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I just hope we don't play a bunch of crappy teams and non-D1s. Those days should be behind us. If VU wants to be a leading program in the Valley,as Commissioner Elgin stated that they made clear during the campus visit,  then they need to act and schedule like it from day one.

Luke Gore addressed this issue in pgmado's most recent podcast. Personally, I found his comments somewhat unsettling. He spoke favorably about scheduling non D-1 opponents as dress rehearsals without consequences (my words, not his).  Further, while he accurately noted that playing a non D-1 is preferable to scheduling a D-1 with a bad RPI, he noted that he has a close relationship with the coaching staff at Chicago State and would always consider scheduling them. So, there you go. The 2 areas that we complained about the most a year ago - scheduling non D-1's and putting Chicago State on the schedule - were apparently part of Luke's scheduling strategy.

Fortunately Luke doesn't make those decisions ML does. Let's just hope he doesn't buy into the whole "They will tell their grandkids about the time they played at Valpo" We need to be beyond that now. No more IU-Kokomo, No more PNW, No more Chicago State. Nobody's excited about those games not even the players. Nobody wants to see that and nobody wants to play that game.


The only thing that should matter is preparing adequately for the MVC slate. I don't think it's any secret that the way Northern Iowa schedules has a lot to do with their success in conference and in the NCAA Tournament. Take out the trash with respect to the schedule and please don't waste home games on games that won't even draw 2000 people. Those OOC home games are precious valuable commodities. You can grouse and complain about fan support all you want, but when you put D2 schools and Chicago State on the schedule instead of even semi-decent opponents, you forfeit your right to complain.


The city of Valparaiso shows you what happens when you put your best foot forward and schedule a big game. You get rewarded with 3000-4000+. This move to the MVC has built up a great deal of goodwill and I expect a substantial attendance increase at the ARC for the conference games, but if you want that for the whole season, you need to schedule well. Play whoever you want for exhibition matches. Schedule as many of them as you can. But leave the regular season for challenging, but winnable games, and the occasional buy game should the budget need a little extra.

UNCW just lost two players following their coach to NC State.

Very true; but while perhaps they won't be the  team they were last year, I still think they have a better chance to be a quality nonconference win come selection time than a major RPI drag. I think that tournament is a quality one especially for the young, rebuilding Crusaders. It provides enough of a challenge to be beneficial to them, without being so difficult that they have no hope of winning.Would love to hear more about this rumor about playing an ACC club. Maybe a trip to Atlanta to play the Yellow Jackets is in the offing as a connection to this Tournament? That'd be interesting: The last two NIT runners-up playing a game.


Speaking of the schedule, anyone have any idea when we might hear about the next game that's been finalized or when we might see a final nonconference schedule? I bet it'll still be a few weeks since the conference change probably took a lot of the focus away from scheduling. I just hope we don't play a bunch of crappy teams and non-D1s. Those days should be behind us. If VU wants to be a leading program in the Valley,as Commissioner Elgin stated that they made clear during the campus visit,  then they need to act and schedule like it from day one.


That means, even if there is no scheduling mandate from the conference, there's a personal scheduling mandate. You don't have to fill the schedule with P5 opponents either. Games against clubs like San Francisco, St. Mary's, Princeton, Vermont, VCU, Richmond (all names I have seen mentioned on here) would do wonders. We are still doing the Santa Clara return game right? I hope we do because that would be a great opportunity for the team to bond and jell together on a road trip over Thanksgiving or something. If we are seeking Power 5 opponents, I think Stanford and Cal would be good fits to provide a tough but winnable challenge for our team.


I would also see if we can start a series with any of these schools to get some Home and Homes going. I would love to see these teams at the ARC. Even Grand Canyon and New Mexico State would be nice additions to the schedule, with Home and Homes definitely possible.

One more thing to consider: If VU and Coach Lottich are able to use this Santa Clara trip profitably and hammer out negotiations for buy games and home and homes with California teams over the next several years, we may be able to tap into that rich recruiting area and bring some Cali kids to the Midwest. This is especially true now that VU has made the move to the MVC. Also, as a Stanford alum, I'm sure Coach Lottich has some leads out in that area and can make inroads there even without games, but playing the games out there or at home against these teams will be good to get our name into the minds of those prospective recruits. Just another reason why this is such an exciting time for Crusader basketball and just how much it can mean for the university going forward if they capitalize on it properly.

Sorry I meant to type valleyhoopsinsider.com This site: http://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/ Again, I apologize for the confusion.

I can't remember which article he mentions Valpo's recruiting class in but I know I read it or heard it in one of his interview videos that he embeds in his articles. Side note: I can't WAIT for him to get to Valpo to do interviews with our staff, players, and even Todd Ickow for his "Voices of the Valley" segment. Mr. Ickow will finally get the recognition he so richly deserves for being a great voice for the Crusaders all these years.  As for your suggestion, I will do my best to break my posts up a bit better in the future. I love talking sports, especially my favorite teams, and I often just focus on getting the information out that I want to say rather than paying attention to formatting.

