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We had this story on Bradleyfans a few months ago-
St. Thomas wins too much, kicked out of MIAC
Division III University of St. Thomas, a private Catholic university in St. Paul, Minnesota has been so successful in many sports in the D3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) that the conference voted this past spring to involuntarily remove them from the conference because of "competitive advantages". It is a well-funded school that has a much larger sports budget than the other MIAC schools. The removal takes effect at the end of the 2020-21 school year. They have won 6 conference football championships since 2010, and have made it to the D3 national title game twice. And they have had consistent success in nearly every other of their 22 men's and women's varsity sports.
In basketball, the men's team was 24-5 overall and 18-2 in the MIAC last season, and made it to the NCAA D3 Sweet 16.
The women's basketball team was 30-2, 18-0 in their conference, and made it to the semifinal of the D3 National Tournament.
Today, they announced that rather than seek another D3 conference, they will take the highly unusual step of requesting a special waiver from the NCAA to allow them to move directly from Division III to Division I, and they have announced that they have received an invitation to join the Summit League-
NCAA rules specify that a DIII school must first stop at Division II before climbing to DI, a process that normally takes 12 years. No team has ever moved directly from D1 to D3 before, but St. Thomas feels they have a good chance of getting the NCAA to issue a waiver.
If approved, they will join the Summit League at the start of the 2021-22 season.
There are a couple problems posed by the potential move. The Summit League does not play football, and St. Thomas' successful D3 football program would need to find a different conference. They are exploring either the D1-AA Missouri Valley Football Conference or the non-scholarship Pioneer League. Also, they have a pretty good D3 hockey team that will look into other conference possibilities.
One possibility....There are 7 teams leaving the Division I WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) in 2021, so it might be possible to pursue membership with the new league they intend to form, or possibly join with the remaining teams to rebuild the WCHA.
St. Thomas wins too much, kicked out of MIAC
Division III University of St. Thomas, a private Catholic university in St. Paul, Minnesota has been so successful in many sports in the D3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) that the conference voted this past spring to involuntarily remove them from the conference because of "competitive advantages". It is a well-funded school that has a much larger sports budget than the other MIAC schools. The removal takes effect at the end of the 2020-21 school year. They have won 6 conference football championships since 2010, and have made it to the D3 national title game twice. And they have had consistent success in nearly every other of their 22 men's and women's varsity sports.
In basketball, the men's team was 24-5 overall and 18-2 in the MIAC last season, and made it to the NCAA D3 Sweet 16.
The women's basketball team was 30-2, 18-0 in their conference, and made it to the semifinal of the D3 National Tournament.
Today, they announced that rather than seek another D3 conference, they will take the highly unusual step of requesting a special waiver from the NCAA to allow them to move directly from Division III to Division I, and they have announced that they have received an invitation to join the Summit League-
NCAA rules specify that a DIII school must first stop at Division II before climbing to DI, a process that normally takes 12 years. No team has ever moved directly from D1 to D3 before, but St. Thomas feels they have a good chance of getting the NCAA to issue a waiver.
If approved, they will join the Summit League at the start of the 2021-22 season.
There are a couple problems posed by the potential move. The Summit League does not play football, and St. Thomas' successful D3 football program would need to find a different conference. They are exploring either the D1-AA Missouri Valley Football Conference or the non-scholarship Pioneer League. Also, they have a pretty good D3 hockey team that will look into other conference possibilities.
One possibility....There are 7 teams leaving the Division I WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) in 2021, so it might be possible to pursue membership with the new league they intend to form, or possibly join with the remaining teams to rebuild the WCHA.