A Big Announcement From The MIAC Today - College Of St. Scholastica To Join The Conference

By now, most have you seen the breaking news from this afternoon that the College of St. Scholastica has accepted the MIAC's invitation to join the conference beginning in the 2021-22 academic year.  As part of the announcement today, it was also revealed that Macalester will be coming back to the MIAC for football after having been a part of the Midwest Conference for the last several seasons in that sport.  For those of you who haven't had a chance to read the MIAC's release, here it is for you.  https://www.miacathletics.com/general/2019-20/releases/20200526avs20a

I had to absorb the news and just from a few of the people I've corresponded with today, the reaction has been mixed, at best.  First, I think you have to look at the viewpoint from the CSS side and what was all in it for them.  Certainly a gateway to a more prestigious conference.  Perhaps potentially bigger revenues were likely a consideration (although their costs could go up as well).  From a MIAC perspective, having a presence in the Twin Ports expands the conference's reach.  More importantly, it'll help fill the void (up to a certain point anyway) left by UST when/if they make the move to Division I (which is something the MIAC may never fully recover from but that's another argument for another day). 

The thing of it is, I can only speak from a women's basketball standpoint.  I've only covered the Saints a few times over the last several years but when you delve into the recent history of the program, you'll see that they haven't exactly set the UMAC on fire in recent years.  In fact, in the last fourteen years, they've only recorded three winning season; the last being a 14-12 record in the 2017-18 season.  And, it's safe to say that they'll find the MIAC a much more difficult row to hoe when they make the move.  Now, in all fairness, the CSS football program has done reasonably well; posting ten straight winning seasons (in fact, going 10-1 in both 2011 and 2014).  How well that all translates against MIAC football powers such as St. John's, Bethel, et al remains to be seen. 

For me, I'm completely fine with the announcement although I'll admit that I thought it would always be Northwestern jumping ship first; not CSS.  Was Northwestern (or perhaps other UMAC schools) extended an invitation?  That I don't know.  Again, I've always advocated schools such as Northwestern (and CSS for that matter) to be ideal candidates to join the conference that would allow it to go into two divisions (which it will now in football with Macalester coming back to roost).  But that idea, too, was congruent with a strong UST being a part of all this.  So while I'm fine with the addition of CSS, it's really like trying to make a burger better with more cheese after you've lost the ground beef, isn't it? 

All kidding aside, let's explore another angle that might need to be explored here.  We've seen what has happened to UST and the domino that was next to fall was CSS' departure from the UMAC.  Is today's announcement, perhaps, the key that unlocked the door to more conference realignment?  Now, I'm not in any way advocating the break-up of any one conference.  But, if CSS was willing to make the move, would it not be possible now for a Northwestern, a Bethany Lutheran, a Martin Luther, a Minnesota-Morris or even a St. Norbert to start exploring their options?  And even the MIAC itself is not invulnerable.  Could an SMU; now being on the southern end of a (now) far-flung MIAC, find a neighboring conference such as the WIAC a more viable option?  I think these are questions that have to be looked at and considered. 

Fire away with thoughts.