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Keith Strudler: Going Smaller Time

In 2021, the University of Hartford men’s basketball team played in its first NCAA Division I Tournament in School history, losing to eventual national champions Baylor in the first round. It is entirely possible, if not likely, that the Hawks will never play in the Division I tournament again. That would be a bold prediction given one out of 10 in their America East Athletic Conference makes the dance every year. Only it’s not, as beginning 2025, Hartford will no longer be in the America East. In fact, they won’t be in Division I, as they will be moving, or declassifying as they say, to the lower tier Division III, where schools operate without college scholarships but also without the chance to play a team like Baylor in the first round of the playoffs. Which means that unless they make another run this upcoming season, before they essentially play-out their DI string with walk-ons, their history in March Madness will be but a single game.

Two things about this move will come as no surprise. First, this largely comes down to money. According to a university hired consulting firm, moving from DI to DIII will save Hartford over $9 million per year. That projection comes as Hartford has been steadily losing undergraduate enrollment, leading the mid-sized, tuition dependent private university to look for any and all places to cut costs. And reclassifying sports divisions is one of the easiest ways to save money without moving more directly into the academic enterprise.

Second, Hartford is one of the few schools in history to take the down escalator in the ongoing athletics race. For the most part, universities aspire to join Division I, not to leave it. Despite the challenge and cost of moving up, there’s long been a steady line of colleges hoping to join the club, a process that continues despite the NCAA’s near moratorium on movement in recent years. On the other hand, Hartford joins a small cohort that’s gone against traffic, including most recently Savannah State, a school that spent less than 20 lackluster years in Division I and probably never should have jumped in the first place.

The ever increasing complexities of Division I athletics go far beyond the time and scope of this commentary. Understand that these divisions, especially Divisions I and III, are a lot more like the Greek Empire than the United States – an official affiliation that hides highly divergent goals and resources. Hartford athletics is nearly a different species that local neighbor and Division I colleague UConn – to say nothing of the real power players like Ohio State and Alabama. Schools like Hartford are essentially DIINOs – Division I in name only. That said, this thing holds together because Hartford and scores of other small DI schools believe in the range of benefits that come from Division I status. In fact, Hartford realized one of those just this past year in making the big dance, gaining the promotional and limited fiscal bounce that comes from playing on the largest athletic stage outside of major college football – which Hartford would never contest.

The question at hand isn’t whether Hartford made the correct decision, as that will largely be a product of interpretation and perspective. Given Hartford’s overall state of affairs, this athletic downgrade, and apologies for the pejorative, is part of a far larger strategy to regain some sense of solvency moving forward. In other words, when it comes to sports at the University of Hartford, they kind of have bigger fish to fry.

The bigger question is whether this is an isolated incident or the start of a trend. Right now, there’s about a gazillion moving parts when it comes to higher education and sports, including whether the entire model might blow up by one or more court decisions. Which means that the value proposition of Division I might change, at least for schools like Hartford, who once saw the upward trajectory as the entrée to an exclusive group. But right now, when large Division I schools like Texas and LSU might be headed towards a more professional model, the gulf may simply be too wide to make membership worth the price. Which might also mean that Division III might change as well, as schools with higher athletic intentions rejoin the pack. Meanwhile, other universities may see this as their moment to take Hartford’s place, a true musical chairs of higher education.

It’s hard to know for sure what might happen, really about anything in higher ed these days. Other than the fact that Hartford won’t be playing in the Division I NCAA tournament again anytime soon.

Keith Strudler is the director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him on twitter at @KeithStrudler

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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