Men's Lacrosse to DI

[Water Pony]

I would be amazed if they moved Lacrosse from Club to D1 sport for men unless they were adding several women's sports at the same time. Also, unless there are other schools nearby planning the same move, we'd be on an island. There are no other D1 programs within 800-1000 miles.

Air Force and U. of Denver are the closest Div. 1 Men's Lacrosse programs. LAX rocks, plus my son played at SMU. But, without adding at least one major Woman's program, along with an expanded Athletic budget, it is highly unlikely. On the flip side, Lacrosse has great cache in the East and is associated with strong academics. BTW, Vanderbilt has Women's LAX.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

LAX is also gaining popularity very quickly in Texas high schools. I would think we will be able to build a nationally competitive program in just a few seasons.

[Pony_Fan]

Ludicrous.

Bring back Men's Track.

Rowing, Equestrian...please. Give us real sports. Dump Title IX

[stc9]

I would be amazed if they moved Lacrosse from Club to D1 sport for men unless they were adding several women's sports at the same time. Also, unless there are other schools nearby planning the same move, we'd be on an island. There are no other D1 programs within 800-1000 miles.

TCU is going BIG EAST. If they elevate their club to DI it would make sense. It would be worth the trip to the Metroplex in order to get two games in.

[Boston Pony]

Going varsity will not happen for the men. The women's team went to the National Club DII playoffs last season and probably are moving up to Club DI this year. My thought is that the women could be NCAA if Title IX requires, but that the guys won't ever go. I would assume that being in the Big East that TCU might add a women's program, but not a men's program. While lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in colleges right now, it is at the small college level not at the DI level (where SMU must join).

[stc9]

Going varsity will not happen for the men. The women's team went to the National Club DII playoffs last season and probably are moving up to Club DI this year. My thought is that the women could be NCAA if Title IX requires, but that the guys won't ever go. I would assume that being in the Big East that TCU might add a women's program, but not a men's program. While lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in colleges right now, it is at the small college level not at the DI level (where SMU must join).

A lot of it depends on Title IX. Bellermine, Presbyrterian, and Jacksonville University all elevated their club teams to DI in the past three seasons. Florida State has the funding to do it, but cannot find an offsetting women's sport to satisfy Title IX. This is now made harder since "Cheerleading" is not a sport according to US Federal courts (though they get scholarship money). Actually SMU doesn't have to join DI (unless the NCAA changed their rules yet again - you can go up or down in 1 sport. John's Hopkins is a DIII School, but plays DI Lacrosse. Georgetown is a DI School that plays DIII Football.). It wouldn't make sense however to play a DII or III Schedule because nobody would have the budget to travel to Texas.

[Boston Pony]

If you are a DI school you have to go DI in everything. JHU & RIT, etc are all grandfathered in based on past. The other schools, Bellermine, Jacksonville, etc are small DI schools with little to no football programs so they don't have the Title IX issue. Schools like Michigan, FSU, & other 'football factories' are so much out of line with Title IX that they can't add men's sports at this point. I've been around lacrosse for over 30 years and Michigan has been mentioned as a possible varsity program for nearly all those years. Another key factor for SMU is the lack of a traditional base for the game - you have to travel to Denver or back to Florida or Kentucky to play games. While the women's game is growing rapidly in DI, the men's game is growing in DIII where scholarships are not an issue. My guess is that the women's program will have a chance to be added as the sport is growing in Texas, Title IX compliance is always an issue, and the cost to run the program is relatively inexpensive (new teams in midwest & south make travel easier).

[EastStang]

I personally think CUSA should add Collegiate co-ed NASCAR racing. Most of the NASCAR tracks sit vacant for 50 weeks out of the year (not counting swap meets). UCF is close to Daytona. UAB is close to Talledaga. ECU is close to Charlotte. Marshall is close to Pocono. SMU, Rice and UH are close to Texas Motor Speedway. Have engineering students as mechanics. It could be a way to get the conference name out in a "sport" that is one of the most popular in the south. Now that would get some interest in our conference from the Deep South, Joe Six Pack crowd.

