St. Thomas jumping to Division I in 2021

Discussion in 'College & Amateur Soccer' started by gauchodan, Jul 15, 2020.

  1. gauchodan

    gauchodan Member+

    Oct 18, 2016
    St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN) is the first school to move from Division III to Division I in the modern era after receiving a waiver of the normal 12-year transition (including a 5-year stop in Division II). The Tommies will compete in men's soccer in the Summit League beginning in 2021 and will be eligible for postseason play in 2025.

    The St. Thomas move was driven by football, as the Tommies had been kicked out of their conference last year after years of domination. The NCAA tabled a proposal looking to change the D3 to D1 rule earlier this year, but signaled to the school that it was open to a waiver.
     
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  2. PlaySimple

    PlaySimple Member

    Sep 22, 2016
    Chicagoland
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    While St. Thomas has a very successful football team, they are not the strongest D3 program in men's football. That honor would probably belong to Mt. Union of Ohio that since 2000 has been the D3 champs 9 times and the runner-up 8 times. Wisconsin-Whitewater also has a successful men's football team with 6 championships and 4 runners-up. For comparison purposes, St. Thomas has been runner-up 2 times in that same time period. The resources involved making the jump from D3 to D1 are immense. I'm surprised that they're doing this. The St. Thomas football team has a huge fan base and I'm sure that they will continue to be followed well and should probably be successful in the Summit League.

    That said, I'm surprised that the Tommies are doing this for all sports. It seems that they could have moved to D1 in football and remained D3 in other sports. This does happen. Some prominent examples would be Johns Hopkins that plays D1 in the Big 10 for men's and women's lacrosse, Hobart in men's lacrosse, Clarkson, Colorado College, RPI, RIT, and St. Lawrence in Hockey, and MIT in rowing. There are also numerous schools that play D2 in sports but field hockey teams that play D1.
     
  3. ThePonchat

    ThePonchat Member+

    #ProRelForUSA
    United States
    Jan 10, 2013
    I've Been Everywhere Man
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, they were kicked out of their DIII conference in Minnnesota -- for being "too good."

    So, they had to find something else. But, I don't see this being a positive thing overall. They do have a lot of resources there. I'm not so sure the most recent lower division schools jumping up has been so successful, especially in men's soccer. Incarnate Word? Centenary? Northern Kentucky? Grand Canyon, which may be the most successful in soccer but not extremely successful elsewhere.

    I'm sure there's more, but those are the first few off the top of my head. Not including brand new men's programs like Utah Valley or UTRGV.
     
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  4. VASoccer75

    VASoccer75 Member

    Oct 28, 2015
    [QUOTE="PlaySimple, post: 38810939, member: 296217]
    That said, I'm surprised that the Tommies are doing this for all sports. It seems that they could have moved to D1 in football and remained D3 in other sports. This does happen. Some prominent examples would be Johns Hopkins that plays D1 in the Big 10 for men's and women's lacrosse, Hobart in men's lacrosse, Clarkson, Colorado College, RPI, RIT, and St. Lawrence in Hockey, and MIT in rowing. There are also numerous schools that play D2 in sports but field hockey teams that play D1.[/QUOTE]


    that rule changed for the NCAA a while back. Most of the examples you have named have either been grandfathered in or their respective division doesn’t offer a championship for that sport. So the whole athletic department has to compete at the same level. But I also don’t agree with them too DIII to DI
     
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