Division I's Newest Team Is Playing in Division III Right Now

The obvious question that comes to mind is ...

What does this move say about Mt Union (13) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (6)?

Those two programs have claimed 19 Division III championships combined, including 12 of them since 2005. In fact, only once in that span has a title match been held without one of those clubs being a part of it.

However, the Purple Raiders and Warhawks are staying put.

 

The University of St Thomas in Minneapolis are not.

They're movin' on up to Division I.

 

The Tommies have only made two appearances in the D-III championship game -- losing to Mt Union in 2012 and 2015 -- but they've got an issue the division's two powerhouses don't.

Dudes are getting kicked outta their conference for being too good in them. Two seasons ago, for example, the Tommies outscored their opponents, 244-0.

OK, Georgia Tech damn near did that to Cumberland in one game back in 1916, but St Thomas wasn't playing the Bulldogs -- now the Phoenix -- every game. They just spread out the snot-knocking.

 

So, after being proud members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference since 1920, the Tommies are gonna see if they can become big fish in the D-I pond.

Because of the situation -- apparently deemed as urgent by the NCAA as it wasn't the school's idea to do this -- the usual 12-year upgrading process has been waived. That means they won't be making a five-year stop in D-II, among other things.

St Thomas's gridders will thus be headed to the Pioneer League when they join it in 2021.

In the process, that FCS circuit continues to morph into one long-haul geography lesson:

Putting it mildly, this is an interesting conference:

• It was the only coast-to-coast circuit until the end of last season, when Jacksonville dropped football;
• Dayton joined Buffalo as the last two NCAA outfits to jump from D-III to D-I back in 1993, although the Flyers were already top-division in hoops; and now
• The Tommies have found refuge there.

 

It's not just that St Thomas football is its only powerful program, either.

This school of 6200 -- twice as large as any other conference school -- powders the opposition in every MIAC sport.

 

So they're scattering their teams to more than what's basically a catch-all football alliance.

 

No doubt, the Tommies will have lotsa catching up to do, too.

Starting with who's who in conferences like hockey's WCHA. Ohio State and Minnesota, for example, left for their native Big Ten when it formed its own hockey league to provide more content for their network programming.

The football team will get acquainted with their new surroundings soon enough. In theory, the higher caliber of competition will do them some good.

Maybe then they can schedule a few non-cons with Mt Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater and put up more of a fight.