Hobart Lacrosse to drop to Division III

According to posts on Laxpower, Hobart's Board of Trustees has made the decision to have the lacrosse program drop to D-III. Among other results, of course, that will end the oldest rivalry in college lacrosse (Cornell - Hobart) and end the competition between Syracuse and Hobart for the Crouse-Simmons trophy.

Laxpower

I guess the rules have changed about D-1 playing a D-III school, since we always used to play Hobart when they previously were in D-III

Its quite unfortunate, and seems incredibly stupid on behalf of the trustees. They argue they can't compete in D-I, but seems to me they've been quite good - which some years of very good - at the D-I level for a while. What do they think, going back to D-III means they'll win national title after national title? D-III is much more competitive than it was in the 80s and they'll *still* be facing the issue of luring athletes from less expensive schools - not because of scholarships, true, but just because HWS is no cheap school compared to many of the more affordable D-III schools in the area.

Not to mention all the parents, athletes, and fans who have been promised repeatedly that they would stay D-I. They'll lose at least 5 to 10 players who want to play D-I elsewhere. And in the one Hobart game I went to, the showing and campus spirit in brought out in the students was stunning. That little field was the closest I've seen to Lynah in any other sport anywhere.

And the alumni. Lost donations out the wazoo for a while. You think we were upset when hockey has crappy video service? What about if they dropped hockey to D-III claiming they couldn't compete without scholarships while they'd been clearly in the top half of D-I for a while? And as a smaller school I have to think that lacrosse is a much bigger thing there for the alumni as a whole than hockey is here - plenty who don't give a damn at Cornell.

Incredibly short sighted.

Maybe Hobart did make the right move. DI lacrosse is getting more competitive. Hobart hoped to be the Hopkins of the Finger Lakes but that never happened. If there's a culprit here it's the NCAA, which cannot abide the idea of a small school excelling in just one or two sports at the most competitive level, and not allow scholarships in that one sport.

Hobart is Cornell in an even more remote location (on account of fewer students), not quite the academic prestige, and the same can't-award-scholarships problem. A lose-lose scenario. Or in Hobart's case, a lose-half-the-time scenario, going 88-98 since 1995 after winning 12 straight DIII titles 1980-91.

Is it cast in stone that DIII teams can't play DI or DII teams? Cornell played Hobart before it went DI (Cortland, too). That said, Cornell might opt to let Hobart fall off the schedule to get one more DI game for post-season seeding purposes. But it's going to be an emotional tug for Cornell's coach Hobart Class of '92.

billhoward
Maybe Hobart did make the right move. DI lacrosse is getting more competitive. Hobart hoped to be the Hopkins of the Finger Lakes but that never happened. If there's a culprit here it's the NCAA, which cannot abide the idea of a small school excelling in just one or two sports at the most competitive level, and not allow scholarships in that one sport.

I think what you mean is, "and allow scholarships in that one sport." This is the same deal as RPI and Clarkson and SLU and CC and Hopkins, except that those other schools are grandfathered in but Hobart couldn't at some point choose to become a scholarship program. Hobart has the same "can't-award-scholarships" problem as Cornell and the other Ivies, but obviously has fewer mitigating factors to balance that out.

As long as we're playing them that day, I'm enamored of the little giants, too: Colorado College, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Hopkins (in general and when they're seeded well below us), soon to be formerly Hobart.

You're right, I meant it's too bad that a school can't go D1 in one or two sports and also too bad (I think) that it can't offer scholarships. I really wish colleges only offered need-based scholarships, which would kind of put Nebraska football out of business. But that's not going to happen.

I don't imagine that we'll continue to play them if they drop to D-3. If we want to continue to make the tourney, SOS will matter, and a d-3 school on the schedule is one less game to schedule with a "quality" opponent.

Hopefully we can at least scrimmage them every year. Or maybe squeeze them in as an early-season midweek game a la Binghamton without sacrificing a Division I opponent. (Does the Ivy League restrict the number of games we can play?)

It would be an awful shame for the longest rivalry in collegiate lacrosse to just fade away into history.

In a stunning reversal that was announced to the Hobart team tonight, the college's Board of Trustees has decided that Hobart's men's lacrosse program will remain in Division I.

Hillel Hoffmann
In a stunning reversal that was announced to the Hobart team tonight, the college's Board of Trustees has decided that Hobart's men's lacrosse program will remain in Division I.

Excellent news.

Hillel Hoffmann
In a stunning reversal that was announced to the Hobart team tonight, the college's Board of Trustees has decided that Hobart's men's lacrosse program will remain in Division I.

I wonder if this episode will undermine their recruiting. Seems like the specter of potentially going DIII down the road now hangs over the program. I hope not as I'd like Hobart to remain a strong lacrosse program for sellfish reasons (quality opponent for Cornell) and unselfish (long lacrosse tradition that is a nice component of the college lacrosse landscape).