OT: D1

[Bart]

Bloom AD's recent letter: "2026 also is going to provide some interesting changes – on top of those already occurring in intercollegiate athletics (transfer portal, NIL, etc.). Next week (Jan. 12-16, 2026), the annual NCAA Convention will be held – this year in Washington, D.C. One of the legislative highlights will be the full-Division II membership vote on Athletics Eligibility and if student-athletes will be eligible for a fifth season of competition. Yes, you did read that correctly … Five years/seasons of competition will be voted and that impact will ripple through the Division II landscape. What does it mean? Here is the wording in the Proposed Legislation:

ELIGIBILITY -- ATHLETICS ELIGIBILITY -- SEASONS OF COMPETITION: 10-SEMESTER/15-QUARTER RULE -- FIVE SEASONS OF COMPETITION IN 10-SEMESTERS/15-QUARTERS: To amend the seasons of competition legislation, as follows: (1) To permit a student-athlete to engage in five seasons of intercollegiate competition in any one sport during their first 10-semesters or 15-quarters of full-time enrollment; (2) To eliminate the currently legislated exceptions and waivers associated with the seasons of competition legislation; and (3) To amend the exceptions and waivers for the period of eligibility, as specified."

[EyeoftheHawk]

Bloom AD's recent letter: "2026 also is going to provide some interesting changes – on top of those already occurring in intercollegiate athletics (transfer portal, NIL, etc.). Next week (Jan. 12-16, 2026), the annual NCAA Convention will be held – this year in Washington, D.C. One of the legislative highlights will be the full-Division II membership vote on Athletics Eligibility and if student-athletes will be eligible for a fifth season of competition. Yes, you did read that correctly … Five years/seasons of competition will be voted and that impact will ripple through the Division II landscape. What does it mean? Here is the wording in the Proposed Legislation:

ELIGIBILITY -- ATHLETICS ELIGIBILITY -- SEASONS OF COMPETITION: 10-SEMESTER/15-QUARTER RULE -- FIVE SEASONS OF COMPETITION IN 10-SEMESTERS/15-QUARTERS: To amend the seasons of competition legislation, as follows: (1) To permit a student-athlete to engage in five seasons of intercollegiate competition in any one sport during their first 10-semesters or 15-quarters of full-time enrollment; (2) To eliminate the currently legislated exceptions and waivers associated with the seasons of competition legislation; and (3) To amend the exceptions and waivers for the period of eligibility, as specified."

Matt wrote about this recently. Us D2 fans should find this a fabulous idea. It would be nice to see a few more D1 level athletes locally on Saturday afternoons.

[iupgroundhog]

Matt wrote about this recently. Us D2 fans should find this a fabulous idea. It would be nice to see a few more D1 level athletes locally on Saturday afternoons.

I hope it is approved.

[IUP24]

The SRU DB, Kanye Thompson, has committed to Pitt. Reports were that his final three schools were Ohio State, Tennessee, and Pitt. Normally I would not suggest that as a big commit, but he had an incredible offer list.

Former IUP DE Logan Goodwin is visiting Pitt this weekend. He's been offered by a ton of G5 schools and a couple P4 programs.

[Fightingscot82]

The SRU DB, Kanye Thompson, has committed to Pitt. Reports were that his final three schools were Ohio State, Tennessee, and Pitt. Normally I would not suggest that as a big commit, but he had an incredible offer list.

Former IUP DE Logan Goodwin is visiting Pitt this weekend. He's been offered by a ton of G5 schools and a couple P4 programs.

He has 2 years of eligibility left, so I think he's viewed as more than just a deep roster body.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He has 2 years of eligibility left, so I think he's viewed as more than just a deep roster body.

Unfortunately recruiting the PSAC and Robert Morris isn't going to help Pitt very much.

[IUPNation]

Miami..being the 10th seed…will
play for the National Title on their home field.

[Ram040506]

Miami..being the 10th seed…will
play for the National Title on their home field.

While this is true, its probably the worst home field advantage amongst P4 teams. Nobody goes to their games unless they are playing FSU or a bigger opponent like ND. It's 40 mins from campus.

