There are some headlines you’ll come across when perusing any of the thousands of news websites on the Internet that will make you say “What?”
We live in a world now that’s shockingly un-shocking.
And when you hear about why a division III school was kicked out of their conference for this absurd reason you’ll think you’ve seen it all before.
Certain universities have a stranglehold on the competition within their respective conferences.
But other times it’s anybody’s ball game.
For instance, in the South Eastern Conference (SEC) the football programs are extremely competitive like the University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Mississippi, Louisiana State University and the University of Georgia all have good teams. University of Alabama is the cream of the crop every year but those others are schools you can’t sleep on.
In the Atlantic Coast Conference, Duke University, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill the University of Louisville, Syracuse University and the reigning national champion University of Virginia are five of the most elite basketball programs in the nation year and year out.
Well one of them, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), officially kicked out the University of St. Thomas because they win too many games.
Coach Glenn Caruso has led St. Thomas to six MIAC football titles since 2010 and also reached the finals in 2012 and 2015. That is just too much winning, according to conference officials. The school was dropped from the MIAC conference on Wednesday for having too many “competitive advantages.”
But is that too much winning though? Six titles in nine years might seem like a lot but the University of Alabama has been to three straight national championships, winning one, while Clemson University has also been to three straight and won two out of three. Do you see the SEC or ACC trying to kick them out for winning too much?
The university reported that the conference was so adamant that the school be removed from the competition that it said it would disband the whole league if St. Thomas sought to remain.
University President Julie H. Sullivan noted that league officials “came to a consensus that the conference itself would cease to exist in its current form if St. Thomas remained.”
Sullivan added that the decision is “extremely disappointing.”
The MIAC even explained in a statement, “After extensive membership discussions, the University of St. Thomas will be involuntarily removed from membership in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The MIAC Presidents’ Council cites athletic competitive parity in the conference as a primary concern. St. Thomas will begin a multi-year transition immediately and meanwhile is eligible to compete as a full member of the MIAC through the end of spring 2021.”
And this was only for University of St. Thomas’ NCAA football winning too much. What about the other sports? Why should they have to suffer because the football team is too good? How is that the school’s fault either?
Maybe the other universities in the MIAC need to step up their game instead of unfairly and ridiculously booting a team from a conference that ultimately affects all of the student athletes at the University of St. Thomas. It’s just absurd.
