DISCLAIMER: The opinions that I have in this blog post are not reflective of my various employers, one of which is the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
For this week’s MIAA Mailbag Extra, I’ll look at something that I’ve talked about multiple times.
Pretending to be MIAA Commissioner Mike Racy and admitting new members to the conference.
I’ve written about this topic in the past, and listed four schools in a sports column for the Antelope last spring.
Drury, Rockhurst, and Wayne State are very solid candidates for MIAA expansion now just as they were last year.
Here’s some candidates that I could see joining the league currently.
For reference, the MIAA currently has 14 members, with 12 of those members playing football (Newman and Rogers State do not sponsor football). Last week, I wrote about the possibility of Lincoln leaving, so the league needs to look for 7-8 schools (six schools with two alternate options).
Ideally, the maximum would be 20 teams, with 16 football sponsoring schools.
Before I jump in, a few notes:
- The MIAA extends further to the south and east. There aren’t a lot of options for the MIAA to expand westward, with the closest options being Chadron State and the four Division 2 schools in the Denver area. The trip to Chadron State is really only viable for UNK and maybe Fort Hays. Adding schools in Denver is really only viable for Fort Hays and UNK. If the MIAA pivots westward to Denver, Colorado School of Mines and Metropolitan State are the best options for the league. A further long shot could be Colorado State-Pueblo, gearing up for former UNK AD Paul Plinske’s return to the conference.
- An NAIA school will not be joining the league. The league might be burnt out still from the Lindenwood 7-year stay before jumping for the GLVC, then jumping to the D1 ranks. On top of that, it’s hard to evaluate a jump from the NAIA ranks to the NCAA ranks with expected fluctuations in enrollment.
Now with that out of the way, here’s my list:
Wayne State Wildcats (Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference)
Wayne, Nebraska; Public, total enrollment 4,700 (Fall ’22)
In order to reunite the old CSIC from the days of old, Wayne State is the missing puzzle piece. And considering that the NSIC has been shaky, with Upper Iowa announcing their departure for the GLVC in mid-December and Augustana exploring their potential Division 1 future, some of the Wildcats closest opponents are exiting (or looking to exit).
Wayne State can compete in the MIAA, with the Wildcats football team making it to the playoffs and the volleyball team being the #1 team in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll for much of the year. The men’s basketball team was the NSIC South division preseason favorite and third in the league, while the women were in the bottom half of both the division and the league. Baseball and Softball aren’t great (19-26 and 15-38, respectively) but they’re warm bodies in the league. AND the MIAA has some Nebraska baseball representation again!
William Jewell College Cardinals (Great Lakes Valley Conference)
Liberty, Missouri; Private (Nonsectarian (formerly Baptist)); total enrollment 800 (Fall ’22)
The Cardinals, right outside of Kansas City, add another private school if the league desires one. The school also helps bolster the Kansas City area for recruiting, which pulls from the GLVC.
William Jewell will struggle to compete in football (2-9, 1-5 GLVC this fall) and basketball, but provide men’s soccer and men’s tennis. That puts the league closer to fully supporting these sports and ending their partnership with the Great American Conference if they so wish.
Missouri S&T Miners (Great Lakes Valley Conference)
Rolla, Missouri; Public (part of the University of Missouri System); total enrollment 7,000 (Fall ’22)
Missouri S&T offers 15 sports for the MIAA to compete with in Rolla, with men’s soccer as well. The Miners also have a men’s volleyball program, which competes as an independent already against a majority of GLVC schools already. The schools within the MIAA could use Missouri S&T as a case study if they start thinking of adding men’s volleyball in the future.
Geographically, Missouri S&T works out well with the teams on the southeastern corner of the league. The MIAA could easily split the conference into north/south with Missouri S&T going onto the southern division with the Oklahoma schools, Pitt State, Newman, and Missouri Southern.
The Miners were former members of the MIAA from 1935-2005.
Harding Bisons (Great American Conference)
Searcy, Arkansas; Private (Churches of Christ), total enrollment 4,000 (Fall ’22)
When I think of the Great American Conference, I tend to think of the Battle of the Ravine. I don’t care what game Kearney is playing that day, I am watching the Ouachita Sports Digital Network livestream and Rex Nelson on the call.
Harding, based in Searcy, Arkansas has success across their athletic department, with a 9-2 mark on the gridiron, 30-2 volleyball record this year, and baseball and softball competing (and winning) against MIAA schools, the Bisons have proven they can compete with MIAA schools.