[Their job now that Valpo's gone should be to protect their new bellwether programs in Northern Kentucky and Oakland]

 

IPFW is already a good add. The Horizon League's footprint is shifting East and they have a school (Wright State) that is in a good deal of financial trouble. Their job now that Valpo's gone should be to protect their new bellwether programs in Northern Kentucky and Oakland as well as try to protect Wright State financially and stoke greater interest in Youngstown State by minimizing travel costs and adding closer teams(Robert Morris IUPUI and IPFW would be my leading candidates in a sane universe where footprint matters I think adding Denver New Mexico State and Grand Canyon is just a foolhardy notion.

How far has the Horizon League fallen that one of the bellwether programs is a school that been D1 for 2 years (NKU), wow. I don't disagree they are one of the schools with the brighter futures in the League but its just pretty sad to see.

I completely agree that adding Western Teams: Denver, New Mexico State and Grand Canyon, would be a terrible move for the league. It would tolerable travel for the bread-winning sports like basketball but the travel costs for sending the Non-Revenue sports out west would intolerable, imo. Denver's Basketball budget is over $3M, which a massive chunk of it budget goes to travel because they have to fly every where in Summit League. It made me sick to my stomach when I heard LeCrone was seriously considering New Mexico State last summer & apparently they are still under consideration.

I agree that it would be wise for the HL to start moving East. I were Detroit-Mercy I would would be doing everything possible to try and move into the MAAC (all private eastern school Conference). I'm not sure the MAAC would want them considering they'd stretch the Conference fairly West for them but they match the private school profile and they aren't too far away from Canisius College which is located in Buffulo (a little over a 4 hour bus ride, but pretty far from every other school). Seems unlikely but you never know. The MAAC is super tight because those schools love being in a conference together from academics and geographic standpoint.

The Western part of the Horizon League will be swallowed up by the Missouri Valley in fairly short order in all likelihood. I can foresee a day where both Milwaukee and UIC are Valley members (as long as they continue to improve).

I could possibly see this happening if the basketball product significantly improves and shows that they can consistently over the course of 4-10yr window prove to be a consistently good program. Both program hired new coaches and are hoping to turn it around. Steve McClain can recruit the hell out of players but he's not exactly an X's & O's savant or great game manager. They should be a much better team next season and should start winning. Milwaukee hired a pretty good coach but they are much further behind in their rebuild and have a lot to prove still and further to go.

As for UIC they don't exactly a great academic overall in their men's athletics. Their Men's basketball team had 945 APR rating for the 2014-2015 season... (not so hot). Their women's side of athletics seems to score much higher then their men's programs. Not a single men's APR rating for the year of 2014-2015 scored above 377...

And we all know UWM has struggled with their academics in their Athletics. Men's Basketball was suspended from postseason play very recently.

Both schools have a lot of work to prove they can become more attractive potential members in my opinion and need prove in men's basketball over the course of a few years and once they get better you have to wonder how quickly they lose their coaches to bigger gigs. Can they retain their coaches if they start have success. UIC already lost their top recruiting assistant to the Illini staff (he was a huge part of the recruits they land the last few years because he use to be a very influential coach in the Chicago AAU leagues (a notorious shady operation. It's pretty well known that some coaches get paid $$$ under the table for sending their players to certain schools...)

However, if my memory serves, the Summit League has already outperformed the Horizon League in two of the past three seasons and that was BEFORE Valpo departed. How much worse will it get now? They have to act on Summit League teams immediately before the gulf between the two leagues widens to the point where teams like IPFW, IUPUI, and Western Illinois don't deem the hit in competition worth the travel savings of joining the Horizon.

I still think the Horizon League is going to be a better league then the Summit League long-term as long as the schools can retain their coaches at high % and Cleveland State & YSU can get up off their @$$ and start doing their part. I was not a fan of the CSU hire (retread older HC for low $) but the YSU has a better chance of getting going if their administration would start supporting the BBall program. YSU is a Football school and always will be and especially with Tressell and Pelini at the helm.

LeCrone's inability to act in a timely manner following Valpo's departure may cost him his best chance of saving his league. This is, of course, good for us because that means that they may be forced to look at the OVC for teams to help placate Northern Kentucky (Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky would be strong candidates in this case), which decreases the stability of that league and makes Belmont more likely to entertain a jump to the MVC pushing us further toward multi-bid status. Fun fact, I heard several weeks ago on that Murray State podcast that the Eastern Division of the OVC (Where Belmont is) actually outperformed the Horizon league in the Sagarin ratings. Granted, Belmont had a big say in that, but that's still a real black eye for a once great mid major league.

LeCrone has tried and failed to land Belmont already. So has the MVC apparently but I do think realignment could force them to make the jump especially once the TV rights for the OVC comes up and maybe the terms won't be as attractive as they once were. I believe the OVC deal is coming up soon.

