West coast giving up D2 football, Central is heading to Texas

AOG

Joining the "Lone Star Conference"

So about like the Big-12 of D2

AOG

ntxduck

Noc

AOG

ntxduck said:

Noc

Not on the west coast -- in Texas they do.

creepycoug

Division II sports is a no-man's land. D1 or DIII. You know where you are following teams in those categories. DII is like, "WTF?"

AOG

creepycoug said:

Division II sports is a no-man's land. D1 or DIII. You know where you are following teams in those categories. DII is like, "WTF?"

D3 is mostly small "rich kid" schools, the vast majority not really worth watching. PLU went downhill w/ coaching changes.
Linfield is an exception.

D2 has disappeared along with the middle class, I suspect. Other than Central, only Simon Frasier and Western Oregon remain (neither very good, SF awful). Humboldt St and Azusa Pacific (both good) quit football, of course Western 10 years ago.

creepycoug

AOG said:

creepycoug said:

Division II sports is a no-man's land. D1 or DIII. You know where you are following teams in those categories. DII is like, "WTF?"

D3 is mostly small "rich kid" schools, the vast majority not really worth watching. PLU went downhill w/ coaching changes.
Linfield is an exception.

Not categorically. The top small private colleges are so loaded with endowment money that they are need blind, or close to it, meaning they can fund 100% of the COA of a kid they want. The NESCAC, the Ivy League of small colleges, gets kids who are on the boarder of D1 talent (and in many sports, kids who have D1 options). You're right in that, at least in football, it's a big jump down athletically. But it's not just a rich kid thing at those schools. Poor kids who are smart enough to clear admissions can go to those places and you see them there.

It is said, accurately in my experience, that Ivy League recruits are very good athletes and good students and elite academis DIII recruits are very good students and good athletes. That about captures it.

D2 is just another animal altogether.

AOG

creepycoug said:

AOG said:

creepycoug said:

Division II sports is a no-man's land. D1 or DIII. You know where you are following teams in those categories. DII is like, "WTF?"

D3 is mostly small "rich kid" schools, the vast majority not really worth watching. PLU went downhill w/ coaching changes.
Linfield is an exception.

Not categorically. The top small private colleges are so loaded with endowment money that they are need blind, or close to it, meaning they can fund 100% of the COA of a kid they want. The NESCAC, the Ivy League of small colleges, gets kids who are on the boarder of D1 talent (and in many sports, kids who have D1 options). You're right in that, at least in football, it's a big jump down athletically. But it's not just a rich kid thing at those schools. Poor kids who are smart enough to clear admissions can go to those places and you see them there.

It is said, accurately in my experience, that Ivy League recruits are very good athletes and good students and elite academis DIII recruits are very good students and good athletes. That about captures it.

D2 is just another animal altogether.

The real benefit from a spectator's view, and there is a benefit, is that the level of competition in D2 is still pretty good and you don't have to sit there for 4 hours hearing endlessly about the Uw world class physicians. The game is only 2.5 hours.

SDCJR

My son played baseball in the LSC. West Texas A&M. Played in a brand new 4 million dollar stadium. The ladies softball team won the National Title in ‘14 and last season. My son’s first year they won the conference championship in baseball for the first time ever. You should see the ring he got. The size of a Super Bowl ring! They just built a 20+ million dollar football stadium and were criticized because some high schools in Texas spent more for theirs. Smart move by Central, in my opinion.