NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Saint Francis University’s Board of Trustees is announcing the University's plans to re-classify from NCAA Division I to NCAA Division III and join the Presidents’ Athletic Conference...
How did it manage to maintain a decent sized DI athletic program with an enrollment of 1,691 (+ 540 grad), and an endowment of $51.9 million?
I've wondered about that too. I can only think that they were doing well with donors. But realistically I think this makes sense for them. The school has a lot more in common with places like St. Vincent or Albright than they do with Pitt or even Youngstown State, etc. I'd bet they looked at the coming era of paying athletes and raising NIL money and it convinced them that they'd be way over their heads in D1. I do wonder if they're the first domino to fall and specifically what might become of the Northeast Conference which is full of schools that have a lot more in common with St. Francis than they do with Pitt or even Youngstown State etc.
How did it manage to maintain a decent sized DI athletic program with an enrollment of 1,691 (+ 540 grad), and an endowment of $51.9 million?
I've wondered about that too. I can only think that they were doing well with donors. But realistically I think this makes sense for them. The school has a lot more in common with places like St. Vincent or Albright than they do with Pitt or even Youngstown State, etc. I'd bet they looked at the coming era of paying athletes and raising NIL money and it convinced them that they'd be way over their heads in D1. I do wonder if they're the first domino to fall and specifically what might become of the Northeast Conference which is full of schools that have a lot more in common with St. Francis than they do with Pitt or even Youngstown State etc.
Good, it makes perfect sense and more of this needs to happen. Shift things back to their rightful place. Patriot League, Ivy League, Big East, etc. should be D3 or D2.
I've wondered about that too. I can only think that they were doing well with donors. But realistically I think this makes sense for them. The school has a lot more in common with places like St. Vincent or Albright than they do with Pitt or even Youngstown State, etc. I'd bet they looked at the coming era of paying athletes and raising NIL money and it convinced them that they'd be way over their heads in D1. I do wonder if they're the first domino to fall and specifically what might become of the Northeast Conference which is full of schools that have a lot more in common with St. Francis than they do with Pitt or even Youngstown State etc.
Good, it makes perfect sense and more of this needs to happen. Shift things back to their rightful place. Patriot League, Ivy League, Big East, etc. should be D3 or D2.
The Big East who had the D1 basketball champions in 2023 and '24 and who routinely gets multiple teams into the Tournament in D2 or 3? Really?
Good, it makes perfect sense and more of this needs to happen. Shift things back to their rightful place. Patriot League, Ivy League, Big East, etc. should be D3 or D2.
The Big East who had the D1 basketball champions in 2023 and '24 and who routinely gets multiple teams into the Tournament in D2 or 3? Really?
Big East did the right thing by ditching their fantasy of becoming a Power 5 football conference and focusing on basketball.
Good, it makes perfect sense and more of this needs to happen. Shift things back to their rightful place. Patriot League, Ivy League, Big East, etc. should be D3 or D2.
The Big East who had the D1 basketball champions in 2023 and '24 and who routinely gets multiple teams into the Tournament in D2 or 3? Really?
Yes, really. Despite recent history, they are going to be left behind in this chase. Just watch, without tv football money the P4 will gut any basketball talent away.
Big East did the right thing by ditching their fantasy of becoming a Power 5 football conference and focusing on basketball.
How’s that going for them this year? No Big East teams left in Sweet 16. I suspect that moving forward that will be the norm.
Brian Sell started at D3 Messiah so probably isn’t too upset by the move.
Yep, exactly. All P4 in the Sweet 16. This is just the start of how the P4 tv contracts and NIL will concentrate ball sport talent. It is a pointless cause for non-P4 programs to set their sights on a deep run in the tourney, they will bleed money doing so.
Big East did the right thing by ditching their fantasy of becoming a Power 5 football conference and focusing on basketball.
How’s that going for them this year? No Big East teams left in Sweet 16. I suspect that moving forward that will be the norm.
Brian Sell started at D3 Messiah so probably isn’t too upset by the move.
Conferences all have better and worse years. You're still going to make a lot more money with multiple teams in the Tournament even if they're gone in a couple games. And they get big money from regular season TV deals which would never happen if they were in D3.
okay here's a list of D1 schools I could see going D3
American University (DC)
Belmont University (TN)
Bradley University (IL)
Campbell University (NC)
Canisius (NY)
Colgate (NY)
Holy Cross (MA)
Elon (NC)
Fairfield (CT)
Farleigh Dickinson (NJ)
Fordham (NY)
Gardner-Webb (NC)
Lafayette (PA)
La Salle (PA)
Manhattan (NY)
Marist (NY) Mercer (GA)
Monmouth (NJ)
Mount St. Marys (MD)
Pepperdine (CA)
Rider (NJ)
St. Bonaventure (NY)
Siena (NY)
Valparaiso (IN)
Wagner (NY)
I think a lot of movement, if it's due to the revenue sharing, will be on a conference level. If it weren't for basketball the WCC prolly would become D3, while the patriot league has army and navy which has kept them up as a D1. Some of these schools (like Elon) might opt for D2 instead because they have the means and can't be competitive on academics alone.
This is what sucks about the NIL, everyone screamed that it’s going to even the playing field. It did, but just for P4 programs, not the hundreds of other D1 programs. No more Cinderella teams, just a bunch of teams with deep pockets (Look at how the SEC is having a historic year 💰💰💰). That was a big draw for March Madness, seeing teams like Loyola, St Mary’s, Florida Gulf Coast, VCU, Davidson, etc… make runs in the tourney. Not saying this tourney hasn’t been fun to watch, but it’s been less exciting.
I can only hope that P4 separates and does its own thing now.
