NAIA to NCAA: Oklahoma’s changing landscape – Part 2

The June 1 application deadline for membership in the NCAA’s Division II is approaching and it is likely that Northwestern and Oklahoma Christian won’t be the only Oklahoma schools turning in paperwork.  Rogers State appears to be considering the prospect of moving from NAIA to NCAA D-II.

But whether or not RSU applies might not be known until the day the application is submitted.  And Rogers State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Sara Williams, said that day hasn’t arrived just yet.

“We haven’t yet turned the application in, but we’ve all been working on it,” Williams said.  “The final decision is up to the president and the board of regents.  But it does look like we plan on it.”

One of the requisites to applying to Division II is demonstrating a plan to be affiliated with a D-II conference.  RSU will likely find its place in the Heartland Conference.

“It just fits,” Williams said.  “We believe Heartland is a good conference and it will be a good fit for us.”

But even if the affiliation is suitable, change has a tendency to bring with it new challenges.  A big and immediate one will be the geography difference between the Heartland Conference and RSU’s current home, the Sooner Athletic Conference.

“Travel is something that we’ll have to adjust to,” Williams said.

Nine of the twelve teams in the SAC are in Oklahoma, as the name “Sooner” Athletic Conference might imply.  The Heartland’s north and south stretch runs from Wichita, Kan., to Dallas, Odessa, Austin, San Antonio and even Laredo, Texas.  Throw in Goodwell, Okla., and Fort Smith, Ark., and suddenly the athletic bus has many more miles on it.

Of course, the difference in annual dues between the NAIA ($4,500) and the D-II ($900) would make up at least some of the travel expense.  Realistically, it’s not a significant portion, but some.

THE FUTURE OF THE SAC?

Rogers State’s potential move brings us back to the change in Oklahoma’s athletic landscape once again.

  The Hillcats’ departure from the SAC would not be the only one.  Northwestern and Oklahoma Christian are already set to depart the league.  Southern Nazarene is leaving at the end of this school year as well.  And it is likely that Lubbock Christian (another SAC school) is going to test the D-II water and apply for membership this summer as well.

In 2012-2013, the SAC membership will be down to nine and by 2013-2014 could decrease to just seven.  A conference that has been around since 1978 may see its association down to a little more than half of what it was just two years prior.

Rogers State’s play-by-play announcer, Shawn Tiemann, put together a scenario in this blog post last summer of what might shake down for the SAC and some of the other Oklahoma NAIA schools and conferences in the near future.

CONFERENCE PERSPECTIVE

Although, it is a possibility that not every university that applies to be a D-II school will be accepted.  There was a cap on inclusion in 2011 and it seems likely there will be one again.  There are simply too many schools trying to make that jump and this would make things difficult for Division II to assimilate such an influx.

The Great American Conference feels good about the prospect that all of its 11 members will be D-II soon, according to Brian Ramsey, Assistant Commissioner for Communications of the GAC.

“We believe that Northwestern will be accepted this year,” said Ramsey.

“The NCAA had a quota last year and they took only a certain amount.  There was nothing too negative about Northwestern.  They’ve been working hard on the application and we’re confident they’ve gotten things fixed.”

And both schools have been worked into GAC scheduling.

In football, there is a two-year rotation.  Last season was the first of that set, which didn’t include NWOSU or SNU, leading to a couple of scheduling kinks for the 2012 slate in that the two schools won’t face all of their new conference rivals in the fall yet.  A full round robin conference schedule should be in place for the fall of 2013.

And if Northwestern doesn’t make it this year?  Ramsey didn’t hesitate to affirm the resolve of the GAC behind its newest members.

“We’ll be supportive,” Ramsey said.  “And all of our members feel the same way.”

NAIA to NCAA – Part 3