Despite the rudeness of how it all started, this could end up being the best thing that ever happened to the St. Thomas football program.
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced in late May of this year that, beginning in 2021, Div. III St. Thomas was being “involuntarily removed from membership,” with the league citing “athletic competitive parity in the conference as a primary concern.” Translation? St. Thomas was being booted from the conference for being too good.
Friday, St. Thomas announced that its athletic programs have been invited to join the Div. I Summit League. The only problem? The Summit League doesn’t support Div. I football, although the current Div. III school has a pair of potential solutions as they are exploring joining either the Pioneer League (FCS non-scholarship) or Missouri Valley Football Conference (FCS scholarship).
There’s another potential hurdle St. Thomas must navigate as they must seek a waiver from the NCAA in order to make the immediate leap from Div. III football to the FCS. Normally, The Association requires a school to go from Div. III to Div. II, and then wait a dozen years on top of that, before they can move up to the FCS level.
“I do feel like our case is pretty compelling,” Tommies athletic director Phil Esten told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune when asked about being granted the waiver. “We’re dealing with extenuating circumstances that as far as I know, this is the first time this specific situation has presented itself. I do think that St. Thomas is uniquely positioned to make the move. When you look at the state of Minnesota, we’re one of only five states in the country that has one Division I school.”
As ESPN.com noted, money could present somewhat of an obstacle for the athletic department as well.
The two Dakota schools mentioned above compete in the MVFC.
St. Thomas has a 78-10 record under head coach Glenn Caruso and has claimed six of the last nine conference championships. They are 2-1 this season, having lost at UW-Eau Claire 21-19 this past weekend.
The Tommies will compete in the MIAC through the 2020-21 academic year, making this their second-to-last season in the conference.