St. Thomas - Are They Hosed?

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MplsGopher said:
The proposal was for new legislation that would govern a process for any DIII school to apply to move directly to DI.

Maybe that would spark schools such as Johns Hopkins, UChicago, WashU, etc. to consider it. But that could also be wishful thinking.
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A DI move is a full academic and all athletics team move. A lot of these high profile DIII’s have a sport or 2 that they emphasize or elevate, but I question whether they would even want to take all their sports to DI. ST’s request from DIII is somewhat unique in that they desire a full athletic transition.
 

again...nobody cares...except for the few people who whine and cry the loudest to be heard. NO ONE CARES...WORK HARDER. I hope they go D1...let's see how that goes. Schedule NDSU...please do and then run your mouth.
 


Swede said:
This is not even a remote possibility. The MVFC is the best conference in FCS football and its not even close. The more likely scenario would see teams leave the MVFC. Youngstown and Mo St. have had eyes for FBS and Youngstown is a geographic outlier. NDSU might have the local and regional support and success to play FBS football but there has been enough analysis of why that doesn't work.
If the Summit members sponsoring football would leave, scheduling would be a nightmare with only five conference games. FBS teams are reluctant to play Dakota Schools because of the very real possibility of losing and its too expensive for Dakota schools to pay guarantees to get home games OOC.
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Counter argument - MVFC is the best conference (which I agree), but part of what it makes it so strong is the additions of NDSU, SDSU, and USD... not sure Western Illinois adds much. The conference will only get deeper with UND adding to the mix next year.

If you go:
NDSU, SDSU, USD, UND, Western Illinois, St. Thomas - that is a good start, but guessing it is a scheduling nightmare trying to find quite a few non-conference games.
 


With yesterday’s news this should be the last post in this thread until there is an announcement of scholarship vs non scholarship football
 


MNfootballfan said:
Counter argument - MVFC is the best conference (which I agree), but part of what it makes it so strong is the additions of NDSU, SDSU, and USD... not sure Western Illinois adds much. The conference will only get deeper with UND adding to the mix next year.

If you go:
NDSU, SDSU, USD, UND, Western Illinois, St. Thomas - that is a good start, but guessing it is a scheduling nightmare trying to find quite a few non-conference games.
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The only way it would be possible is a scheduling alliance with the remaining MVFC schools - the ones actually in the MVC, except for Youngstown which is in the Horizon League.

So if you do that ... what is the difference? What is actually gained? You could argue that it ensures one auto-bid for the Summit (basically the Dakota 4) and one auto-bid for the traditional MVC football schools. But the MVFC currently is almost assured multiple bids every year. So, not sure it gains you much. Unless you're N Iowa and the Dakota 4 absolutely dominate the conference and steal all the bids every year, but I doubt that will happen.
 

MNfootballfan said:
Counter argument - MVFC is the best conference (which I agree), but part of what it makes it so strong is the additions of NDSU, SDSU, and USD... not sure Western Illinois adds much. The conference will only get deeper with UND adding to the mix next year.

If you go:
NDSU, SDSU, USD, UND, Western Illinois, St. Thomas - that is a good start, but guessing it is a scheduling nightmare trying to find quite a few non-conference games.
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What exactly going on with Fight Hawks? Where are they currently playing?
 



MplsGopher said:
The only way it would be possible is a scheduling alliance with the remaining MVFC schools - the ones actually in the MVC, except for Youngstown which is in the Horizon League.

So if you do that ... what is the difference? What is actually gained? You could argue that it ensures one auto-bid for the Summit (basically the Dakota 4) and one auto-bid for the traditional MVC football schools. But the MVFC currently is almost assured multiple bids every year. So, not sure it gains you much. Unless you're N Iowa and the Dakota 4 absolutely dominate the conference and steal all the bids every year, but I doubt that will happen.
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I'm not sure how NCAA distributes money based off the FCS tourney, but assuming it's like basketball, it likely would result in more money per school to the Summit teams. Today, if three MVFC teams make it (two Summit and one MVC) that money is divided amongst twelve schools. Going forward, if two Summit teams make it that money would be be divided amongst only six schools.
4four4 said:
What exactly going on with Fight Hawks? Where are they currently playing?
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They were Big Sky until 2017, then they became "independent" (played a Big Sky schedule but didn't qualify as a Big Sky member, games against them counted as conference games), will be MVC next season.
 

Money? Haha, no. There is no money.

I can’t imagine the rights to put the FCS playoffs on ESPN2 are worth much. There are no “units” per conference, like March Madness.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
oh gawd why are we playing these guys, we're getting killed!?!?!?!

i don't know, some guy messed up when he was posting on gopherhole!!!
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Frankly, I blame posters on GopherHole for most of the bad things in my life.
 

4four4 said:
What exactly going on with Fight Hawks? Where are they currently playing?
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Funny you ask. I had no idea - I looked on the Missouri Valley site and saw NDSU, SDSU, and USD and was confused. Apparently UND played as an independent the past two years and will enter the Missouri Valley next year.
 



St. Thomas had to refund A LOT of money this spring that was paid for Dorm rooms and meals when the campus was shut down.
 

GridironGus said:
St. Thomas had to refund A LOT of money this spring that was paid for Dorm rooms and meals when the campus was shut down.
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Indeed. What does this have to do with moving to D1 athletics?
 

GridironGus said:
St. Thomas had to refund A LOT of money this spring that was paid for Dorm rooms and meals when the campus was shut down.
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U of M also had to refund quite a bit of money along with many other schools.
 

St. Thomas:



I don't think they're boned... i'm just amused this thread has lasted as long as it has.
 


Yes, yes they do. And they're going to.

Anything else?
 

ESPN makes money off fcs playoffs.

St Thomas will be in the Summit (for all Olympic sports) this was decided when Summit said NO to Augustana.

Football is the question mark. If they go play D1 Pioneer League Non Scholarship, thats saves a ton of money and they can still play St Johns and Schedule Non Conf teams like NDSU UNI SDSU etc and get money that way
 

bisonation said:
ESPN makes money off fcs playoffs.

St Thomas will be in the Summit (for all Olympic sports) this was decided when Summit said NO to Augustana.

Football is the question mark. If they go play D1 Pioneer League Non Scholarship, thats saves a ton of money and they can still play St Johns and Schedule Non Conf teams like NDSU UNI SDSU etc and get money that way
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And the pioneer gets an autobid.

I actually feel they could dominate the pioneer league whereas they’d struggle to consistently be top 4 in the Missouri valley or big sky.


but I’ve been wrong about everything every step of the way this entire time so...
 

exactly either go Pioneer & Keep Hockey

or

MVFC and drop hockey and go all in for football
 


hockey should be dropped at most schools, niche sport, niche fanbase, costs are ridiculous.

St Thomas should drop it.
 

I like the PIoneer Football idea, and if there really is a auto-bid, St. Thomas could make a pretty good run at it most years if they can keep getting talent like they have in the past, and upgrade somewhat.

Can Missouri Valley level Football with Hockey still in the mix happen for Saint Thomas? I am not really sure, but men's sports would have to take a pretty big hit to balance out the title IX numbers. I am not sure St. Thomas hockey is going to draw fans from the alumni base, even in the CCHA. Maybe I am wrong. Can UST if MVFC scholarship level start to grab some of the local talent that goes west today? Maybe

Then again we really do not know how deep the open pockets are of the donors St. Thomas has been getting commitments from, but clearly they feel pretty good about the Pioneer Football option funding for now, and maybe more. I do not think the leadership at St. Thomas was going to take any big risks with this. If they are moving forward, than suggests they have some very serious money lined up, earmarked for athletics. In the past they have brought in T. Denny Sanford types of big donors, so we will see.

The other wildcard is men's basketball. Real D1 basketball could bring out the usually disinterested graduates, and it is pretty easy to play some games at the Xcel Energy Center, and maybe make some money. Sure it would be like watching the 1989-90 MusselmanTimberwolves vs. the Lakers or Bulls, but I guess it would be the 'big time".

Of course the Saint Thomas women's teams would be flush with scholarship athletes for sure to balance it out. These will be great days for the UST women's teams.
 
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Mn white kids need a d1 alternative to uw or ia. Ust to the rescue.
 

Off of the top of my head I do know UST has billionaire Lee R. Anderson (API Group) and Jerry O'Shaughnessy (Lario Oil & Gas)( GeoPark Limited )(I.A. O'Shaughnessy Foundation), Patrick O'Shaughnessy and Michael O'Shaughnessy. There are others.
 

4four4 said:
Off of the top of my head I do know UST has billionaire Lee R. Anderson (API Group) and Jerry O'Shaughnessy (Lario Oil & Gas)( GeoPark Limited )(I.A. O'Shaughnessy Foundation), Patrick O'Shaughnessy and Michael O'Shaughnessy. There are others.
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Schultze family (Best Buy)
Rauenhorst family (Opus)
 

Plus, there will be naming rights/opportunities for Twin Cities businesses/corporations that might've missed out on those chances with the U of MN.
 

MplsGopher said:
Plus, there will be naming rights/opportunities for Twin Cities businesses/corporations that might've missed out on those chances with the U of MN.
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There are plenty of wealthy families in the state who will not give to the U because it is not their school. I know of two Interlachen members who have given several million dollar gifts to Michigan and Purdue athletic departments because those are their schools , they hate the Gophers. I know how hard fundraising in our athletic department is. We fall short to some schools by 40 million per year in athletic department donations. St. Thomas clearly has the donors to get started on a small scale or they would never try this.
 

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