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View Full Version : Destination: Div I for South Dakota Coyotes



TexasTerror
December 7th, 2006, 06:36 PM
A read from the South Dakota side of things on how they feel they can compete in FCS football and Division I sports in general.

We've seen first-hand how North Dakota St has competed right away in FCS football and how across the board (namely mens' basketball), they have been able to compete nationally as well.

I'll be very interested to see how the move goes for South Dakota, especially in comparison to that other South Dakota flagship..
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USD embarks, destination: Division I
Coyote supporters anticipate new challenges, opportunities

By: Randy Dockendorf
Yankton P&D

Citing his concerns about the future of NCAA Division II and the North Central Conference, President Jim Abbott gave the green light Nov. 29 for The University of South Dakota to make the jump to Division I.

On Thursday, Abbott's fears became reality as NCC Commissioner Roger Thomas announced the league would fold, likely playing its final games after the 2007-2008 school year.

While news of the demise brought sadness among NCC fans, a sampling of USD players, alumni and boosters said they looked forward to their new home in the major-college ranks. The Coyotes will enter their exploratory year in 2007-08 as they make the transition to Division I-AA in football and I-A for all other sports.

USD basketball player Tate Pesicka and Coyote track-cross country runner Sean Fitzsimmons, both 2006 Yankton High School graduates, said Thursday they found athletes and students in general showing excitement about the Division I move.

http://www.plaintalk.net/stories/12072006/sports_20061109001.shtml

griz8791
December 7th, 2006, 07:01 PM
A while back when the first rumor broke about this I followed a link from Bisonville to a non-athletic USD message board where this move was under discussion. Most of the people posting there appeared to be affiliated with USD but not necessarily sports fans -- faculty and students, maybe? Obviously I'm not real clear on what message board I was reading. Anyway, it looked like the general consensus was great anxiety about whether USD could adequately finance D-I athletics. They seemed to recognize they wouldn't be able to stay where they were but there was a lot of uncertainty about the future.

I see the SDSU women's team took down Kansas last night and I think they beat USC earlier in the season. Transition seems to be working out for them.