KEARNEY, Neb. — Citing travel differences, University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Doug Kristensen said Monday that UNK will seek admission to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
“The change in athletic conference is in the best interest of our campus,” Kristensen said in a press release. “We have the opportunity to join an outstanding conference and reduce travel burdens.”
The MIAA currently includes the University of Nebraska at Omaha and schools in Missouri and Kansas.
UNK's shortest road trip in its present league, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, is 346 miles to Chadron State. Seven MIAA schools are within that radius.
“The map says it all,” Kristensen said. “If you take the two longest trips (in the MIAA) and add them together, they're not as long as our longest trip in the RMAC. ... I'd rather put money into scholarships instead of gas.”
Athletic Director Jon McBride said UNK's goal is to make life better for athletes by reducing the number of long bus rides and missed classes.
“In addition,” he said, “many people are familiar with schools in the MIAA and will be excited to renew old rivalries.”
Membership in the MIAA will reunite UNK with all but one member of the Central States Intercollegiate Conference, its league from 1976 to 1989. UNK has been a member of the RMAC since 1994.
The move requires approval of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and the MIAA CEO Council. Consideration of the request will be an agenda item when the regents meet Aug. 17 at Varner Hall in Lincoln.
With the support of the board, Kristensen would submit a letter to the MIAA formally applying for membership. The MIAA would then begin consideration of the application, which would include campus visits and an inventory of the UNK athletic department.
The MIAA CEO Council voted in June to actively pursue expansion to 16 conference members. Central Oklahoma and Northeastern Oklahoma accepted invitations last week to join the league. Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., an NAIA school transitioning to NCAA Division II, is also considering an invitation.
If approved and accepted, UNK's membership in the new league would probably go into effect with the 2012-2013 school year.
“It's not with joy that I'm going to attempt to leave the RMAC,” Kristensen said.
RMAC schools “are like family,” he said. “This is something that has been talked about in the community for a number of years. ... The opportunity has arisen very quickly. The MIAA presented an opportunity we didn't have a year ago today.”
UNK would have one of the smallest athletic budgets in the MIAA and fewer scholarships, especially in football where MIAA schools are allowed the NCAA Division II limit of 36. The RMAC limits schools to 28.
“Our coaches are competent and good at what they do,” Kristensen said. “I'm not going to lay awake at nights worrying about the move to the MIAA.”
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