D-1 Baseball Exits & Arrivals

There's a great discussion at the vestigial Rivals College Baseball Message Board, about teams that are dropping off the D-1 Baseball list for 2012 and one that is joining.  The discussion was begun by Boyd Nation of BoydsWorld.com.

Dropping out of Division 1:

• University of New Orleans Privateers:  Tim Jamieson's alma mater; they went to the College World Series in 1984; MU is 2-6 all-time vs. UNO.  Details about UNO's switch at UNO athletics allowed to become Division II (DailyComet.com)
  
  
• Lemoyne Dolphins:  Mizzou defeated Lemoyne in the 2004 NCAA Regional; MU played LeMoyne at Simmons Field in 2011, winning the series 3-1.  Read Le Moyne baseball in season of transition from Division I to D-II (blog.syracuse.com)
  
  
• Centenary Gentlemen:  MU is 3-0 all-time vs. the Gents
  
  
• Cleveland State Vikings:  MU is 3-0 vs. CSU

Climbing up to D-1:

• University of Nebraska - Omaha:  One UNO replaces another UNO in D-1;  The Mavericks are on Mizzou's 2012 schedule.   See Nebraska-Omaha Rips Out Hearts (cbssports.com)

I have to agree with the trend of that discussion, that D-1 Baseball would be well-served if there were a lot more schools that would realize they could be successful in D-II or D-III rather than being an also-ran in D-1.  For at least half of the D-1 schools, the best they can ever hope for is to win their conference tournament and get an automatic bid to the Regionals, where they'll go 2-and-Q.

But then, who would the Tigers play in early March?