July 1 - Moving Day 2023

[Inkblot]

Announced in November, but I didn't see it until today... Lincoln (PA) baseball and women's soccer are moving from the ECC to the CACC next season. https://lulions.com/news/2023/11/28/...-baseball.aspx

[Finchwidget]

Sort of flew under the radar with the Week 0 announcement, but the NCAA also drafted legislation to lower the number of sponsoring schools necessary to sponsor a Division II championship to 35, and remove exceptions for Olympic sports. The only sport this affects is women's rowing, which sits at 15 sponsoring schools right now, so we probably won't see that as a sponsored sport at the D-II level in the next few years.

[Predatory Primates]

Pitt will be bringing back Men's golf with women's golf to be added the year after.

[ctrabs74]

I always thought the norm was for schools to apply as soon as they make their intentions to move to D2 clear, and then spend the first year of reclassification finishing out their obligations to their NAIA or D3 conference before playing a D2 schedule. Waiting an extra year to apply just to spend a third year playing a D2 schedule while ineligible for championships is kinda strange to me... Wonder what their hesitation is?

There could be some logistics issues on Middle Georgia State's side, like facilities and other factors we're not privy to, that's causing them to delay their transition to D2. As I recall, there was talk about MGSU making the move as early as late 2022/early 2023, but we didn't get the announcement until recently.

[ctrabs74]

Point Park makes it five.

The MEC press release:

https://mountaineast.org/news/2024/1...niversity.aspx

Interestingly, this actually made the newscasts in Pittsburgh, which is something that rarely happens for the PSAC schools in Western Pennsylvania, let alone what strikes me as a "commuter" school in Downtown Pittsburgh:

https://twitter.com/PointParkSports/...7Ctwgr%5Etweet

https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/poin...CLS4GYNAZQUIU/

FWIW, Point Park plays their "home" basketball games at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC-Allegheny campus) in the North Side of Pittsburgh. An interesting move, but it seems like the MEC was more desperate to get to 12 teams, because I don't know that there was any chatter about Point Park moving to D2, let along joining the MEC.

[Tech Boys]

Women's golf currently has a field of 48 compared to 80 in men's, when there are only 18 fewer sponsoring schools.

And the field is really way to big on the men's side as well. The access ratio for the men is 2.675 and for the women it's 4.167. Four conferences do not sponsor Women's Golf (CACC, CIAA, ECC, and SIAC). The CCAA only started sponsorship in 2017-18 when Cal State-Los Angeles added the sport to give the conference their 6th team and there hasn't been another new team since. I'm all for expanding postseason opportunities but D2 Golf has too many teams (men and women).

[Inkblot]

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/1/11/...er-school.aspx

DII Presidents Council approves supplemental distribution of $13,500 per school



Bracket expansion in Field Hockey and Lacrosse has been sorely needed for years. I don't get the increased field size for Women's Golf; there's not enough teams to warrant the current field size.

Women's golf currently has a field of 48 compared to 80 in men's, when there are only 18 fewer sponsoring schools.

[Tech Boys]

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/1/11/...er-school.aspx

DII Presidents Council approves supplemental distribution of $13,500 per school

The Division II Presidents Council approved a recommendation on how to allocate a total of $4.4 million that includes a surplus from the 2022-23 budget plus unallocated revenue from 2023-24. Of note, the approval will allocate roughly $3.9 million of the total for a supplemental distribution to Division II schools, approximately $13,500 per school, which will be sent to Division II members in February.

The Presidents Council also approved the triennial budget recommendations for Division II championships, which included $1.3 million annually for various championships enhancements and initiatives beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The recommendations include additional participation opportunities for student-athletes through bracket expansions in field hockey and men's and women's lacrosse and increased field sizes in women's golf and men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field.

Bracket expansion in Field Hockey and Lacrosse has been sorely needed for years. I don't get the increased field size for Women's Golf; there's not enough teams to warrant the current field size.

[Finchwidget]

A reclassifying school playing D2 in Year 1 has happened on rare occasions. Northwestern Oklahoma State, Frostburg State, South Carolina-Beaufort, Allen, Edward Waters, and D'Youville partially did it (their Year 1 was 2020-21 when D3 did not compete until the spring sport season).

Yeah, that makes sense I suppose. I guess I'm more curious on why they feel the need to wait an extra year after they've gotten their invite from the PBC. They can still fulfill their commitment to their NAIA conference while in their reclassification period, and my understanding is that they've been planning this move for a little while now, so now that they've got their green light, why not step on the gas?

[laker]

This would be an interesting read

He did this about 20 years ago. After he became an AD we sat in his office and talked about it. I don't think anyone could predict PAC teams being in the BIG, Big 12 and ACC! I need to catch up with him again.

[ESU Warrior]

One of my HS students did his term paper on realignment. It was really good, I challenged him on several teams but he made excellent defenses of his picks. He showed geography, school size, etc. Today he is a HS athletic director!

This would be an interesting read

[Tech Boys]

I always thought the norm was for schools to apply as soon as they make their intentions to move to D2 clear, and then spend the first year of reclassification finishing out their obligations to their NAIA or D3 conference before playing a D2 schedule. Waiting an extra year to apply just to spend a third year playing a D2 schedule while ineligible for championships is kinda strange to me... Wonder what their hesitation is?

A reclassifying school playing D2 in Year 1 has happened on rare occasions. Northwestern Oklahoma State, Frostburg State, South Carolina-Beaufort, Allen, Edward Waters, and D'Youville partially did it (their Year 1 was 2020-21 when D3 did not compete until the spring sport season).

[Finchwidget]

Yes, the Peach Belt officially invites Middle Georgia State but they will not be applying until 2025 and would begin D2 and PBC competition in Fall 2025.

https://mgaknights.com/news/2024/1/1...embership.aspx

I always thought the norm was for schools to apply as soon as they make their intentions to move to D2 clear, and then spend the first year of reclassification finishing out their obligations to their NAIA or D3 conference before playing a D2 schedule. Waiting an extra year to apply just to spend a third year playing a D2 schedule while ineligible for championships is kinda strange to me... Wonder what their hesitation is?

[Tech Boys]

Yes, the Peach Belt officially invites Middle Georgia State but they will not be applying until 2025 and would begin D2 and PBC competition in Fall 2025.

https://mgaknights.com/news/2024/1/1...embership.aspx

[Inkblot]

Point Park makes it five.

Apparently Middle Georgia isn't applying until 2025. So it's four as of now.