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Minnesota university looking to jump to Division I after being removed ‘involuntarily’ from D-III conference
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Apparently, winning can be a bad thing sometimes. Just ask the University of St. Thomas.
According to Chip Scoggins and Joe Christensen with the Star Tribune, the Minneapolis-based university was “involuntarily removed” from the Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The decision to remove St. Thomas was made in May and was for “athletic competitive parity” in the conference. In other words, they won too much.
After investigating their options, the Star Tribune story reports that St. Thomas is petitioning the NCAA for approval to jump directly from D-III to D-I. Traditionally, schools must transition to D-II before moving up:
St. Thomas announced that the school has been invited to join the DI Summit League, pending NCAA approval of the school’s waiver claim to jump directly from Division III to DI.
NCAA rules specify that a DIII school must first stop at Division II before climbing to DI, a process that normally takes 12 years. St. Thomas said if its waiver is approved, it will join the Summit League in 2021, which is exactly when the Tommies must exit the MIAC.
It will be interesting to see if St. Thomas is allowed to make the jump.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.