Saint Francis goes D-III

[jr/shotglass]

I see this was in the college basketball thread. I think it's worth its own.

Saint Francis was in March Madness last week. Today, it's headed to the Division III Presidents' Athletic Conference.

The school apparently decided that the upcoming legislation to allow schools to pay athletes directly was the final straw. And, as 2mcm alluded to in the other thread, this could be the beginning of the mid-majors backing away from the business of college sports.

Saint Francis Red Flash dropping to Division III after NCAA tournament appearance

Just one week after an appearance in the men’s basketball NCAA tournament, the Saint Francis Red Flash are significantly moving down. The men’s...

www.post-gazette.com

 

[Baron Scicluna]

It could be worse. At least they're still having an athletic program, unlike St. Francis of NY, which dropped their athletic program.

 

[jr/shotglass]

It could be worse. At least they're still having an athletic program, unlike St. Francis of NY, which dropped their athletic program.

Frankly, Loretto has less to offer in terms of college experience than most of the venues in the D-II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

 

[dixiehack]

That's eight schools left for the NEC, half of whom have joined in the last three seasons. All but Chicago State are transitioning up from D-II. Not exactly a paragon of stability.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

That's eight schools left for the NEC, half of whom have joined in the last three seasons. All but Chicago State are transitioning up from D-II. Not exactly a paragon of stability.

Reading this reminded me that some of the MAAC schools are not doing well financially. The NEC might--might--hang on if a couple of those drop down. Or the MAAC or A-East might finish off the NEC by taking its last couple sturdy institutions (Central CT & LIU?).

 

[jr/shotglass]

I know everyone around here scratched their heads when Mercyhurst, a fair-to-middling D-II program in the PSAC, bolted for FCS football and D-I hoops in the NEC a year or two ago.

I didn't even know Stonehill had moved up to D-I, and I'm a junkie for that sort of stuff.

 

[justgladtobehere]

I had to look up St. Francis' conference and
two things.

1) I don't think any of those schools should be in D-I. Stonehill?
2) This note at the top of the Wikipedia page made me chuckle

Not to be confused with North Eastern Athletic Conference, Northeastern Conference, or Northeast-10 Conference.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Calling St. Francis a mid-major is like calling everyone in porn a porn star.

 

[Cosmo]

I've actually covered a game in Loretto. Nothing like Liberty-St. Francis on a mid-2000s Saturday night...

Hartford just did this a few years ago. I do think this is going to be the beginning of the end of the low major. I wonder about schools like Longwood that just put a ton of capital into building a pretty nice little arena. What does VMI gain by staying Division I? It's at a terrible competitive disadvantage just to stay afloat in the SoCon? Fordham has more in common with Manhattan and the rest of the MAAC than it does with VCU and Dayton and the A-10.

 

[HanSenSE]

Wouldn't surprise me on the least to see more faith-based schools in low majors move down. For many, it seemed like a cash grab in the first place.

 

[Cosmo]

Saint Francis reached the absolute pinnacle of the sport considering its standing in the landscape -- win your league tournament, win a play-in game, get smashed by a 1 seed in the round of 64. We can talk about how -- theoretically (jerk-off emoji) -- everyone in Division I has a chance to win a national title. But, yeah, no.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Incidentally, remove FDU from the Northeast this year, and the remainder of the schools combined for a nifty 20-94 record in non-con games.