This blog post is now closed. New discussion should take place on the follow-up post.

A couple of years ago about this time there was speculation flying as to whether Rice was going to move up from Division I to Division III.

This year, it’s Birmingham-Southern. Described as the smallest school in Division I by columnist Ray Melick of The Birmingham (Ala.) News, the school is said to be looking at Division III and is expected to decide by the end of May.

To Birmingham-Southern, we say: Welcome. Division III is a great place to be. We hope you choose to become part of the biggest subdivision in collegiate athletics, where the true amateur athlete calls home, where an institution can truly feel good about its mission.

With 1,381 full-time undergraduates, the private liberal arts college fits the profile of Division III nicely. And Division III is slowly gaining ground in the Southeast, Birmingham-Southern will not be off on an island.

And it would save almost $3.5 million in athletics aid alone, according to the column.

Of course, Rice flirted with Division III a couple of springs ago and ended up scaring up enough cash with all the publicity to remain in Division I, with I-A football. But Rice is more than twice as big as Birmingham-Southern.