harlingen.

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USD is gone. I know and talk to their beatwriter weekly. I spoke w/ their long-time play-by-play guy just today. They are gone. Big Sky is in panic b/c they are losing their two heavy hitters in Montana and Montana State to the WAC. They both have great fball programs and have been looking at FBS for a number of years.

I think it's a HUGE mistake for UND and USD. HUGE! They go to a conference in three different time zones, a conference w/ 4 California schools and schools in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, among others. A conference where their travel budget is going to be outrageous. It most likely means they will not play games versus SDSU (nations oldest State vs. U rivalry) and that will hurt both schools, moreso USD. Their west coast games will begin at 9pm here. PR wise this is a disaster. At least the people of SoDakota are familiar w/ ORU and Oakland and others by now. Now they have to learn about Sacramento State, Portland State, Weber State, etc? As one local reporter said "the Big Sky without the Montana schools is the Big Lie".

Last week the USD AD was on the local sports show. The guys on the show (all in agreement that USD to the Big Sky is a huge mistake) said after that they hoped he was simply bluffing, but were afraid he wasn't. He's a young, brash, cocky AD who has been on the job for less than a year.

It's all about football. USD wanted in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with SDSU, NDSU and others. It is the top conference in all of FCS. But they Valley showed no interest in them or UND. So they were terrified of being independent in fball, even though all their other programs were in the Summit. So instead of being independent for a few years until the Valley either expanded or lost, say, a UNI or Youngstown State to the FBS level, they decided to go home w/ the first guy to buy 'em a drink, the geographic nightmare Big Sky. USD is doctors and nurses and lawyers and I think their travel schedule is gonna be a nightmare on their student athletes.

I'm very sad they decided to leave. The USD-SDSU rivalry was unreal. It has been put on hold since we decided to leave to D1 and they decided and hoped and predicted that we'd fall flat on our face. After our immediate success at the D1 level they are suddenly ready to follow in our footsteps. This has made for a very strained relationship and I now worry we'll never again see a SDSU-USD football or men's hoops game. It's enough to almost bring me to tears.

As for SUU, good riddance.

Sorry for the sloppiness. Just wanted to chime in real quick here while I had a second.

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So instead of being independent for a few years until the Valley either expanded or lost, say, a UNI or Youngstown State to the FBS level, they decided to go home w/ the first guy to buy 'em a drink, the geographic nightmare Big Sky.

Best line of the post! Great insight -- thanks!

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Thanks guys, glad I could (for once) bring just a little substance. ;)

UND and SUU are already in the Big Sky but USD is not officially in yet. Some speculate that Douple (who has been working hard w/ the MVFC to get them to invite UND and USD) is trying at the 11th hour to get the MVFC to make USD their 10th member, thus giving them the football home they desire and keeping them in the Summit. I know you guys don't want to add another Dakota school or two and I understand why and respect that. But UND and USD, especially USD, would have been quality additions. It's unfortunate that the Summit lost these two schools simply b/c of something we couldn't control, football. People up here still don't know why the MVFC was opposed to add two quality football programs like UND and USD.

I think we need to get aggressive and go after 1-3 quality schools. Hopefully NDSU and SDSU can continue to strive to be have quality programs such as ORU, Oakland and IUPUI. UALR? Saint Louis? UTPA?

The other member you have to wonder about is UNO (U Neb-Omaha, which is 3 hours from SDSU). AD Trev Alberts wants UNO in D1 very badly. Only problem is the shadow cast by the Huskers firmly covers Omaha and the entire state/region. I once traveled from Omaha to Lincoln for a Huskers game and went 20mph on the interstate the entire way. I don't know if UNO can ever get out of that shadow or will ever draw enough interest.

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With quotes like, “We are negotiating with South Dakota,’’ Fullerton said. “They want to be part of the Big Sky Conference and we want them to be a member. They are just awaiting a final approval process. Approval processes are different at each school.’’, it appears to be a done deal.

http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2010/11/1/GEN_1101105326.aspx

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South Dakota has done a 180. Tomorrow they will announce they are staying in the Summit and will be joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Here is the tweet from our beat writer about it...

Upon further review, it looks like USD is headed to Missouri Valley Football Conference. What a soap opera.

http://twitter.com/FGOSPORTSWRITER/status/29633147061

This has also been confirmed by a news station in Sioux Falls, it was their lead story apparently.

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South Dakota has done a 180. Tomorrow they will announce they are staying in the Summit and will be joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

WOW! How much did THAT cost the Summit? Then again, does USD have "core member" status to help keep the automatic bid?

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