[IUP24]

While this is true, its probably the worst home field advantage amongst P4 teams. Nobody goes to their games unless they are playing FSU or a bigger opponent like ND. It's 40 mins from campus.

The number of people at your home football games does not matter in the slightest.

[Chuck Norris]

While this is true, it’s probably the worst home field advantage amongst P4 teams. Nobody goes to their games unless they are playing FSU or a bigger opponent like ND. It's 40 mins from campus.

Yeah, while not having to leave home for all the things you have to do leading up to the game will be nice for Miami, inside the stadium I’d expect Indiana or Oregon to have a significant fan advantage. Miami certainly earned their way to wherever the game is. What a run by them.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yeah, while not having to leave home for all the things you have to do leading up to the game will be nice for Miami, inside the stadium I’d expect Indiana or Oregon to have a significant fan advantage. Miami certainly earned their way to wherever the game is. What a run by them.

Never know. Miami has always had a huge bandwagon following. They show up - typically - when they are rolling.

The final game is an event / spectacle. It is Miami in January. It will be a tough ticket. This will be a game for the wealthy.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Miami..being the 10th seed…will
play for the National Title on their home field.

The camera cutting to Michael Irvin about 46 times will be fantastic.

[Chuck Norris]

Never know. Miami has always had a huge bandwagon following. They show up - typically - when they are rolling.

The final game is an event / spectacle. It is Miami in January. It will be a tough ticket. This will be a game for the wealthy.

Given their football history, or lack of it, and the incredible nature of their rise, I would expect Indiana fans to show up in droves. I would guess they’ll look at this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and spare no expense, even though it doesn’t seem like Curt and Co. are going away anytime soon.

Oregon maybe not quite so much, it is a long way. But they haven’t won one yet either and all that Nike money could buy a lot of flights and tickets.

[Ship69]

Given their football history, or lack of it, and the incredible nature of their rise, I would expect Indiana fans to show up in droves. I would guess they’ll look at this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and spare no expense, even though it doesn’t seem like Curt and Co. are going away anytime soon.

Oregon maybe not quite so much, it is a long way. But they haven’t won one yet either and all that Nike money could buy a lot of flights and tickets.

Big Ten fans generally travel well. I was going to more Northwestern games a few seasons back, and they'd get nice crowds at some of the away games. You wouldn't expect that of Northwestern, since they have a small undergrad enrollment and generally not great teams, but being a private university their alums don't end to gather in the Midwest as most Big 10 schools do. I remember a Duke game where there must have been about 7,000 NU fans in Duke's relatively small stadium. There were also good turnouts when they played at West Point and Annapolis.

The bad side ot it was that NU didn't get huge turnouts for home games, so if we were playing Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc., they'd swoop in and take over our stadium. On reason Northwestern is reducing seating in their new stadium is that they just got tired of home games that seemed like away games.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Big Ten fans generally travel well. I was going to more Northwestern games a few seasons back, and they'd get nice crowds at some of the away games. You wouldn't expect that of Northwestern, since they have a small undergrad enrollment and generally not great teams, but being a private university their alums don't end to gather in the Midwest as most Big 10 schools do. I remember a Duke game where there must have been about 7,000 NU fans in Duke's relatively small stadium. There were also good turnouts when they played at West Point and Annapolis.

The bad side ot it was that NU didn't get huge turnouts for home games, so if we were playing Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc., they'd swoop in and take over our stadium. On reason Northwestern is reducing seating in their new stadium is that they just got tired of home games that seemed like away games.

Years ago, Pitt played a (rare) road game at Akron. That's a fairly big deal for a MAC school to host a P4.

Regardless, it was a freaking monsoon the entire day. The big crowd they were likely anticipating never showed up.

A buddy and I drove up. Anyway, point of the story is Akron has a fantastic stadium. I think it would be perfect for the majority of P4 programs.

Obviously the PSU types need the giant cathedrals, but most just need a really nice, 35,000-seat stadium.

And, naturally, it's nearly empty for most Akron games.