NSIC Expansion to Benefit Concordia

Beginning in the 2008-09 academic year, Concordia University, St. Paul athletes will face new conference opponents as four additional schools join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.), the University of Minnesota Duluth (Duluth, Minn.), Minnesota State University Mankato (Mankato, Minn.), and Saint Cloud State University (Saint Cloud, Minn.) will join the 10 current members which include Bemidji State (Bemidji, Minn.), Concordia University, St. Paul (St. Paul, Minn.), University of Mary (Bismarck, N.D.), University of Minnesota Crookston (Crookston, Minn.), Minnesota State Moorhead (Moorhead, Minn.), Northern State (Aberdeen, S.D.), SW Minnesota State (Marshall, Minn.), Upper Iowa University (Fayette, Iowa), Wayne State College (Wayne, Neb.), and Winona State (Winona, Minn.). The NSIC will become a 14-team, 17-sport, NCAA Division II Conference with teams located in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Concordia University, St. Paul athletic director Tom Rubbelke, said the change is phenomenal. “It’s going to raise the bar,” he said. “It’s going to make our conference and region one of the strongest in the country.” Rubbelke also expects to see attendance at athletic events rise. “With our location, we stand to gain the most out of it because of the proximity of alumni from all of the schools,” he said. “I think it’s going to add to the spirit of the school.

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