Column: UNA Making a Mistake by Moving to D-I

[TexasTerror]

Just one man's opinion, but this is the national columnist for D2football.com, so it'd be like Chuck Burton or Dave Coulson sharing their thoughts on such a plan...

Columnist does mention the nearly double in athletic budget the school has to achieve to reach the $7.5M goal - over $1M less than the FCS average...


I usually don't talk much in this column about schools leaving Division II for a couple of reasons. One, there are still 150 or more schools that will continue to play at this level to devote my attention to. And two, as I mentioned earlier, a new school will always step up to fill the void. Example: everyone thought that the loss of the Dakota schools to D-I would be a major blow in that area of the country but Minnesota-Duluth has stepped up to become a two-time national champion while other NSIC programs such as Augustana and Wayne State have greatly improved and become playoff contenders. Heck, North Alabama's glory years (1993-95 three-peat) came on the heels of Jacksonville State and Troy State (now Troy) leaving the division. Someone new will see the opportunity and run with it.

I am also not one of those people that believe it is always bad for a school to leave this division. Moving to D-I made a lot of sense for California-Davis. It has been a good move for North Dakota State. As painful as the transition process can be, moving to D-I is looking like it will be a good move long-term for my alma mater, North Dakota. I don't like how it went down, but I see a lot of merit to Nebraska-Omaha's decision to leave this division. Grand Valley State could announce tomorrow that it was going D-I and I would find very little to be critical of

http://www.d2football.com/nationalcolumnist/16/

[SF State Gaters]

really great read! I wish i knew more about current D-II football - most of what i know about is from the past, when my alma mater played other now-defunct teams throughout California. That said, I emphases with the points you've highlighted as well as (perhaps more so) the ones he makes about realignment and the playoffs.

My position has long been, there needs to be more mobility between strata. It needs to be easier to move up, yes, but it is much more important that it be easier to move down If a school is fairing poorly at one level, chances are it would perform well at a lower level. The stigma associated with going down to FCS is ridiculous, and the fact that fans of San Jose State, Idaho State or Utah State would rather not play football than play football in the Big Sky absolutely baffles me. I went to a school that had a football program and lost it and i think it is a shame.

This is all to say that, being the best D-II football program is great! If you are the best D-II football program, or are regularly making it deep into the playoffs, why go up to a level where you might not perform so well? Why be so eager to participate in a conference where you have no rivals with teams with whom you have no history, in areas which are not very near to you? The quote from the article that is most resonate for me is, "While there is nothing wrong with striving for more, there is also nothing wrong with being what you are and fitting the role within higher education for which you were designed." This is a position with which I could not agree more, and I often argue that there are institutions who are better suited to fit a different role then the one which they have deemed themselves- and, honestly, I argue some of the WAC-5 fit this category.

As for the realignment and playoff discussion in the article, it seems he makes a strong argument against the strange Super Regions. Given the number of changes taking place in DII football, it seems incumbent upon them to implement changes akin to the ones he describes.

[JaxSinfonian]

Most of this guy's argument is bunk. Yes, UNA faces significant challenges in raising the cash it will need to compete in Division I. That's about the only point I'll give him, but don't most schools always feel financial pressure to some degree? There's so much to refute ... I don't think I've got time to knock it all down, but I'll do what I can.


UNA, like a vast majority of D2 institutions, is a smaller, regional, public institution. Being a former teachers' college with a limited research function and being in a smaller metro area makes UNA a perfect fit for D2.

That description of UNA fits almost every member of the OVC and much of the FCS. Heck, many FBS schools could be described the same way.


Then there is conference affiliation. UNA is likely to receive an invitation to join the Ohio Valley Conference. The only real upside to that conference is the fact that the rivalry with Jacksonville State can be restored. Other than that there are many negatives. The heart of the OVC is in Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee-- outside of UNA's traditional recruiting area. UNA would become the second smallest school in a weak FCS football conference.

Give me a break. The OVC's playoff struggles notwithstanding, the conference is a solid fit geographically for UNA - far better than last year's makeup of what's calling itself the Gulf South Conference now. And that was before the western GSC schools depart for something that makes actual geographic sense for them. What's left is likely to be, competitively, a shell of the conference's former lineup, augmented by a few start-ups and move-ups. As for the OVC the heart of the conference is NOT in Illinois, it just happens to have one team there in the state's eastern extreme. By his logic, the heart is also in Missouri ... and Alabama.

The average travel distance from Florence to the football-playing schools in the expected 2015 makeup of the GSC (Adding football at UNO, UWF, waiting on Shorter to move up) is 286 miles. The average distance to the current football-playing members of the OVC is 215 miles. The shortest trip in the future Gulf South would be to Shorter, at 181 miles. There are five OVC schools closer to UNA than that, Tennessee State, Jax State, UT Martin, Murray State and Austin Peay. (I calculated distances using Google maps, taking the shortest mileage of the three routes it recommended.)

OK, that's all I've got time for now. Maybe I can do more later, unless someone else wants to pick up my slack.

[TexasTerror]

My position has long been, there needs to be more mobility between strata. It needs to be easier to move up, yes, but it is much more important that it be easier to move down If a school is fairing poorly at one level, chances are it would perform well at a lower level. The stigma associated with going down to FCS is ridiculous, and the fact that fans of San Jose State, Idaho State or Utah State would rather not play football than play football in the Big Sky absolutely baffles me. I went to a school that had a football program and lost it and i think it is a shame.

