Minnesota State Football

Donate To GopherHole

Gopher_Ace said:
I recently visited the Minnesota State- Mankato campus and it is nothing like I remembered. It is state of the art and beautiful.

I read an article on the name change. They changed for name recognition purposes.

Minnesota State University 1999-2003
Minnesota State University - Mankato (2003+)

If any other school goes D1 is has to be Mankato
Click to expand...

From a purely financial standpoint, and in this day and age, its all about finances, Mankato State may be the only other public university in the state capable of making the jump. There are a couple facilities on campus named after wealthy donors, Mssrs. Taylor and Bresnen. Taylor has already shown a willingness to throw good money after bad (T-wolves); and he may be willing to do more for the local university. I emphasize the bad part in that there seems to be little interest in MSU athletics beyond the hilltop area, and even there it is tepid.
 


Geographically, UMD would be a good match for D-I, it has a good population, and is a good distance from other D-I programs.
 

Gopher fans would have to consider the impact on their program. Nebraska will not "allow" UN-Omaha to go FCS, because they do not want anything affecting their walk-on program, etc. Unlike some states, the Gophers to not have to compete in-state for recruits. A crop of FCS schools, in-state, could impact the Gophers.
 


According to NCAA Regulations: "Division I Board of Directors have adopted Proposal 2005-20, with an August 1, 2005 effective date. This rule requires that Division I-A institutions annually average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football contests once every two years. This new rule reinforced the philosophy that public support is an important component of Division I-A membership: it also provided relief from the 2004 attendance requirements and continued to distinguish Division I-A institutions from the less rigorous membership requirements to field a Division I-AA football team."

I think they are talking about programs that want to move up...

Do you think any other Minnesota school could average 15,000 on a regular basis? Just don't see it in the near or even foreseeable future.

St John led the nation in 2009 DIII attendance at 8,208. Bethel was 15th at 3,485. UST averaged 2,625.

Mankato was at 3,372.

I don't see 10-12,000 fans a week coming out of the woodwork. It's a pipedream...

Attendance report:

NCAA Football Attendance Report
 

They wouldn't need to average 15,000, because they wouldn't be moving up to I-A (FBS), they would be moving up to I-AA (FCS) which does not have the 15,000 requirement.
 

Exactly. Its really not that big a stretch for them to move up in all sports- even football.
Mix in a nice payday every season with an FBS school, and you've got something. There's
no reason they can't still be playing the Dakotas, UNI, Illinois State, Missouri State, etc.

FCS would work well for them.
 

Some FCS schools in the northeast may average only a 2000-3000 fans for home games
as it is, and have you seen siome of THEIR stadiums?????

MSU is already there, I think, in that regards. The one thing they would be gaining
is the ability to pick up big BCS-team paydays.
 



Swede said:
From a purely financial standpoint, and in this day and age, its all about finances, Mankato State may be the only other public university in the state capable of making the jump. There are a couple facilities on campus named after wealthy donors, Mssrs. Taylor and Bresnen. Taylor has already shown a willingness to throw good money after bad (T-wolves); and he may be willing to do more for the local university. I emphasize the bad part in that there seems to be little interest in MSU athletics beyond the hilltop area, and even there it is tepid.
Click to expand...

Where was Taylor when MSU announced they are cutting four sports next year? You will never see a MNSCU school go DI with their football program. The NSIC allows 24 scholarships and DI FCS allows 60(something). Not to mention MSU's fans are an apathetic bunch. There's no way they go DI.
 

D2 allows 36 scholarships for football (which the NCC had). Anyone know why the NSIC limits them to 24?
 


In this purely hypothetical argument

St. Cloud is a slam dunk compared to Mankato. It is a bigger school, it is a better school, and it is in the center of the state. The National Hockey Center is getting a redo as a full arena and the football stadium can be easily expanded. The St. Cloud area population is twice as large as the Mankato metro area.

Go Gophers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 



maroonfive said:
St. Cloud is a slam dunk compared to Mankato. It is a bigger school, it is a better school, and it is in the center of the state. The National Hockey Center is getting a redo as a full arena and the football stadium can be easily expanded. The St. Cloud area population is twice as large as the Mankato metro area.

Go Gophers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

St Cloud area population twice as large? Hard to believe. Basketball arena is without questions better at Mankato, the football field could also be expanded. Both school are already d1 for hockey so that is a non factor.

Better school is debatable. Depends on the major. Most Collegiate rating companies have Minnesota State Mankato ranked higher, some by quite a bit. Yet, its not worth using as an argument for either school because lets be honest its not that different.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/compare/items+2360+2377
 

There are a number of FCS schools that play non-scholarship football, that could be an option for any Minnesota school considering D-I.
 

discochris said:
D2 allows 36 scholarships for football (which the NCC had). Anyone know why the NSIC limits them to 24?
Click to expand...

A few ideas: Bemidji State, Moorhead State, University of Mary, Winona State . . . .
 

maroonfive said:
St. Cloud is a slam dunk compared to Mankato. It is a bigger school, it is a better school, and it is in the center of the state. The National Hockey Center is getting a redo as a full arena and the football stadium can be easily expanded. The St. Cloud area population is twice as large as the Mankato metro area.

Go Gophers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

St Cloud has already floated the idea of dropping football, now move DI? On the other hand, MSU has not had much in the way of support for athletics, notably football. In fact, I believe MSU has shuttered the football team once or twice in the last 40 years.

As far as population, that seems less relevant when one looks to the west. Brookings, SD isn't even half the size of Mankato, yet they are doing quite well in D-I.
 

RodentRampage said:
There are a number of FCS schools that play non-scholarship football, that could be an option for any Minnesota school considering D-I.
Click to expand...

The Pioneer League, with Drake, and Dayton and Butler would be a good fit.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom