(03-14-2017 10:14 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  

(03-14-2017 09:39 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(03-14-2017 07:28 PM)NoDak Wrote:  When we were DII, the Great Lakes Valley Conference always seemed to have top notch basketball. It isn't very old, but SIUE and NKU are the only DI grads from it. UMSL, Southern Indiana, and Bellarmine always seemed to have the potential to foĺlow.

When Northern Kentucky got that new arena built, which is better than most DI arenas not at P5 levels, it seemed to scream that a big time DI program was born.

FWIW, I don't think UMSL will ever move up to DI, they're a commuter school with a relatively mediocre athletic department and only a dozen or so scholarship sports IIRC. Lindenwood in nearby St. Charles will move up to DI if anyone in the St. Louis area does.

This. Lindenwood would be the one to move up. They have struggled at D2 though. The Westplex is almost like its own little metro area.

Have been expecting Lindenwood to move up at least in hockey, where they are now club. But their women's hockey team is DI, and it's the only school other than Syracuse the has a DI women's hockey but not DI men's hockey.

When Lindenwood was NAIA, they won everything, but have really fallen off that pace, as NCAA restrictions are much more limiting. U of Sioux Falls, U of Mary, and Minot St have also experienced this.