https://youtu.be/nQNxt5RJ__s
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Here is something more official, though I'm not sure the video was supposed to be public yet. Official announcement later today.
https://youtu.be/Kcr19v69VKk
Interesting. Not sure I have even heard of them and I was stationed outside of St Louis. But they are a good size school with over 6K undergrads. Looks like it was a long term strategy considering their movement through NAIA to NCAA.
FUBeAR used to work for a company focused on current & former Student-Athletes and their Careers. We had schools in our portfolio from P5 to D3…and Lindenwood had the largest population of Student Athletes in the system. They sponsor almost 30 sports. They are INTO sports there! May be a great add to FCS.
Seeing their move from NAIA to NCAA 2 it made me think...
Which division has the better football product, NAIA or Div 2??? I think it would be interesting to see the NC from each league play each other. I would guess it would be even.
The two leagues are fairly equal in their sport products quality.
In my (very limited) experience D2 is far superior to NAIA, though perhaps it's not like that everywhere.
Back in the day when I was at Rocky Mountain College (NAIA-Frontier Conference), when people asked us about affiliation that is comparable to the NCAA, we always said we were between DII and DIII. NAIA should be expected to beat any DIII, and not really win against DII.
Good a time as any to make my first post I guess. I've been following Lindenwood for 2 decades now, so I'm pretty familiar with the differences in divisions.
From an aggregate perspective, putting NAIA in between D2 and D3 is probably accurate. However quality of teams vary wildly in the NAIA because of the rules and enforcement (or lack of). Some NAIA institutions have a knack of getting guys on the field that the NCAA has shunned. A few of those FBS level guys playing at that level really stick out and make a difference. Sometimes it looks like a star senior playing on their schools JV team.
The top NAIA teams can hang with most of the top 25 in D2 in most years. This year, Morningside (NAIA champ) would get run off the field by Ferris State (D2 champ). The difference, as is the case with most divisional comparisons is line talent and depth. Good NAIA will compete well and beat good D2 in one off games. Over the course of a full season, the top 5 of the NAIA probably finish just inside the top 25 of D2.
Not a clear cut answer, but it changes quickly in the NAIA.