Of course, there's a part of me that is very gung-ho about the whole thing. (Wait, I'm rooting for IRAAC? Is Saddam on this committee?) Division II, a step up in respectability. No longer branded as a small-time school because we're on the lowest level of NCAA play.
But then I think about the downside, and where we'd be heading if we moved from Division III to Division II -- in the direction of Division I. I can smell the rotten stink of big-time college athletics from here.
College athletics at a Division III level is a beautiful concept. Athletes compete solely for the joy of competition, while they attend classes and work toward degrees. Nobody comes to UCSD without considering academics first.
A move to Division II is hardly a move to big-time college sports, but it's a move in that direction. Athletes could be given financial support based on their athletic ability. That support would be used as a recruiting tool.
When UCSD began competing in Division III, the teams were rather unsuccessful. But over the years, UCSD has become a powerhouse. Teams won't schedule the Tritons as opponents anymore -- they're too good for Division III, but Division II schools don't want to risk playing them for fear of an upset.
We're caught between a rock and a hard place. UCSD is the best of its class -- but hardly the best of the best. If an intramural team consistently wins A-class titles, it should move up to AA. Being the best of the novices, of the tiny schools, is hardly something to be proud of.
So the logical step is, of course, to move to Division II. It's probably the correct step, too. But what happens when UCSD becomes respectable at Division II? Do we make the logical move to Division I, the realm of big-time college sports?
That's the peril I see with any move to Division II: it opens the door for other moves in the future. Division II status won't bring would-be professional athletes -- one who would rather use the university as a scouting tool than an academic institution -- to UCSD.
On the contrary, Division II status will allow the members of UCSD athletic teams to be challenged once again, and will compensate some athletes for the time they put in representing the school.
On that level, Division II is fine. It's not as if UCSD would be selling its soul if it moved out of Division III. But it could the devil an option to buy later.
One has to consider the entire idea of college athletics, too. College is, first and foremost, a place to learn. Athletics are simply an outlet, a fun thing to do -- nothing more. The philosophy of Division III is athlete-oriented. Division II's philosophy involves serving the public. That means "big-ticket" sports like basketball, baseball and football. (Well, maybe not football -- though you never know...) Smaller sports could be overlooked. It's a disturbing trend.
Division II can be seen simply as a way of increasing competition and of compensating athletes for the work they do. I have no problem with that.
But what happens after we move there? What happens if and when we become too big for Division II? Do we sell our academic souls?
The smell of Division II is different from the pure scent of Division III, but it's almost as sweet. But I worry that the sweetness could one day become the sick smell of academic and moral decay that emanates from such honorable institutions as UNLV and SMU.