The problem with mobility and easing it would be that there are schools that are not in a position to compete at the level - whether it FBS, FCS, D2 or D3. Can you imagine if Florida A&M got into FBS when they attempted to about a decade ago? Or then-Southwest Texas State when they made a similar attempt and is now in a much better position to do so?

The membership committees are getting very selective per the article, I think this is because many of the NAIAs are trying to get into the NCAA structure and quite a few of them do not necessarily have things together to do it. It is also a reason why the NCAA is requiring conference membership for schools moving into Div I. Having a conference helps with scheduling and finances and postseason possibilities. All crucial to a school's success.


Most of this guy's argument is bunk. Yes, UNA faces significant challenges in raising the cash it will need to compete in Division I. That's about the only point I'll give him, but don't most schools always feel financial pressure to some degree? There's so much to refute ... I don't think I've got time to knock it all down, but I'll do what I can.

Comes down to finances...

UNA's tallest hurdle is doubling their annual financial base and even that 'doubling' does not get the school in the average position of its FCS co-horts. Can it survive as a Div I with that minimal support? Yes, but it also needs to make sure that it can get that support on a recurring basis. We'll see if they manage...

But, yes... do agree with some of your other points. This whole thing comes down to finances for the most part. UNA is a very solid Division II program, particularly in football. I think they could make a successful transition to Division I and FCS football, but without nearly doubling their budget (if not more than that), they won't be able to do it.

[SF State Gaters]

There is money to be made at the higher level if it's done right. It's tricky but the payoff is there if you can make it work.

Then again, you can also fail miserably and be forced to destroy all legacies and traditions associated with your school.

But then, being an AD or President or Provost isn't a crappy job, and even if you run your football team into the ground, you're still going to get hired someplace else doing something similar. Lots of people like people who do that stuff too, really

[JaxSinfonian]

The average travel distance from Florence to the football-playing schools in the expected 2015 makeup of the GSC (Adding football at UNO, UWF, waiting on Shorter to move up) is 286 miles. The average distance to the current football-playing members of the OVC is 215 miles.

Sorry, I left Florida Tech out of my calculation earlier. Adding them - obviously the outlier at 728 miles - to the future GSC lengthens UNA's average trip to 341 miles.

UNA is in the heart of the OVC. Where exactly will the heart of the Gulf South Conference be?

[dgtw]

I wish I'd known you were going to calculate the distances, it would have saved me time from doing it. I was about to post them until I saw your post. I used mapquest and dropped all partial miles after the decimal and got pretty much the same figures.

I'm not counting UNO's football chickens until they hatch.

The people on the GSC board at the DII site are all excited about Florida Tech because it will be such a great road trip. Yeah, I'm sure they'll all be going every other year. I'm sure Fla Tech will bring a lot more fans than anybody in the OVC would. That trip would likely cost all the players a day of class. Aren't they there for an education?

You going to the game tomorrow?

[Redbirdz]

Jacksonville State should move on from the OVC just as soon as possible. There are no common rivals that our fans get excited about other than maybe Eastern Kentucky.

[cmaxwellgsu]

The problem with mobility and easing it would be that there are schools that are not in a position to compete at the level - whether it FBS, FCS, D2 or D3. Can you imagine if Florida A&M got into FBS when they attempted to about a decade ago? Or then-Southwest Texas State when they made a similar attempt and is now in a much better position to do so?

The membership committees are getting very selective per the article, I think this is because many of the NAIAs are trying to get into the NCAA structure and quite a few of them do not necessarily have things together to do it. It is also a reason why the NCAA is requiring conference membership for schools moving into Div I. Having a conference helps with scheduling and finances and postseason possibilities. All crucial to a school's success.



Comes down to finances...

UNA's tallest hurdle is doubling their annual financial base and even that 'doubling' does not get the school in the average position of its FCS co-horts. Can it survive as a Div I with that minimal support? Yes, but it also needs to make sure that it can get that support on a recurring basis. We'll see if they manage...

But, yes... do agree with some of your other points. This whole thing comes down to finances for the most part. UNA is a very solid Division II program, particularly in football. I think they could make a successful transition to Division I and FCS football, but without nearly doubling their budget (if not more than that), they won't be able to do it.


I don't think they'll have to even beat the average to be okay. They're in a talent rich area, so they will get their share of kids without having to have the shiniest stadium, dorms, weight room, practice field, etc. I just don't see this being a super-expensive move for them.

[JaxSinfonian]

You going to the game tomorrow?

Is Cocky a chicken?

Yeah, I'll be there. I'll be the one in red. :D

[dgtw]

My wife will be there but I have to babysit, but all three of us are headed to Choo-Choo City next week.

Another plus for UNA moving up is the avaliability of money games from nearby FBS schools. I doubt Alabama would give them a game but they should get games with the Mississippi schools and Vandy. Maybe even old rival Troy. Also can have OOC games with Alabama A&M (played regulalry in the DII years in the 1970s), Samford and some SoCon teams.

[Cocky]

Florence owns the stadium so that expense will be the city's.

TUNA will be fine when it comes to money and FCS.

[Gil Dobie]

Is this the same Eblen that was predicting failure for NDSU back when NDSU started it's transition. I think he was or is RD17 on SiouxSports. It was almost 100% agreement from Grand Forks that NDSU and SDSU were making a terrible decision.