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Let’s face it: following the university’s varsity athletic teams so far this season has been a disappointment. You can call it a rebuilding year if you like, but the fact of the matter remains that the University of Maine has weak athletic teams, and faces the issues of teams being under-funded and underperforming every single year.
What I am proposing is simple and appears to be one possible solution to the floundering athletic department here. This might make a lot of people angry. Seriously, you probably won’t even finish reading this article. Before you flip to the next section and completely write me off: hear me out.
The University of Maine should swing down to NCAA Division II.
There, I said it. The Black Bears should be a D-II program. I know that there is a stigma that comes with being a Division I team, and we would lose that. Admittedly, there are negatives that come with swinging down a division, but with these come a huge list of benefits, especially in the University of Maine’s case. The University would almost instantly find more athletic success, wouldn’t lose the benefit of scholarships, and would find more solid competition regionally, reducing the school’s travel budget and freeing that money to be used for other things. A D-II program here at the University of Maine, by creating a more successful athletic program, would also give coaches more clout when approaching recruits, as well as attracting a larger fan base, which would result in more revenue for the athletic department.
The obvious argument for D-II is that there is greater potential for success for an athletic department the size of UMaine’s. As great as our athletes and coaches are, let’s face it – the University of Maine will probably never win a D-I national championship. There are too many Ohio States, U.C.L.A.s, Texas’ and Floridas out there. Now you “Maine-iaks” are screaming foul right now, as well you should be. Stay tuned and I’ll deal with you – and the sport of ice hockey – momentarily.
The whole idea of the division format is to promote a level playing field between teams of equal caliber from comparable institutions. Nobody can make the argument that Ohio State and the University of Maine are equal. Ohio State’s Athletic Department spends $89,580,305 per year on their sports teams, without levying any fees on the student body. The University of Maine currently ranks a strong second out of all America East Conference schools with a hefty Athletic Department operating budget of $13,327,987. Nobody in their right mind would even remotely consider these two institutions to be similar in any arena other than sports. A little comparison: Ohio State’s campus has over 48,000 students and an airport. The University of Maine has about 8,500 students and a botanical garden. To be fair, it’s a really nice garden.
The point here is, how are these two institutions equal? They’re not. It’s not fair. Ohio State is the team that should have to play behemoths, not UMaine. Take for example Southern Connecticut State University. It’s a successful D-II program, and incidentally an institution very similar to UMaine, with just 70 more students. Southern Connecticut has won 10 team National Championships, including last year’s women’s basketball national crown, in addition to 67 individual National Championships. Southern Connecticut has a phenomenal women’s basketball program, and many people expect them to have great success on the national level again this season. Were they in D-I, however, they wouldn’t be given a second thought. Believe me, nobody would love to see the UMaine women’s basketball team upset Tennessee more than me, but to be fair, it’s not particularly likely. How about teams like men’s soccer and men’s basketball, who have lots of individual talent, but don’t always stack up well against large D-I schools? Perhaps in D-II, these teams would have more success early on in the season and would be able to gain some momentum that would allow them to bond.
Now for you hockey fans: yes, you are correct, the Black Bears have won two NCAA National Championships. Congratulations! The reason that the university’s men’s ice hockey program has been so successful is because of continued monetary support both within and outside the athletic department and because of ice hockey’s status as a minor sport. Here’s what I mean: there are 336 schools in men’s D-I basketball, 262 schools in men’s D-I track & field and 40 D-I schools in men’s ice hockey. The Black Bears are a shark in a puddle. In order to compensate for the relatively tiny number of D-I institutions in men’s ice hockey, the NCAA allows well-established programs from any size NCAA institution to compete in D-I ice hockey. The best example of this is UMaine’s 1993 National Championship, where the Black Bears edged a national powerhouse. Who did they beat? Was it Arizona State? Georgia? Kentucky? UConn? Nope. The correct answer is Lake Superior State. No offense to a fantastic ice hockey program, but you aren’t going to find LSSU on any D-I Athletic Department power rankings. They aren’t even normally a D-I school. For sports other than hockey, they compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, a D-II venue, and guess what? They’re pretty successful. Because of the small numbers in NCAA ice hockey, they don’t even run a D-II league. So even if the University of Maine were to join D-II athletics, your beloved Black Bears would remain a household name in D-I.
It gets better. According to Article 20, Section 2, Part 1 of the NCAA’s D-II bylaws, schools are allowed what is called “Multidivision Classification,” meaning that they can have different athletic teams compete in different divisions. This would be perfect for UMaine. All sports are considered on an individual basis. Say, for instance, that in addition to men’s and women’s ice hockey we wanted to keep football, track & field and swimming in D-I because they are some of our more successful programs and swing everybody else down to D-II. We could do that.
Not to mention, the NCAA openly promotes the expansion of D-II. To make D-II grow, they have introduced their “I chose D-II” campaign. Through this program, they are steadily making recruiting easier for D-II schools. As they relax the rules and allow more money to be used, D-II schools will only gain ground compared to D-I institutions. Unfortunately, recruiting has become the name of the game in the NCAA, but if the University of Maine swings to D-II we can use the division system to our advantage, as opposed to being disadvantaged by larger D-I institutions. D-II can still give scholarships, just like D-I, and a star high school athlete is more likely to accept a full ride from a D-II powerhouse than from a struggling D-I program.
Overall, the advantages to D-II make it one of the best quick fixes for our athletic department. Between more regional competition, more success on a national basis, more recruiting clout for our coaches and perks from the NCAA, D-II only makes sense. Personally, I can’t wait to see the University of Maine Black Bears celebrate as National Champions in a few years – of D-II.
