Obviously, St. Thomas has always been here, but specifically I mean that St. Thomas has a Division One college institution. They've started playing their first games as an FCS football team, and even had their first hockey games against in-state rivals St. Cloud State. Of course. St. Cloud isn't really a rival, because St. Thomas in all other sports is a D-1 institution, and St. Cloud is only D-2 (and significantly better at hockey).
Pardon my giggling, but I've always thought that the state of Minnesota needed another D-1 institution. It was strange that Hawai'i, Wyoming and Vermont were the only other three states with but one D-1 school, especially given Minnesota's size, both population and physical. The real lift for me, personally is in college basketball, and I am enthusiastically looking forward to the Tommies taking the court and joining the Summit League. Sure, it will be 6 years until they are post season eligible, but heck, they still might be the next Minnesota team to reach the Big Dance.
The Tommies' basketball schedule is out, and I intend to catch at least a couple of games, if I can. I was curious to see if they would have any Major conference foes in their first year as a D-1 establishment, and the answer is no, they will not. They have three mid-Majors on the calendar though. Fordham out of the A-10 comes as their third game and provides the team with a trip to New York City in year one. The only local school to play the Tommies in a non-con game is Drake, who play in the Missouri Valley.
The Tommies do play in an invitational, headed to Youngstown State along with Niagara and Southern Illinois (also from the Mssouri Valley) in November. This will be part of a very long road trip to start the season, with stops in Chicago, New York and Seattle before coming home to play Crown College. Not a D-1 school, but their first home game as a D-1 institution.
Their first game at all in D-1 is at Chicago State, which as been one of the worst teams in college basketball since they moved up. It's a real opportunity for the Tommies to start with a win. They aren't playing many top tier teams, but the travel will be grueling early on, which may be enough to put them behind the 8-ball before the conference schedule gets underway.
They have one D-1 non conference opponent (Montana State) before they start Summit League play, and a few sub-D-1 opponents. Conference play will be interesting. The Summit League is home to all 4 teams from the Dakotas, including North Dakota State and South Dakota State, the strongest of the bunch. Also, Oral Roberts, Cinderella of the 2021 tournament, will come to St. Paul in February.
The Tommies might be pretty bad this year and for a few more to come, but in 6 years, they very well could be running the Summit League, ready to make the Big Dance. Enjoy the growing pains and every small win this year. It's fun. Small schools are fun.
