(non-MVC) Realignment News

by **IWokeUpLikeThis** » December 13th, 2018, 8:46 pm

VUGrad called it!

http://espn991.com/augustana-university ... ivision-i/

It is the assumption that the Missouri Valley will be a target for football and the Summit League will be the target for basketball and other sports.

(Beat writers tweeting Augustana-to-Summit a formality)

Augustana to Poineer?
Augustana to MVFC?
Summit FB splits from MVFC?

Don’t follow FCS football but curious the fallout as a realignment junkie. This appears headed for tangible realignment as it typically doesn’t reach this far without a backdoor invite in hand.

Peripherally connected to MVC/Murray pending where Augustana FB lands.

(Heh could be a general non-mvc thread for realignment junkies.)

**Sponsor**

by **isumvc1** » December 13th, 2018, 8:58 pm

Augie will either drop football, as UNO did, or join the Pioneer league.

And they will join the Summit League. Sanford Health and Denny Sanford/Kelby Krabbenhoft will fund this move. And don't be shocked, if down the road, Sanford and Denny/Kelby also fund the move for the University of Sioux Falls to D1 and the SL. That would give South Dakota 4 D-1 teams and the SL tournament would never leave Sioux Falls.

UMKC may as well rejoin also. Why not? Then the conference would be in good shape. Imagine IPFW and Western Illinois will not happy about this.

by **IWokeUpLikeThis** » December 13th, 2018, 9:09 pm

isumvc1 wrote:Augie will either drop football, as UNO did, or join the Pioneer league.

And they will join the Summit League. Sanford Health and Denny Sanford/Kelby Krabbenhoft will fund this move.

UMKC may as well rejoin also. Why not? Then the conference would be in good shape. Imagine IPFW and Western Illinois will not happy about this.

I-29 is built for a Dakota-5/UNO/UMKC 7-some if they go that route, with Denver/ORU/WIU rounding out the numbers. Imagine the Summit prefers UNC to WIU but can’t get UNC on board yet.

Sioux Falls tournament, which has been rising for years, will be even more packed.

Fort Wayne plays in a historic venue inside of a convention center. Great setup better than many Horizon and midmajor schools. Beat IU twice in recent years. Horizon missed the boat on them.

by **VUGrad1314** » December 13th, 2018, 9:47 pm

I called nothing. I just read a lot and post what seems credible. The USD fan board was all over the Augie talk.

http://usdcoyotesports.proboards.com/th ... on?page=25

Some rumblings (according to a poster on our board who has some connections I believe to the PFW program ) that PFW and RMU to the HL may be heating up a bit.

by **BCPanther** » December 13th, 2018, 9:50 pm

They'll have to go Pioneer if they keep football. I can't imagine UNI and Missouri State being okay with playing damn near half their schedules against schools located in the Dakotas while losing more of their long time Gateway rivals, not to mention the impact on recruiting.

If Sioux Falls is also considering the jump, the Summit/MVC spoke is coming. Not sure what that means long term but the Valley schools sure as hell won't go for playing Summit League Football.

by **VUGrad1314** » December 13th, 2018, 9:54 pm

Summit League Football seems unlikely. The Dakotas may not be thrilled with Augie coming aboard but I just can't conceive of them leaving UNI and ISUr and YSU to strike out on their own. If they did however it makes RMU's path to the HL easier since the conference will likely need a member or two and most of the heavy hitters would be gone.

by **VUGrad1314** » December 13th, 2018, 9:56 pm

BCPanther wrote:They'll have to go Pioneer if they keep football. I can't imagine UNI and Missouri State being okay with playing damn near half their schedules against schools located in the Dakotas while losing more of their long time Gateway rivals, not to mention the impact on recruiting.

If Sioux Falls is also considering the jump, the Summit/MVC spoke is coming. Not sure what that means long term but the Valley schools sure as hell won't go for playing Summit League Football.

Some talk from the USD board of St Cloud and Mankato contemplating a D1 future in the SL.

by **Kyle@MOState** » December 14th, 2018, 4:31 pm

BCPanther wrote:They'll have to go Pioneer if they keep football. I can't imagine UNI and Missouri State being okay with playing damn near half their schedules against schools located in the Dakotas while losing more of their long time Gateway rivals, not to mention the impact on recruiting.

If Sioux Falls is also considering the jump, the Summit/MVC spoke is coming. Not sure what that means long term but the Valley schools sure as hell won't go for playing Summit League Football.

I know nothing about Augustana, but I can't imagine they would want to go D1 and let their football program fall to the Pioneer League (No offense Valpo or Drake). That being said, I can't imagine the MVFC extending an invite to them. We are already going to have 14 teams in the conference with North Dakota. I would guess the Big Sky over MVFC and see that conference come back to the Dakotas.

by **IWokeUpLikeThis** » December 14th, 2018, 6:38 pm

Dixie State mulling a WAC offer:
http://dixiesunnews.com/news/articles/2 ... undecided/

WAC also pumping tires with Tarleton State & Metropolitan State.
http://texannews.net/dl-study-points-to ... stays-put/
https://roadrunnersathletics.com/news/2 ... study.aspx

WAC recently added Cal Baptist, who sold out their 5k+ seat new stadium for the opener and came within a shot of knocking off Tulsa.

WAC building around a core 6 of NMSU/GCU/CBU/Seattle/Utah Valley/Rio Grande Valley (opened new arena in November vs Oklahoma).

Recent NIT Final 4 Bakersfield out the door to Big West. UMKC and Chicago State round out the roster with shotgun invites to Dixie, Tarleton, & Metro on the horizon.

by **isumvc1** » December 14th, 2018, 8:32 pm

KSFY reported tonight on the 5:00 news that Augie will start D1 in the Fall of 2021, so two more years in the NSIC, then up to D1 (assuming the SL invites them, which is a no brainer). They also reported they will take ALL sports to D1, including football, but did not specify if they'd go non scholarship.

So it looks like 2 more years for sure before they actually start in D1

That'll give time for some other old D2 schools to announce moving up, like Morningside (Sioux City), University of Sioux Falls, Minnesota State-Mankato, Minnesota-Duluth, Southwest Minnesota State, Wayne State (Nebraska), etc.... and they can all join the SL as well. It'd make for a great conference geographically and competitively.