[mustangbill67]

I don't know much about what is normal, but I just checked Syracuse's web site, and they have 55 people listed on their lacrosse roster, and only 24 listed on their field hockey roster.

I'm sure they have a decent number of walk-ons on the lacrosse team, but I wouldn't be surprised if we have to add two women's sports for the Big East.

Rowing might be a good one - they have 49 listed on their women's rowing roster.

I am not going to take the time to look it up but I imagine that as in other non-rev sports, the number of scholarships that can be awarded in a given year in each sport is dictated by the NCAA. Of course, these can be and are divided up among the players. So a large lacrosse roster does not translate into a lot of available scholarships.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

I don't know much about what is normal, but I just checked Syracuse's web site, and they have 55 people listed on their lacrosse roster, and only 24 listed on their field hockey roster.

I'm sure they have a decent number of walk-ons on the lacrosse team, but I wouldn't be surprised if we have to add two women's sports for the Big East.

Rowing might be a good one - they have 49 listed on their women's rowing roster.

I am not going to take the time to look it up but I imagine that as in other non-rev sports, the number of scholarships that can be awarded in a given year in each sport is dictated by the NCAA. Of course, these can be and are divided up among the players. So a large lacrosse roster does not translate into a lot of available scholarships.

Yeah - I have no idea how to find those rules. There must be some regulations or schools would just load up with scholarships in non-revenue sports.

Of course, I always wonder how SMU has 32 athletes listed on the Equestrian roster, but it looks like only 11 participate in a competition.

I also always wonder if SMU has 32 horses or just 11 and how they share the horses among the equestrian athletes.

[Scoops]

The fact that lacrosse is gaining popularity among high schools is meaningless. So is ice hockey, but neither will be added as a D-I sport at SMU. If anything, another women's sport will be added — maybe women's lacrosse — in order to bring back men's track, but considering the size of the athletic department's deficit and the way support staff keep getting eliminated under the claim of financial restrictions, adding any sports at all seems highly unlikely.

[Boston Pony]

Lacrosse at DI level has 12.5 ships - for men or women. The number of women playing lax is generally around 30 so you add more participants but not many scholarships. It would take lacrosse and a number of other women's sports to get SMU compliant to Title IX based on the football scholarships. While I would love SMU to have a men's lacrosse team (I was on the first team in '78), it ain't going to happen. For those that don't like lacrosse, they need to get into the new century.

[SMULaxer]

You guys are right. For men's lacrosse to be added, it would take women's lacrosse, women's bowling, and softball. Thank you title nine.

But if women's lacrosse was added (much more likely), it wouldn't be difficult for the men's club team to ride their coat tails. With a good relationship with the athletic department, they would probably share practice/game fields.

With TCU's move to the big east, they are joining a conference that is new to lacrosse as well. The Big East formed a lacrosse conference last year. But they have several power house teams in the conference. ND went to the championship last year. Syracuse is always a Title contender. Georgetown is a perennial top 10 team. Rudgers, Providence, St. John's and Villanova also compete for the men. I think this makes TCU the closest team in Texas to add D1 Lacrosse.

With Texas having the new TV money, I could see them making a move to D1 Lacrosse next. And if that happens, I'd expect A&M to follow suit.

SMU would follow these programs. But as for building a national title contender, understand, the same top 15 teams are at the top of lacrosse every year. I would expect SMU to peak at a Penn State level.

[EastStang]

There are more women's Div 1 LAX teams by reason of Title IX. Schools in the eastern seaboard (where women play HS lacrosse regularly) add women's lacrosse to their sports to try and balance out football for Title IX. Men's lacrosse, like baseball and men's track is going to remain a Title IX victim unless we get into a BCS conference and start reaping 10s of Millions of dollars in TV and Bowl revenue. Women's lacrosse is not out of the realm of possibility. It fits SMU's personna better than say, softball, bowling, or shooting.

[NickSMU17]

Northwestern is dominant....