LaxTV Forums | A Forum About The MCLA

Why does it seem like D2 lacrosse is the step-child of college lacrosse? Almost all you hear about is D1 and D3.

# of teams playing it?

laxfan25 wrote:# of teams playing it?

Number of schools playing DII lacrosse is: 32

There are more schools playing lax in DIII than DI and DII.

http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/membership_svcs/sponssummary

NOTE: Last updated- September 1, 2005

Brent Burns wrote:

laxfan25 wrote:# of teams playing it?

Number of schools playing DII lacrosse is: 32

As I suspected. D1 is the elite, cream of the crop. D3 has the numbers in schools (and it's varsity). D2 just doesn't have the presence. (And of course, MDIA is the red-headed stepchild that doesn't get ANY respect! ) I just wish more of these "varsity snobs" would actually take the time to see the premier MDIA teams - I think they would change their tune quickly. So many of them equate it with the old club days of kegs on the sideline, show up when you want, etc.

Can anyone refresh my memory as well as others?

How does NCAA determine that a college or university is a DI or DII or DIII? Is that decision actually and solely made by the said university or college? Is there a set of criteria of how a school decides that it is a DI or DII or DIII?

Has or was there a debate on having two tiers- DI and DIII by getting DII schools moved to a different level? It looks like DII schools would be stuck anyway.

Brent Burns wrote:Can anyone refresh my memory as well as others?

How does NCAA determine that a college or university is a DI or DII or DIII? Is that decision actually and solely made by the said university or college? Is there a set of criteria of how a school decides that it is a DI or DII or DIII?

Has or was there a debate on having two tiers- DI and DIII by getting DII schools moved to a different level? It looks like DII schools would be stuck anyway.

Individual schools define the level they want to compete at. Not the NCAA. A large school like Ohio State or Texas could choose to compete at the D3 level and a small school could decide they want to play Division 1 athletics.

Not true Sonny. There are strict criteria, and schools have to be accepted first into the NCAA (not a given) and second into the appropriate division. The criteria are based on a number of factors, including number of sports offered at the varsity level, enrollment, size of stadiums and arenas, average attendance in key sports, etc.

It's funny though. Like Catawba College has 1,400 students where Grand Valley State has 22,565. Valdosta State has 9,013. All compete and are top teams at DII football.

I always thought it was based on number of scholarships...with DIII having none. And I also remember Hopkins having to get an exemption from the NCAA to continue to play at the DI level in lacrosse while they compete in DIII in all other sports.

Scholarships is one small part of the criteria. The NCAA sets limits on scholarships by division, sport and gender, but scholarships are not the overall determining factor for division. For example, the Ivy League, all Division 1, has no scholarships. They meet enough of the rest of the criteria (school size, budget, number of varsity sports, support services, stadium sizes, ticket sales, etc.) to qualify for D1.

I knew there had to be more to it since the Patriot League didn't give scholarhips when I was there but alas, I am lazy and didn't want to look it up.

The Colorado School of Mines and Regis University both had NCAA Divion II lacrosse teams in the past. CSM had a team from 1976 - 1996 and I don't know when Regis started their program, but it folded sometime around the year 2000.

The RMLC conference alone has 5 USLMDIA lax teams that have other sports competing in the NCAA Division II. Next year we will have 6 teams in this boat, with the addition of Metropolitan State.

It is my hope that some day we can restore some of these lost NCAA Division II programs and maybe even add some more.