This Frontier Conference thing could shake out in so many ways over the next couple months. Here’s the way I am being led to believe it will:
Dickinson State
Dickinson State is all in. The school’s administration, despite much head scratching by boosters, fans and even some coaches, has been adamant about it’s refusal to pursue NCAA Division II status. Their reasoning seems to be entirely based on enrollment.
DSU wrestling coach Thadd O’Donnell has said that if the Blue Hawks were to move to Division II, his team goes from having 50 guys on the roster to 15 because of NCAA restrictions. Numbers would take a dip across the board, from football (a 100-man roster would be a thing of the past) to track and field and even basketball. This causes enrollment to dip, and if there’s one thing DSU loves, it’s having the ability to say it has “record enrollment†every year. Admitting kids who want to play sports even though they may never see the field helps brings in tuition dollars.
Boosters and fans seem to be at odds about the NAIA and D-II. They’ve seen the University of Mary go from the NAIA elite to just another school. There’s an overwhelming feeling that it will take Minot State, Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines years to even catch up to U-Mary.
On the other hand, one DSU coach brought up a good point to me, asking the question, What are our fans going to think when we tell them we won’t play Minot, Mary, Hills and Mines, and instead we go to Oregon and California to play games?
West Coast teams
The three West Coast schools — Southern Oregon, Menlo College and Azusa Pacific — will likely all submit applications for associate membership in football. If they do, they’ll be accepted. It’s a win-win for both sides. It means the Frontier expands and becomes more powerful and it gives those three, who are NAIA Independents in football only, the opportunity to win a conference championships.
However, it sounds like Azusa Pacific will eventually be going D-II along with many of the other strong California NAIA schools.
Southern Oregon athletic director Matt Sayre said whatever his school does, it hopes to do hand-in-hand with Menlo.
He said Southern Oregon has also expressed interest in joining the Frontier as an associate member in wrestling.
That would give the Frontier four very good wrestling programs in DSU, Great Falls (Mont.), Montana State-Northern and Southern Oregon. All four are consistently ranked in the NAIA’s Top 20 and send numerous wrestlers to the national championships on a yearly basis.
Eastern DAC schools
Jamestown College, Mayville State and Valley City State are dragging their feet for a reason.
Mayville State is 635 miles away from the next closest current Frontier Conference school (Rocky Mountain) and seems to understand that it would be able to perennially compete against the Montana teams, men’s basketball withstanding. Valley City State appears to be in the same boat, even though it could be more competitive.
Jamestown College knows it can’t go D-II. The facilities are there for them to make the jump, but the funding and the enrollment isn’t. If there is any school at a crossroads about whether or not it wants to make the move to the Frontier, it’s Jamestown. The school applied for membership in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) last week, but athletic director Lawrie Paulson said getting in is a long shot since, like Dickinson State and the Frontier, Jamestown is kind of on an island, being more than 200 miles away from the nearest GPAC school.
It is looking more and more like Jamestown College, Mayville State and Valley City State would rather switch to NAIA Independent status instead of joining the Frontier. They feel they could formulate decent schedules in nearly every sport, with football being the only exception.
Frontier Conference commissioner Kent Paulson said the seven schools approached by the league have until Oct. 29 to submit membership applications. Conference officials then plan to meet in December to figure out what to do.
Before you get to the breakdown, here’s a little walk down memory lane… a breakdown of the scenarios DSU was faced with in April. Boy, has a lot changed since then. Interestingly, a lot of people have said the 8-team “New DAC” conference I set up in a scenario in which DSU goes D-II makes a lot of sense. Then they remember it’s college athletics we’re talking about and realize that it no longer makes sense.
Here is a breakdown of the possible new Frontier Conference, by sport:
Football
East Division: Dickinson State, Carroll College, Montana State-Northern, Montana Tech, Rocky Mountain.
West Division: Azusa Pacific, Eastern Oregon, Montana-Western, Menlo College, Southern Oregon.
Men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball: Dickinson State, Carroll College, Lewis-Clark State College, Montana State-Northern, Montana Tech, Montana Western, Rocky Mountain College, University of Great Falls, Westminster College
Cross country, track and field: Dickinson State, Carroll College, Lewis-Clark State College, Montana Tech (XC only), Montana Western, Rocky Mountain College, University of Great Falls, Westminster College.
Men’s and women’s golf: Dickinson State, Carroll College, Lewis-Clark State College, Montana State-Northern, Montana Tech, Montana Western, Rocky Mountain College, University of Great Falls, Westminster College.
Wrestling: Montana State-Northern, University of Great Falls, Dickinson State, Jamestown College (could join as an associate member), Southern Oregon (could join as an associate member).
Softball (Teams would play independent schedule): Dickinson State, University of Great Falls.
Baseball (Teams would play independent schedule): Dickinson State, Lewis-Clark State College.
Women’s soccer (no change): Carroll College, Rocky Mountain College, University of Great Falls, Westminster College
Men’s soccer (no change): Rocky Mountain College, University of Great Falls, Westminster College.
