Should Jamestown be accepted into the NSIC?

[vikingfaithful]

Which leads again to, there was no need to bring them in. Their struggles to find a home for conference play is not the struggles of the NSIC members. We threw out a life vest for them when we should have allowed them to sink.

You've been right all along Zimmy about the grifter Jimmies. Sooner or later, having played them will ruin some teams SOS just enough to miss a playoff game or home field advantage, that gets awarded to a MIAA, GLIAC Etc member. Their non-competitiveness will hurt the NSIC. Congratulations league decision makers, you got your 16th team.

[zimmy21]

This isn't an Upper Iowa situation where they had GLVC to fall back on. In order to get a GLVC-like conference for Jamestown to move to, more schools need to join Division II, not leave. And they need to join a current conference. I guess it's possible that for example Frontier Conference schools in the Dakotas could latch onto the GNAC during a transition instead of the NSIC, but otherwise there really is nowhere else to turn.

Which leads again to, there was no need to bring them in. Their struggles to find a home for conference play is not the struggles of the NSIC members. We threw out a life vest for them when we should have allowed them to sink.

[Stanger86]

This isn't an Upper Iowa situation where they had GLVC to fall back on. In order to get a GLVC-like conference for Jamestown to move to, more schools need to join Division II, not leave. And they need to join a current conference. I guess it's possible that for example Frontier Conference schools in the Dakotas could latch onto the GNAC during a transition instead of the NSIC, but otherwise there really is nowhere else to turn.

[SW_Mustang]

It's much easier for weak/lazy AD's to add scrub schools that couldn't make it in the NAIA so we can sit back and make scheduling simpler.

Yup - and it's a feel good moment for all involved. Yippie.

[zimmy21]

Yup... people hate pro-rel on this side of the pond, it means teams have to actually compete - and how dare sports be about competition?

It's much easier for weak/lazy AD's to add scrub schools that couldn't make it in the NAIA so we can sit back and make scheduling simpler.

[zimmy21]

Not sustainable as a Division II institution. Should've stayed in NAIA. It will never work.

Are we speaking the same language here? Sioux Falls is and has been since it's inception to the NSIC, a top performing school regardless of enrollment.

Sioux Falls has never finished below 7th in the All-Sports Standings. Meaning they have been committed to running a successful Athletic Department from the jump. Enrollment is a piece in the puzzle, but commitment to their athletics is another.

The difference is that Jamestown was a floundering / failing athletic department that used JV sports to boost enrollment. Only time will still tell how their enrollment will change. Granted it was year 1 for the Jimmies, but 13th place is ridiculous for a school that sponsors all NSIC sports. It just is, let's be real guys.

If that is the type of "competition" that the NSIC wants to surround itself with and be happy about them joining, we have proven how soft we are. 1st for allowing SCSU to drop football, 2nd for keeping UMC at all and now this charity case.

[SW_Mustang]

It would work, it makes too much sense. So clearly it won't pass

Yup... people hate pro-rel on this side of the pond, it means teams have to actually compete - and how dare sports be about competition?

[SW_Mustang]

Yeah, almost like Jamestown, just in a bigger market. Zimmy, opinion on the Cougars? ;)

I knew there was a reason I liked keeping them around :D

[Stanger86]

Didn't realize USF was that much of an outlier on enrollment- I know the campus was small but dang.

I'm not throwing shade - just a little surprising is all.

Not sustainable as a Division II institution. Should've stayed in NAIA. It will never work.

[Millsy]

Didn't realize USF was that much of an outlier on enrollment- I know the campus was small but dang.

I'm not throwing shade - just a little surprising is all.

Yeah, almost like Jamestown, just in a bigger market. Zimmy, opinion on the Cougars? ;)

[zimmy21]

Kinda like it - honestly.

It would work, it makes too much sense. So clearly it won't pass

[SW_Mustang]

Didn't realize USF was that much of an outlier on enrollment- I know the campus was small but dang.

I'm not throwing shade - just a little surprising is all.

[Inkblot]

I just checked Jamestown's 2026 men's soccer schedule, their last independent season before affiliating with the GNAC. They managed to get 12 D2 games (including all the GNAC teams), of which 11 are on the road. https://jimmiepride.com/sports/mens-.../schedule/2026

[Millsy]

School	Location	Enrollment	Micropolitan Population	Median Household Income	Average Household Income	Poverty Rate Percentage
Augustana	Sioux Falls, SD	2584	310,000	82,509.00	104,118.00	6.1
Bemidji State	Bemidji, MN	5300	47,055	68,975.00	71,996.00	16.1
Concordia-St.Paul	St. Paul, MN	5928	3,790,000	132,400.00	138,480.00	15.6
U Jamestown	Jamestown, ND	1376	21,414	61,856.00	79,926.00	11.4
U Mary	Bismarck, ND	4000	139,750	86,769.00	103,500.00	7.8
UM-Crookston	Crookston, MN	2600	30,500	73,107.00	90,262.00	15.6
UM-Duluth	Duluth, MN	9529	281,219	71,769.00	89,000.00	12.7
MSU-Mankato	Mankato, MN	15271	105,200	75,808.00	98,130.00	13.2
MSU-Moorhead	Moorhead, MN	4300	269,528	76,756.00	91,695.00	11.6
Minot State	Minot, ND	2627	75,694	78,200.00	97,384.00	8.7
Northern State	Aberdeen, SD	3739	41,925	71,488.00	83,537.00	11.6
U Sioux Falls	Sioux Falls, SD	1624	310,000	82,509.00	104,118.00	6.1
Southwest MN State	Marshall, MN	3065	25,684	75,303.00	90,694.00	12.2
St. Cloud State	St. Cloud, MN	9646	205,800	75,688.00	83,607.00	12.2
Wayne State	Wayne, NE	4623	36,000	66,215.00	68,427.00	12.5
Winona State	Winona, MN	6170	49,671	70,744.00	86,789.00	14.8

I used Micropolitan/Metropolitan population since that is what the government and businesses look at for market populations. St. Paul gets skewed as it is lumped in with the Twin Cities Metro, Moorhead gets skewed as it gets lumped in with Fargo. The poverty rates are for the micropolitan/metropolitan areas, but in a lot of cases, if you stuck with just the city limits, the percentage went up (ie, Bemidji, St. Paul and St. Cloud were all over 20 percent within the city, but the outer parts of the market brought those down).

Median Population Income is per household. I probably should have added a column for Average Household Income, maybe later. (EDIT: ADDED NOW)

Slow day at work....

[SW_Mustang]

Because it is the offseason I will gladly write out my proposal for what should occur immediately, though will never be entertained by anyone at the correct levels of NCAA officials/Athletic Administrators/Government Officials.

Kinda like it - honestly.