Division III teams should not be playing Division I teams. Not as a regular season game. Not as an ‘exhibition.’ Not ever, really.

I know that this will not be a popular position, but heck, that has never stopped me before.

I know it feels good to see your team or your son on the ESPN crawl, but the D-I schools are using us. They want a live practice under true game conditions and we are giving up a game that could otherwise enhance the competition within D-III. How much do we really get out of it? You can’t really run your system. You can’t play your normal rotations. You learn nothing about how your stuff works because let’s face it, unless you are playing a horrible D-I program, they are still way better than anyone we are going to see most years.

Let’s think about this … you get to ‘play your heart out’ basically knowing that winning or losing isn’t important in the game.

Well gang, that isn’t what basketball or life are about. Yeah, it’s how you play the game and all, but in the end we do keep score in these games. We don’t say at the end of the year “Well LeTourneau plays really hard, so let’s give them a Pool C bid over Augustana.”

Some will argue that it helps D-III recruiting … ehhh I doubt it. I have heard kids say that they come because the program wins. I have heard kids say that they come because the academics are good. I have heard kids say that they come because they think they will get more playing time. I have heard kids say that they come because of a strong national travel schedule. I have never heard a kid say that he went somewhere because they play a D-I exhibition game.

Some will argue that the games bring much-needed money into poor athletic departments. Playing for the money makes us mercenaries. It’s what is wrong with the D1 game and they are making us dirty by close contact. Do you want to be seen as Marathon Oil? Because that is all you really are to the D-I program in all but the most unusual situations.

As for reputation helping the D-III program’s reputation … nope not really. Who but the most dedicated among us remember Princeton almost losing to a D-I a few years back. With all due respect, how obscure is the D-I vs. D-III record? Usually all a D-I loss signifies is that the team was Prairie View A&M or Loyola or that they had five players suspended.

We should not be letting ourselves get used this way. If it’s an exhibition, why does it count against our 25 permitted games? Why isn’t it a scrimmage? Because then the D-I could not charge admission for it or broadcast it. Face it, we are dirtier every time we associate with the ‘big boys.’

As I said at the beginning, I know that it won’t be a popular position, but let’s think about it. We are good enough without them.