ST PAUL, Minn. — A storm has been brewing around these parts when it comes to sports at some of our area colleges and universities.
The storm?
Sources have told the Star Tribune for weeks that some in the MIAC are plotting to find a way to get rid of a founding member.
That founding member is the University of St. Thomas.
When sources told Patrick Reusse and Rachel Blount about the idea of some MIAC members to give UST the boot, Ruesse and Blount started reporting.
“Sources say that some of these schools in the MIAC believe that St. Thomas has grown too large for the conference. Their enrollment is around 6,000, and that's about twice as much as the next-largest school that also plays football in the conference,” Blount said.
That is absolutely true - St. Thomas sits at 6,199 undergrads - but St. Thomas has sat at above 6,000 undergrads for over a decade. Why is the MIAC pushing back now?
We don’t know.
But sitting on that question begs one to ask others - well, it did for Blount - about why some want UST out.
“It is also believed that some of these schools are unhappy that St. Thomas has become such a football powerhouse," Blount said. "That they have run up some large scoring margins in recent years and that has not sat well with people."
It is true.
St. Thomas over the last decade has become a force to be reckoned with in MIAC football, and in the 2017 season they put up these scores.
They pummeled St. Olaf 97-0.
They hammered Hamline 84-0.
But consider this, last season, St. John's, a revered MIAC football school, beat Martin Luther 84-6.
And last year St. John's outscored MIAC opponents 380-70.
St. Thomas outscored MIAC opponents 358-95.
That math shows St. John’s beat MIAC teams by a larger margin than St. Thomas did.
But there has been no outcry for St. John’s to leave the MIAC.
So whatever the real reason is, the fact remains that St. Thomas has a much larger enrollment. No matter that it’s been the case for years.
Source sources told Blount that what the MIAC could do is just change the bylaws of the conference and put an enrollment cap on schools to be in it.
Say, for example, they cap it at 5,000 undergrads.
That rule change rids the MIAC of St. Thomas.
I asked Blount, is that fair?
“Some would say it’s not fair at all, there are people who believe that this is the grown-up version of, 'I'm going to take my ball and go home.'”
Yet others say...
“There are folks that say perhaps the lower football schools should get better rather than penalize the school that has gotten really good, that has chosen to be excellent.”
The MIAC did say it met late Thursday afternoon - all 13 presidents - to talk about, among other things, membership.
Here is that official statement:
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Presidents' Council met on Thursday, April 18 for a discussion on philosophy, competition, and membership. The presidents of all 13 MIAC institutions attended and agreed to continue discussions at future meetings. No action was taken and no further details will be provided at this time.
And St. Thomas has no interest in leaving.
St. Thomas AD Phil Esten said, "As a founding member of the conference, we are proud of our history and heritage in the MIAC, and are committed to the league values and D-III ideals. We are very interested in doing what we can to stabilize conference membership now and into the future."