This post was from another thread, but I wanted to use it hear.

(02-11-2013 08:57 PM)Bruin2002 Wrote:  After we left the ASun, there were a number of posters from ASun teams who expressed their pleasure with us leaving the conference. I thought teams wanted to play other teams with higher RPIs in basketball. But, I don’t think it has helped the ASun. According to Real Time RPI, the ASun was the 20th ranked conference while this year the ASun has dropped 6 places to 26.

They seemed excited that there was another team that will win the conference this year in men's basketball, but that hasn’t translated into an attendance boost. Attendance is down by 80 per game overall.

There are a lot of posters in the OVC that weren’t too excited about our arrival either. The chief complaint is that we don’t have football and we’re a private school, so funding for all sports is not the same.

I’d like to think we’ve brought something good to the OVC. Conference rankings for men's basketball in the OVC have jumped from 21st in 2011-12 to 16th this year. I also think we’ve helped a few other team’s funding in a small way with attendance bumps. Murray drew 2,235 more for the Belmont game than their average. Like wise for EKU (3,605 above their average), TN Tech (+1,835), and Morehead (+1,135).

I think the OVC move was good for BU, I hope that it will be viewed as a positive for the rest of the OVC too.

I also saw the post that Smidge from Murray State made. Because of the football and all of its expenses, etc, etc, he would've voted "no" on Belmont. We, fans here in the Horizon League, look at you guys as a nice prize! We fully realize how beneficial you would be to our league. We don't have football as an HL sponsored sport. Those programs that do are either in the Pioneer League (Valpo) or the MVFC (Youngstown State).

We also heard in our League this past season that the HL was courting Belmont for an invite. Things didn't work out quite like HL Fans would've hoped, but I think the powers that be will try it again next season. We know Belmont would be at the southern end of the HL footprint, which probably would entail bringing in a travel partner for you.

What is your opinion of the Horizon League? I know most mid-major teams aspire to get an invite to the Missouri Valley...and rightfully so. They have been in the top ten for the past 5 years or so. In that span of time, however, the Horizon League has been a top 12 conference, just two spots behind the MVC. With your basketball prowess, baseball team and of course your academics, you would greatly improve the standing of the HL!

We've also done some talking about Belmont on the Horizon League Fans Forum under Prospective HL Members

http://horizonleaguefans.freeforums.net

I have always thought pretty highly of the Horizon, however the makeup and geography is a bit different now. As for Belmont in the Horizon, the OVC was the conference Belmont had it's eye on when we made the move to D1. When we inevitably left the ASun, I was hoping for a bigger conf with more of a national profile than the OVC, however, there is no denying the geographical benefit (travel costs, rivalries, attendance) and the overall stability of the OVC, compared to the Asun. Clearly if we were in the MVC or Hor we would lose the geographical benefits. Additionally, the presidents just recently voted to add a $500,000 exit fee. So I think we are where we're going to be for a while, good or bad.

(06-07-2013 12:28 PM)Chuck A Wrote:  This post was from another thread, but I wanted to use it hear.

(02-11-2013 08:57 PM)Bruin2002 Wrote:  After we left the ASun, there were a number of posters from ASun teams who expressed their pleasure with us leaving the conference. I thought teams wanted to play other teams with higher RPIs in basketball. But, I don’t think it has helped the ASun. According to Real Time RPI, the ASun was the 20th ranked conference while this year the ASun has dropped 6 places to 26.

They seemed excited that there was another team that will win the conference this year in men's basketball, but that hasn’t translated into an attendance boost. Attendance is down by 80 per game overall.

There are a lot of posters in the OVC that weren’t too excited about our arrival either. The chief complaint is that we don’t have football and we’re a private school, so funding for all sports is not the same.

I’d like to think we’ve brought something good to the OVC. Conference rankings for men's basketball in the OVC have jumped from 21st in 2011-12 to 16th this year. I also think we’ve helped a few other team’s funding in a small way with attendance bumps. Murray drew 2,235 more for the Belmont game than their average. Like wise for EKU (3,605 above their average), TN Tech (+1,835), and Morehead (+1,135).

I think the OVC move was good for BU, I hope that it will be viewed as a positive for the rest of the OVC too.

I also saw the post that Smidge from Murray State made. Because of the football and all of its expenses, etc, etc, he would've voted "no" on Belmont. We, fans here in the Horizon League, look at you guys as a nice prize! We fully realize how beneficial you would be to our league. We don't have football as an HL sponsored sport. Those programs that do are either in the Pioneer League (Valpo) or the MVFC (Youngstown State).

We also heard in our League this past season that the HL was courting Belmont for an invite. Things didn't work out quite like HL Fans would've hoped, but I think the powers that be will try it again next season. We know Belmont would be at the southern end of the HL footprint, which probably would entail bringing in a travel partner for you.

What is your opinion of the Horizon League? I know most mid-major teams aspire to get an invite to the Missouri Valley...and rightfully so. They have been in the top ten for the past 5 years or so. In that span of time, however, the Horizon League has been a top 12 conference, just two spots behind the MVC. With your basketball prowess, baseball team and of course your academics, you would greatly improve the standing of the HL!

We've also done some talking about Belmont on the Horizon League Fans Forum under Prospective HL Members

http://horizonleaguefans.freeforums.net

Wow! That exit fee is a bummer! It will pretty much keep teams on lock down! Good luck on the upcoming season!