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Division III Conference Realignment. Beau Schmitz Griffin Weihe Taylor Heinrichs. Introduction. Began the process by ranking all the Midwest D-III Schools Tactics for Rankings stemmed from: Learfield Director’s Cup Rankings (Athletics) U.S. News & World Report Rankings (Academics)
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Division III Conference Realignment Beau Schmitz Griffin Weihe Taylor Heinrichs
Introduction • Began the process by ranking all the Midwest D-III Schools • Tactics for Rankings stemmed from: • Learfield Director’s Cup Rankings (Athletics) • U.S. News & World Report Rankings (Academics) • Final decisions were based upon a variety of reasons: • Location • Academic Standing • Athletic Success • Type of Institution (Public or Private)
Midwest D-III Conferences • Missouri River Conference- 8 members • Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference- 10 members • North Woods Athletic Conference- 12 members • Iowa & Illinois Athletic Conference- 10 members • Northern Wisconsin Athletic Association- 8 members • Lake Michigan Athletic Conference- 9 members • Chicagoland Conference- 9 members • Heartland Athletic Conference- 12 members • Great Lakes Athletic Conference- 10 members • Grain Belt Conference- 12 members • Plains Superior Conference- 9 members
Reasoning • Wanting to include these independents in a automatic qualifying conference • Travel Expenses may be high, but we feel the benefits these schools will receive outweigh that • Weaker conference both academically and athletically • Able to get exposure in 4 different markets
Reasoning • Minnesota schools in the Minneapolis St. Paul Area • Two all girls schools, but are still meet the requirements for an automatic bid • Many compete already in the same conference and have similar academic and athletic profiles
Reasoning • Wanted to keep all of Wisconsin Public Schools together • Added three large and athletically superior schools from Minnesota • All rank in the top 120 in the Learfield Director’s Cup besides one school • Powerhouse Conference to compete on a national level
Reasoning • Majority of the schools are in Eastern Iowa • Added the schools in Western Illinois • Knox College • Monmouth College • Augustana College • Fit academically and athletically
Reasoning • Majority of these schools are better academically and athletically than the LMAC • Northland College was not included because it would be major traveling expense
Reasoning • Too many Wisconsin schools to fit into one conference • All schools based near the Milwaukee Area or within 2 hours • Majority of schools are weaker both academically and athletically • Two girl schools are included but there still is 7 boys schools meeting the standards for an automatic birth to postseason events
Reasoning • Large amount of schools in the Chicagoland Area • Reduce on travel across Illinois • Diverse athletically and academically
Reasoning • Schools in southern Illinois were separated from the Chicagoland Area schools • The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was spread out • Decided to combine the two to create one conference with two division, East and West
Reasoning • Two schools in Indiana and Ohio seemed to be distant from the others and closer to Michigan so they included into the conference • Kept Findlandia College independent due to their lack of ranking in both of our tools • Similar conference with two new additions
Reasoning • Wanted to combine southern Indiana and western Ohio into one conference • Many schools already compete in the same conference • Similar academic and athletic success
Reasoning • Wanted to make a D-III conference that is recognized nationwide for academic standards • All of these schools are hard to get into • All have acceptance rates below 60% except one school • All rank well in the Director’s Cup and include 4 schools ranking inside the Top 50
Conclusion • We did our best as D-III Commissioners to create competitive conferences both academically and athletically • There are some stretches that are going to be made by schools, but the benefits that they can receive are far greater