Over the past six years all I have heard is that St. Thomas (MN) is looking and should make a move to Division I. It would balance out the MIAC a little more because their enrollment is at least double of any other school in the conference. And I will tell you why it doesn't make any sense for them to move from Division III.
They are dominant in the Midwest for D3 in almost all sports. In the past seven years both their men's and women's programs have won the MIAC All-Sports Competition. The men's program has doubled any other program in the MIAC in wins. While the women have more than four times as many wins as any other school.
They perennial have made the NCAA Tournament in football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, to go along with dominance in baseball and softball. Their track and field teams are also really good. Their men's indoor track and field team has won every conference championship the MIAC has offered.
Even with this type of dominance is makes zero sense for them to make the move to D1. Why? They have a GREAT niche here in the Twin Cities with scholarship level athletes. They usually compete with the local D2 schools for their student athletes and that usually means success at the D3 level. I was even told by a D2 head coach that as soon as St. Thomas got involved with a kid they were recruiting that they would back off. That tells you a lot.
Being a Catholic school is also a big draw for many. They basically have their own development programs with local Catholic high schools Cretin-Durham Hall, Hill-Murray, Academy of Holy Angels, St. Thomas Academy, Benilde-St. Margaret and DeLaSalle. Their athletic rosters are littered with kids from those schools. They even will grab the occasional student athlete from Catholic schools in Nebraska, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Now, I don't this as fact but the fish is this big now is that St. Thomas really helps their student athletes when it comes to financial aid packages. With a large enrollment like they have and a large endowment they are able to help most students a lot with the financial aid process. Thus, making it within the rules to help their recruits. I do know one person that was an athlete there that didn't have any loans after college with not a lot of help from his parents. While in high school he was enrolled in a Catholic high school and that probably helped some as well. They may give significant scholarships to students who went to Catholic schools while in high school.
On one side of things "when you are the best player on your block, find another block," but in this situation it doesn't make a ton of sense. They don't really fit into the D2 demographic and moving to D1 doesn't make a ton of sense for them financially. Would they get more donations? Yes and no. A lot of alums really like what they are doing now and why change that. Their teams would take some major lumps during the transition from D3 to D1.
Another thing to keep in mind that not many think about is how will all the scholarships be financed? Will they need to cut sports? What D1 conference fits what they are looking for? What facility upgrades need to happen? If so, where do they go? What level do they play at in football, FCS or FBS? Will they have to make coaching changes? How much more do they have to pay their coaches? How many more people do they need to hire within the athletic department to make it work?
There are just too many questions to deal with. I'm sure other schools in the MIAC would love they they were gone but staying at D3 makes the most sense for now and the future.
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