(08-05-2019 08:36 PM)Nittany_Bearcat Wrote:  It makes sense for Fort Wayne. But man, is this ever uninspiring from the POV as a fan of one of the Horizon's better schools (NKU).

To think a few years back, we were talking about the Horizon inviting the likes of Murray State and Belmont, or GCU and NMSU.

Instead, the Horizon has settled for the 2 Indiana alphabet soup schools (yeah, yeah, I know they're now Fort Wayne instead of IPFW).

You can tell that Butler, Valpo, and Loyola-Chicago aren't in the conference anymore. The IUPU/IP combo finally got play.

Makes me wonder about Detroit. I don't know who would have made them happy; maybe any private school (Robert Morris dissed again), or a public school in a different state not currently part of the Horizon footprint? I can't imagine restocking Indiana with another public school would be something they are cool with. Who knows.

It does seem like a weird time to add when you have a stable 10. Did the Horizon need Fort Wayne for anything like baseball or soccer?

(08-05-2019 05:26 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Seems reasonable. I don't recall NoDak actually saying where Fort Wayne and WIU would go, just that they would somehow disappear from the Summit/"Great Northern". Even if the MVC takes in Murray State, I don't expect the MVFC is going to want Murray State FB.

I've hard the non-MVC MVFC teams owe the MVC teams for allowing North Dakota in. I don't know how true that is.

The Summit doesn't really need to add, since they're adding one and losing one to stay at a stable overall number, but it still seems to me that the move to make if they were expanding would be any one of the 10k+ public schools in Minnesota. The geography's right, the enrollment numbers are right, and there's a real chance for some synergy for any of Minnesota State/St Cloud/UM-Duluth by associating with the four main Dakota publics.

(08-06-2019 07:43 AM)BirdstheWord Wrote:  

(08-05-2019 05:26 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Seems reasonable. I don't recall NoDak actually saying where Fort Wayne and WIU would go, just that they would somehow disappear from the Summit/"Great Northern". Even if the MVC takes in Murray State, I don't expect the MVFC is going to want Murray State FB.

I've hard the non-MVC MVFC teams owe the MVC teams for allowing North Dakota in. I don't know how true that is.

Interesting -- that could certainly be the case.

I'm wondering about WIU to the OVC though. Would the OVC take their non-FB sports and let them keep FB in the MVFC?

11 isn't a bad number especially if you want to play a 20 game schedule. As much as the coaches complain about the difficulty of filling non-conference slates in hoops, it seems longer league schedules are in vogue.

11 is the new 10...

(08-06-2019 10:50 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  11 is the new 10...

Nigel Tufnel had it right all along

(08-06-2019 07:43 AM)BirdstheWord Wrote:  

(08-05-2019 05:26 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  Seems reasonable. I don't recall NoDak actually saying where Fort Wayne and WIU would go, just that they would somehow disappear from the Summit/"Great Northern". Even if the MVC takes in Murray State, I don't expect the MVFC is going to want Murray State FB.

I've hard the non-MVC MVFC teams owe the MVC teams for allowing North Dakota in. I don't know how true that is.

Actually they owe for both South Dakota and North Dakota. Keeping the Summit League alive.

Does Augustana want D1 bad enough to screw their football and either disband it or leave it to rot in the Pioneer League?

(08-06-2019 12:57 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Does Augustana want D1 bad enough to screw their football and either disband it or leave it to rot in the Pioneer League?

Would they need to disband it? Independent FCS schools like Dixie State are getting a lot of inquiries. The Big Sky and MVFC need non-conference opponents.

Here is my take from a Denver perspective:

https://letsgodu.com/2019/08/06/purdue-f...departure/

Why is Robert Morris often discussed as a Horizon Candidate?

I listened to the press conference. But it didn't answer the question I am most interested in: "Why now?"
That PFW wanted to go the the Horizon was the worst kept secret in college alignment. So after making PFW wait for years, why now?

Is it to put more people in the stands at the basketball tournament in Indianapolis?
What does the Horizon gain by this move?

(08-05-2019 08:36 PM)Nittany_Bearcat Wrote:  It makes sense for Fort Wayne. But man, is this ever uninspiring from the POV as a fan of one of the Horizon's better schools (NKU).

To think a few years back, we were talking about the Horizon inviting the likes of Murray State and Belmont, or GCU and NMSU.

Instead, the Horizon has settled for the 2 Indiana alphabet soup schools (yeah, yeah, I know they're now Fort Wayne instead.

Who was talking about those potential members? Message board chatter? You do know each of those teams would much rather be in their current conference or even the MVC over the Horizon. Belmont seems content being in the OVC and Murray St. has its sights on the MVC.

I’m not sure the MVC is done with expansion just yet!

(08-06-2019 10:50 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  11 is the new 10...

The irony is that while Men's and Women's Basketball goes to 11, most sports now move to even numbers. Making scheduling easier for most sports.

Women's Volleyball = 10 (UDM doesn't sponsor)
Softball = 10 (UWM doesn't sponsor)
Men's Soccer = 10 (YSU doesn't sponsor)
Women's Soccer = 10 (UIC doesn't sponsor)
Men's Tennis = 8 (PUFW, UWM, Oakland don't sponsor)
Women's Tennis = 10 (PUFW doesn't sponsor)

Baseball = 7 (oops!)

Men's and Women's Basketball go to 11, which is not that bad, as schools likely will get a much needed 10th conference home game. This is one league where 11 actually works better due to so many team scheduled sports having a school not sponsor.

(08-06-2019 01:40 PM)MidWestMidMajor Wrote:  I listened to the press conference. But it didn't answer the question I am most interested in: "Why now?"
That PFW wanted to go the the Horizon was the worst kept secret in college alignment. So after making PFW wait for years, why now?

Is it to put more people in the stands at the basketball tournament in Indianapolis?
What does the Horizon gain by this move?

PFW averaged 1,369 a game last year. How many of those would realistically attend the conference tournament? 200?

(08-06-2019 03:46 PM)DoubleRSU Wrote:  PFW averaged 1,369 a game last year. How many of those would realistically attend the conference tournament? 200?

That's 200 more than were in Sioux Falls! (I don't know that - apologies to Mastodon fans who go to the Summit tourney.)

It's only 2 hours down I-69 from Fr. Wayne to Indy. They might get a good group to head down there - good excuse for a little mini-vacation in Indy.
I had a friend from Indiana who called Indy "the oasis in the desert".

I notice that the Horizon League has a link to their tournament on the header of the main web page. They are pushing it pretty hard.
It's either the tourney or maybe the HL has a 12th member waiting in the wings ??

I’m going bout on a limb here and say that within 5 years Bellarmine will be the Horizon’s 12th member.

The Summit has to figure out what their priorities are

(08-06-2019 01:31 PM)TDenverFan Wrote:  Why is Robert Morris often discussed as a Horizon Candidate?

I think they’ve been studied and it’s known they’ve applied or approached the conference in the past. I don’t know if RMU likes being on an island in its current home; proximity to HL’s eastern members is said to have been attractive for them.

For Summit, is there any chance they might be attractive for a western OVC school, like SEMS or SIU-E? Would there be any takers in Southland?