D-III newbies look peachy

Three schools were approved for provisional membership in Division III this upcoming season, according to a news release from one of the schools. (The NCAA doesn’t appear to have said anything on the subject yet.)

Covenant College, in Lookout Mountain, Ga., and Berry College, in Mount Berry, Ga., join Division III, chipping into the NAIA’s dominance of the Southeast, as does Penn State-Abington.

Covenant's Crosson Reed “Both academically and athletically, NCAA Division III is a good fit for Berry,” said Steve Briggs, Berry’s president. “We have always placed a high priority on academic achievement and the overall quality of the educational experience for our student-athletes, and affiliation with Division III allows us to be true to these fundamental values while also growing our athletic program in new and exciting ways.”

Berry’s release mentions something else that doesn’t get a lot of discussion around here: the shorter seasons in Division III. NAIA starts basketball competition, for example, weeks before Division III schools do, resulting in increased class time missed. Covenant references Division III’s lower dues, reduced travel time and expenses, and costs of postseason play which are picked up.

Berry is adding men’s and women’s swimming and diving and softball for the upcoming school year, as well as women’s lacrosse in the spring of 2011, as Division III requires sponsorship of more sports than the NAIA does.

Covenant has 13 sports already, while Abington has 12. Neither will need to add sports to make the Division III minimum.

Obviously the entire future of the Great South Athletic Conference is up in the air, with talks continuing that they may end up merging with the USA South. But if the GSAC remains an independent unit, Covenant and Berry would be an ideal geographic fit.

Coming attractions: Centenary (La.)

Yesterday the Centenary College Board of Trustees voted to “reposition” the Louisiana-based school from Division I to Division III in two years. Until then the Ladies and Gents (great nicknames) sports teams will compete in Division I’s Summit League.

We’ve been following this story on the Daily Dose this summer. Check out earlier posts including some very insightful commentary from Ralph Turner.

The Case for Centenary (La.) and Division III

Conference cost cutters

Economic problems have not spared Division III member institutions. Financial struggles have claimed Colorado College and Blackburn football, are close to claiming UW-La Crosse baseball and are threatening Greensboro College entirely.

Note: Principia also discontinued football but has publicly stated finances were not the reason.

Against that backdrop, some conferences are taking measures to cut costs. The WIAC announced a Cost Reduction Plan especially targeted at cutting travel costs. Elements of the Plan include:

• Later start times to minimize hotel stays
• Conference playoffs limited to six teams
• Restricting teams to no more than one trip during the regular-season outside of an established regional perimeter.
• Exploring the feasibility of scheduling one additional WIAC football team as a nonconference game beginning with the 2011 season.

The Conference’s release cites $250,000 in direct budget savings associated with these moves, but it’s hard to spot exactly how it impacts football or basketball in 2009-2010. The men’s and women’s basketball tournaments were already at six teams last year. Conference Commissioner Gary Karner clarified that the regional perimeter is not defined by the administrative regions (west for football and men’s basketball; central for women’s basketball) so games against the CCIW, MIAC and MWC aren’t affected. The regional perimeter is also not defined by the very broad geographic region that stretches from Texas to California anyway. Of course, the WIAC is much more than three sports, so these actions may very well have a stronger impact elsewhere.

Nevertheless, this is a good move that seeks a conference-wide solution instead of leaving individual institutions to fend for themselves with whatever level of resources they have. Since all these public institutions have the same resource base (Wisconsin tax payers), equity is particularly important.

Members of the Centennial Conference are also working together to reduce costs. Executive Director Steve Ulrich reports that the Conference will limit the size of travel squads to the NCAA championship max plus 20 percent and change starting times to avoid overnight trips. Other measures will impact Conference championships in indoor track and field and golf. Two conference members also had a unique swim meet in which both teams were the home teams.