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A Division III football team is being booted from its conference for being too good
Published:
A Division III football conference has kicked out one of its founding members for a really dumb reason: it was too good.
Yes, that’s the reason.
On Wednesday, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced that it would be involuntary removing the University of St. Thomas from the league. The problem — at least it’s how the conference is labeling it — is that the football program is too good to belong in the conference.
The MIA released a statement on the situation:
“After extensive membership discussions, the University of St. Thomas will be involuntarily removed from membership in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). The MIAC Presidents’ Council cites athletic competitive parity in the conference as a primary concern. St. Thomas will begin a multi-year transition immediately and meanwhile is eligible to compete as a full member of the MIAC through the end of spring 2021.
“St. Thomas is one of seven founding members of the MIAC and will leave the conference in good standing with a long and appreciated history of academic and athletic success.”
St. Thomas has won 15 national championships since 1973 and has been the premier program of the conference. But rather than forcing other programs to find better talent or improve on the field, the MIAC decided the best move was to boot out a founding member.
Not exactly the best treatment after a 99-year run in the league.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB