Nebraska-Omaha has been accepted into the MIAA starting in the 2008-09 season, but what exactly does that mean for Emporia State?
First and foremost, it means another tough team will join the MIAA, which has already established itself as a power conference in Division II.
“I’m not going to kid you — I had mixed emotions,” Emporia State athletic director Kent Weiser said. “I’m for it and I voted for it, but I was not something where I said, ‘We have to do this no matter what.’
“It creates a lot of challenges.”
Here’s a look at four of those challenges — ones that could affect ESU just one year from now.
Dollars Sense
One of the biggest obstacles ESU will face with the addition of UNO is the fight to compete in the MIAA financially.
UNO, set in a metropolitan city with an enrollment of 14,000, should immediately step into the league as one of the biggest spenders on its athletic programs and facilities.
Meanwhile, ESU, which has battled to stay in the middle of the pack in the MIAA dollars-wise, takes one more step towards the bottom.
“You don’t want to play with one arm behind your back,” Weiser said, “and sometimes when a school outspends you, that’s what it feels like.”
Of course, money doesn’t guarantee success.
The numbers would prove it, as UNO, though higher spenders, went 6-5 against ESU when the two schools met in athletic events last year.
Scholarship limits also even the playing field somewhat, meaning UNO will compete, for example, in football with the same number of scholarships (36) as ESU does.
“Some schools might have more bells and whistles, but competitively, we feel like we stand toe-to-toe with them,” Weiser said. “UNO in the conference reinforces that.”
More than anything, the money to improve facilities and recruit better gives an advantage to schools like UNO — and puts schools like ESU in a position where they must be near perfect to compete.
“It makes the focus more on the decisions you make... We need to make good decisions,” Weiser said. “Coaches with recruiting and travel — we need to get a big bang for our buck. We’ve proven we can do that.”
Losing a Playoff Spot?
There is some concern that UNO will not only harm MIAA team’s chances to win conference titles — it will also harm their ability to earn postseason berths.
Here’s the reason. Currently, Division-II teams advance to the postseason based on their ranking in a three-team region. The regions differ in each sport, as ESU basketball is in the South Central Region, ESU baseball is in the Central Region and ESU softball is in the North Central Region.
Under a new localization proposal, those regions would remain consistent through all sports. If this happened, the MIAA would most likely be paired with the Heartland and Lone Star Conferences to make up a three-team region.
UNO, if it competed in the North Central Conference, would have little impact on ESU’s postseason chances, as the Mavericks would compete in a different region.
In the MIAA, however, UNO — perhaps with the best overall athletic program in the NCC — would add one more team into the region that ESU would have to compete with for an NCAA berth.
“We pulled a big fish down,” Weiser said. “... From that stand, it would be tough and much harder to get into the NCAA tournament.”
Hypothetically, that could mean one fewer team from the 10 current MIAA squads would make the postseason in each sport in which UNO competes.
Football Power
When he signed up for the job six months ago, Emporia State football coach Garin Higgins knew he was entering the most competitive Division-II football conference in the country.
And that was before perennial power UNO joined for the 2008-09 season.
“It definitely brings some attention to the conference,” Higgins said, “but with that in mind, it makes it tougher for us.”
Though UNO should improve the competition in nearly every sport in which it competes, one sport where it will truly make its mark is football.
The Mavericks have won eight or more games in nine of their last 11 seasons, a span in which they have never finished with a losing record.
Higgins might have received some argument from other coaches before about the MIAA being the best football conference.
He won’t anymore. With UNO’s arrival, the MIAA has turned itself into a power conference — becoming the SEC of Division-II football.
“In the big picture, it raised the MIAA’s profile, if that’s even possible,” Weiser said. “It was tough to begin with, but that really sets us apart as a football conference.”
Higgins has some experience against UNO, competing in the same conference when he was an assistant at Minnesota State-Mankato.
He said the Mavericks “fit the mold of a typical MIAA team,” combining a physical style up front with gifted players in the skill positions.
In other words, the best conference just got better. Not that Higgins was expecting it to be easy.
“It’s not going to change our thoughts on anything. I know that,” Higgins said. “We know it’s tough regardless. We just got another tougher team added to it.”
Bad Trade
With the addition of UNO, the MIAA has not become a conference for the weak of heart.
That could mean that if some teams are not willing to stand the heat — or pay the price to become more competitive — they might make the decision to opt out of the MIAA altogether.
“That possibility,” Weiser said, “is certainly there.”
Two likely candidates are Southwest Baptist and Truman, which seem to have fallen behind the rest of the athletic pack in the MIAA.
If one of the two schools were to drop out of the league, it could create a double whammy for ESU.
Not only would the Hornets play one more competitive team per year (UNO), they would also lose one game against a Baptist or Truman — schools that traditionally have not overmatched ESU in spending or on the playing field.
“We might not be expanding,” Weiser said. “We might just be switching.”
Baptist, the only private school in the league, has previously asked to be let out of the MIAA in football alone. The MIAA athletic departments voted against the action.
UNO, meanwhile, brings competitive teams to almost every sport.
According to the final Director’s Cup rankings, the Mavericks finished in the top 10 nationally in five sports that ESU also competes in. The highest was women’s soccer (5th) and baseball (5th), followed by softball (7th), football (9th), women’s indoor track and field (10th), women’s outdoor track and field (16th), women’s tennis (17th) and volleyball (33rd).
Weiser said ideally the conference would like to expand to include 12 schools — with all of them wanting to be members of a competitive athletic conference.
ESU, he said, would definitely be one of those schools.
“I believe with ESU’s commitment, along with president (Michael) Lane’s support of athletics, we have a commitment to getting it done,” Weiser said. “I’d like to think the other 10 schools are like that, but we’ll see.”
admireed (anonymous) says...
Very clearly stated. The MIAA requires big bucks with little chance of reducing costs (scholarship numbers). Where is the choke point?
June 27, 2007 at 2:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )