Please enjoy this excerpt from the Substack of Steve Dittmore, Glory Days. If you enjoy the academia of college sports, this is a great author to follow!
When Carnegie Mellon University announced its football team would no longer compete as an affiliate in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) after this season, it did not generate the headlines that came with Texas and Oklahoma switching conferences. Nor did it surprise that CMU chose to compete in the Centennial Conference.
If Division III conferences were truly regional in their missions, CMU would be better served staying in the PAC with western Pennsylvania schools Grove City, Washington & Jefferson, Westminster, Thiel, Allegheny, etc.
But CMU has relatively little in common with those PAC institutions from an academic, endowment, and reputation standpoint. The Centennial Conference, however, provides that association. CMU’s news release notes “The Centennial Conference is renowned for its strong academic and athletic programs, making it a fitting home for CMU's football team.” The implication being the PAC wasn’t a fitting home.
The release also quotes Portia Hoeg, the Centennial Conference commissioner, “Not only do they align with the high academic status of our league, but their storied history in football complements our Centennial tradition of excellence. Our conference is a perennial leader in Division III, and Carnegie Mellon elevates our already strong football profile.”
In today’s era of cross-country Division I athletic conferences, Division III conferences remain largely regional. Some - such as the Ohio Athletic Conference - do not extend outside a state’s borders. But that emphasis on regionality might be changing. When we study the priorities of NCAA Division III on the association website, we find an emphasis on “rigorous academics” and “competitive athletics.”
