Covenant Dropping to NCAA Div. lll A Disappointment

Many people have never heard of Covenant College. It's not a Div. l power, but it's a small college on top of Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga, TN.

However, they have been for years an NAIA power, in particular Men's Soccer. The Scots have won several District and Conference Championships and have made it to the NAIA National Soccer Tournament at least once (2007). The Women's Soccer Team has come on strong in recent years having been ranked in the top 25 of the NAIA's Women's Soccer National Poll. This past Winter, the Women's Basketball Team won the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament, thus getting a berth into the NAIA National Tournament. The only sports struggling, as far as I know, are Men's Basketball and Baseball. The Men's Basketball Team went 2-29 in the 08-09 season, and the Baseball Team finished the 09 season with a record of 15-35. In spite of the struggles of Men's Basketball and Baseball, Covenant Sports has done well at the NAIA level.

So why are they moving to NCAA Div. lll? There are no athletic scholarships in Div. lll. The NCAA has more restrictions as far as contacting recruits, and it kills an absolutely fantastic Men's Soccer rivalry with Bryan College of Dayton, TN. The two schools are an hour away, separated by the city of Chattanooga, and the Soccer rivalry is one of the most intense College Soccer rivalries in the Southeast if not the country. Bryan is staying put in the NAIA. The Bryan Men's Soccer Program has been solid for the last 19 years or so since the arrival of Dr. Sanford Zensen in 1990 when he became Athletic Director and Men's Head Soccer Coach. Zensen has won over 200 games in his tenure at Bryan.

Covenant's move to NCAA Div. lll will take the steam out of the rivalry. The Scotts have defeated the Lions in the AAC Tournament the last two years even though Bryan won the regular season battle in 07 and 08. Bryan would like nothing better than to get revenge in the Post-Season. It looks like they won't get that chance.

There's no guarantee that the Scotts will succeed at Div. lll. Why not stay at the level that you have been successful. Moving from NAIA to NCAA Div. lll is a step down, not up. They may not be able to recruit the same type of athletes as they have in the past. Other than Emory University, Lagrange College, Maryville College and Suwanee College, all relatively within 4 travel hours, what other Div. lll teams will they play? It appears that the Bryan rivalry will continue at least another year or two for both student bodies, but again, since the two schools are now in two different associations, it's meaningless. It's a disappointment, in my opinion.