Harding has seemed to be overlooked by NCAA committees when it comes to playoff time, opting instead for Ouachita or Henderson. Could a move to the MIAA give them a leg (or hoof) up?
NON-FOOTBALL SCHOOLS
Drury Panthers (Great Lakes Valley Conference)
Springfield, Missouri; Private (United Church of Christ/Christian Church(Disciples of Christ)), total enrollment 2,400 (Fall ’21)
Located in Springfield, Missouri, Drury provides a solid college town, with Missouri State calling it home also. The campus is beautiful (from what I can remember in 2011 when my cousin graduated from there) and O’Reilly Arena is a good facility. The Panthers real bread and butter in the pool, where Brian Reynolds has brought 33 national championships home, 22 of which are in NCAA Division 2. (The men are a favorite for the Division 2 Swim & Dive title this year, so that number could increase in March.
Drury women’s basketball, currently ranked 3rd in the country in the latest WBCA poll, would pair nicely with a conference featuring Fort Hays, UNK, Central Missouri, and Missouri Western.
Drury is good for building a southern conference division, being on I-44 alongside Joplin and Rolla (Provided Missouri S&T joins also).
Rockhurst Hawks (Great Lakes Valley Conference)
Kansas City, Missouri; Private (Roman Catholic (Jesuit)); total enrollment 3,400 (Fall ’22)
Hopefully the MIAA rejecting Rockhurst back in 2009 is water under the bridge. At the time, the rejection was because the Hawks do not sponsor football. Football might be on the horizon as the athletic department grows, though.
In 2023-24, Rockhurst will add men’s and women’s track and field programs (outdoor and indoor), alongside men’s and women’s swimming and diving. Then in the 2024-25 season, Rockhurst will add men’s volleyball. These “growth spurts” for the athletic department happen roughly every ten to fifteen years. In 2013, the school added lacrosse and women’s cross country. Fourteen years previously, the Hawks jumped to the NCAA ranks from the NAIA in 1999.
Right in the heart of Kansas City, it makes a lot of sense to add Rockhurst if they apply, being right in the backyard of the MIAA headquarters.
Maryville Saints (Great Lakes Valley Conference)
Town and Country, Missouri; Private (Catholic (Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus)); total enrollment 10,000 (Fall 22)
Two schools pop into my head when I think of a school that could break the MIAA into St. Louis. Maryville University and the University of Missouri – St. Louis (commonly known as UMSL). UMSL however was also a member of the MIAA, from 1980-1996. Either school could join, but I like the Saints over the Tritons.
Arkansas Fort-Smith Lions (Lone Star Conference)
Fort Smith, Arkansas; Public (part of the University of Arkansas System); total enrollment 5,400 (Fall ’22)
The Lions find themselves as the only member from Arkansas in the Lone Star Conference, which also spans into Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. For UAFS, alongside Cameron and Oklahoma Christian, distance is a big concern when looking at the trip from Fort Smith all the way to Silver City, New Mexico. While the distance from Fort Smith to Kearney, Nebraska is the new concern, close by members in Northeastern State, Rogers State, Missouri Southern, and Pittsburg State make a move out of the Lone Star very enticing.
Cameron Aggies (Lone Star Conference)
Lawton, Oklahoma; Public; total enrollment 3,400 (Fall ’22)
Cameron is a school that might not be announcing their move to the MIAA this year, but they might be jumping in 2025 or ’26. The Aggies are in the midst of a bit of a rebuild in the Lone Star Conference, with lots of coaches in year 1 or 2. Give the coaches a couple years to get their bearings and Cameron could join in the MIAA.
Oklahoma Christian Eagles (Lone Star Conference)
Edmond, Oklahoma; Private (Churches of Christ); total enrollment 2,100 (Fall ’22)
The Oklahoma Christian campus is just a stones throw from the University of Central Oklahoma. In fact, when I drove to Edmond last year for UNK/Central Oklahoma football, I drove right past the OCU campus.
If Central Oklahoma, a school long rumored to jump into the NCAA Division 1 ranks, actually pulls the trigger and makes their move, Oklahoma Christian allows the MIAA to keep their presence in Oklahoma City. If the league wants a football school in Oklahoma City, Southern Nazarene is an option.
Next week? My mid-season basketball rankings.
The online journal of Alexander "HAMMER" Hammeke 
One response to “MIAA MAILBAG EXTRA: My ideal picks for MIAA expansion”
[…] I wrote about potential additions to the MIAA back in January, when the idea was first floated around. Now we have some results! […]
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