Future of Division III

[AndrewB]

What's the acceptance rate for each one of these schools in the Top-20?  Take the University of Chicago for instance.  They have a 4-5% acceptance rate.  Washington University might be 12%.  There's no way to load up on enough players to over run the system.   If the player is that good and that smart, they would be going to Stanford, Duke or an Ivy League. 
Would it take much for UMHB to do this, of course not.  They have the best facilities in D3 and alumni that loves football.  But they really wouldn't have to spend much since they were one of the best teams before NIL.

[MCScots2013]

I think NIL for D3 is better suited for programs in either metro areas (like a Chicago, NYC, Boston, DC, etc.) or in an area that is fairly populated without a major college program nearby. Maryville has Knoxville 15 minutes up the road and UT right across the river.  Folks would probably see an MC NIL as a waste of time since the UT collective is obviously a bigger shop.  Chicago is a large enough population center it really doesn't matter what D1 program is near.  Plenty of money to go around.

I was looking into some collectives and found UT's, but also--and more interestingly--found Tennessee Tech's (FCS) collective.  It was announced in Feb. 2025 and since has a different website domain.  Fairly straightforward "clubs" and "memberships"  might be something a little easier for D3's to duplicate rather than UT's Volunteer Club where you can buy autographs and the like. TTU Wings Up Collective

[rmc1982]

Didnt know where to post this so I did it here so as to address "the elephant in the room". Whats the liklihood of and the degree to which the NCAA is going to allow NIL for D3 sports?? I know its being discussed at a number of D3 schools, and whats there to stop the schools with huge endowments from basically turning D3 into a full scholarship entity for the kids some schools really want. For example- whats to stop high power and big endowment schools from luring some D1 and D2 talent thats maybe not getting playing time at a D1 or D2 to come play D3 football and ruin the integrity of D3 by PAYING THEM? The whole thing just seems unfair and gives advantage to schools with bigger endowments or alumni with deep pockets. Sooner or later the NCAA is going to have to face this head on or this is going to turn into a bidding war!


"We're completely surrounded-Excellent!...Now we can attack in any direction!'....Chesty Puller, USMC

There are NIL deals in D3 already. The playing field in D3 has always been... tilted? depending on a school's desire to succeed at sports and monetary strength. Just look at the Learfield Cup standings. Other than Wisconsin-LaCrosse, you have mostly elite private schools with huge endowments dominating the top 20 rankings.

Maybe not the big 3 sports, but most D3 sports are dominated by those types of schools. If they choose to find a way to put NIL to work, they will simply continue to dominate, though they may make a bigger dent in football. Or maybe it will be the large state schools, with tons of alums, who can even the field? I don't know. But you can't pretend that D3 is flat playing field now. It's not, and never has been. The only real rule is "no scholarships."

Ok Jknezek- Youre a W&L guy and an ODAC guy. Take W&L for example- Largest endowment in the ODAC( and one of the largest IN THE COUNTRY) at Give or take a little over $2 BILLION vs RMC's $222.5 Million. Just the INTEREST on that $2Bil is (at 5%) a little over $11 Million. Thats enough to get a few "ringers" as long as they can cut it academically. We at RMC can't compete with that unless we have alums to "pony up" the $$$. Now in the other side of the coin we have Roanoke, a new football program in the ODAC and climbing fast- they may not have a huge endowment but they've got Va Tech a few miles up the road and Brian Stinespring as their coach( a VT guy) It is EASY for him to pick off some D1 kids who aren't playing At VT and put them in a Roanoke uniform and you've got an instant contender. Can't blame them for that but thats how it seems to be working- But give Roanoke an influx of NIL $$ and you have an even bigger issue compared to everyone else.Same with us at RMC- everybody is racing toward the MONEY MONEY MONEY at breakneck speed with no end or constraints in sight and its a race to the floor! I'm not inferring W&L is doing this now but THEY COULD if they wanted. It creates an unfair advantage.Now I'm not stupid enough to say that it isnt happening now- with some constraint it absolutely IS but take away all the "rules" and its gonna be a race to the cellar for D3 Sports. We've always had a core group of basketball alumni at RMC( and most of them are SAE brothers of mine-thats how i know) that have not controlled but have an awful lot of interest and influence in our Men's Basketball program- that's how we always seem to have great coaches and a Top 10 Mens basketball program every year. Success breeds success....but add in NIL $$$ and it quickly will spin out of control without constraints-THATS MY POINT! Where does it stop? Unless the NCAA intervenes at some point its only going to get worse. For now, however, it looks like its going to be "we have to do it because everyone else is". Look at who we compete against for players now- CNU( State school with lots of alumni) Mary Washington- the same, and all of the other ODAC Schools. To compete we're going to have to do SOMETHING in order to stay competitive- which for now will mean NIL in some form!