I do think Belmont in the MVC would be a great fit for both parties, even if Belmont sees a slight boost in travel costs with the move. Unfortunately their President/AD/maybe also Rick Bryd are taking the cowards approach of trying become "king" of a 1-bid league. Such a weak approach. So far they've chose low travel/low competition for 1-bid over wanting to compete and help build a 2-bid league in the MVC. Murray State likely would have also received an invite if Belmont also chose to purse the MVC and they would have had their #11 and #12. Belmont's strategy failed them this past year by getting knocked out in the Conf Tourney...

It will likely come down to $ next time around. If the $ makes sense for them to pay the $1M OVC exit fee and whatever the MVC entry fee is plus the small boost in travel expenses then yes they will make the jump. The travel fees maybe less in the MVC the OVC if Belmont joins because that means the MVC will go divisions and they'd get likely pair with Murray State, Southern Illinois, Evansville, Missouri State (a bit on an island by themselves), and Indiana State. The only part that sucks for Valpo would be that we would be in a division with Evansville and Indiana State which could become great renewed In-State Rivalries for us and the Conference.

North Division: "The Yankees"
-Loyola
-Valpo
-Illinois State
-Bradley
-Drake
-UNI

South Division: "The Southerners"
-Belmont
-Murray State
-Missouri State
-Evansville
-Indiana State
-Southern Illinois

I wonder if all of this realignment and shuffling will eventually result in conference mergers. I can't decide whether that would be good or bad for mid-major basketball if mergers were to occur.

The "Problem" for Mid-Major basketball is that there are WAY to many schools right now that have NO BUSINESS being D1 schools right now. It hurts Mid-Major Basketball, in my opinion. There are just way to many "LOW Major" schools watering down the product for true "MID-MAJORS" Teams when it comes to getting multiple bids in Mid-Major Conferences across the country. Too many schools are dragging down the quality teams or teams with potential, imo.

Consider this: The number of Division I colleges and universities has increased from 306 to 350 over the past 20 years. Thats 44 schools in less then 20 years!

This is a truly excellent post. I think Belmont will feel increased pressure. The OVC deal expires after this upcoming year if my memory serves and the move to divisional play could be enough to placate them as it would significantly ease their travel burden. If they get knocked out again in the Conference Tournament, they may get the message that this whole "King of the OVC" notion is a farce and leap to what would surely be a multi bid league with Valpo Murray State and Belmont in the mix. They may also hear the rumblings of other OVC teams leaving which may force their hand even more since the stability of the conference would be thrown into some question. I have thought extensively through many Valley expansion\ travel partner scnearios and really like that divisional setup. I think it suits all parties well and is very balanced in terms of competitiveness. Not too many of the conference's best teams in either division. While I am bearish on the Horizon and the Ohio Valley's future, and go back and forth on the future of the Summit League, I am unshakably bullish on the Missouri Valley's future. I feel that they will continue to be a top ten conference in the nation for a long time as well as the preeminent conference for Midwestern mid major basketball. I also think that your point on D1 athletics becoming watered down is well-taken. I think these schools made this leap with the promise of big cable dollars and have been disappointed. When the cable money starts to really dry up for the smaller leagues, the same factors that will force schools like Belmont to jump to a more competitive conference will force these schools perhaps to return to D2.

Sounds like the Horizon League is going to spend a year with only nine teams,AND NO INDIANA SCHOOL despite the offices being located in Indianapolis, but they've got a robust strategic plan for expansion in the future I tell you. Didn't we hear this same song and dance when Butler left and when Loyola left and so on... Where is this "Grand Plan" and when is it going to be implemented, Mr LeCrone? Delayed action has now cost him three programs and could cost him more in the future. With realignment only expected to pick up in future years, and schools both within the Horizon League and on their candidate list rumored to be in financial trouble I really think that the stability of the league is a legitimate concern for its members and that they should all probably have their own exit strategies in order in case LeCrone's plan goes bad. I just find it inexcusable that four years ago when Creighton left the MVC, the conference visited three Horizon League schools and took one; and then, when Wichita State leaves, they visit two Horizon League schools and take one, and all LeCrone has to show for that is Northern Kentucky. Yes, the Norse have been a good add, but I expected him to have a better strategy lined up to add at least one team to get back to ten for this year in light of the fact that the Horizon League seems to be where the MVC goes to get new teams; and in light of the fact that everyone knew Wichita State was looking to leave soon and that Valpo was a leading candidate to join the Valley if they did. I fear it may only be a matter of time before 1. The Horizon League becomes a stronger version of the Ohio Valley Conference without Murray State and Belmont, or 2. The better Horizon League teams all hightail it to the Summit League or some other conference or a merger with the Summit is made. http://www.tribtoday.com/sports/sport-columns/2017/05/change-on-horizon-after-valpo-exit/

There may be a reason why we're going to a league that averages 4000-5000 fans a night (I hope we're able to contribute well to that I don't think averaging 4000 a night is out of the question for VU this year) and they're busy courting teams that average 1000-2000.

IPFW is already a good add. The Horizon League's footprint is shifting East and they have a school (Wright State) that is in a good deal of financial trouble. Their job now that Valpo's gone should be to protect their new bellwether programs in Northern Kentucky and Oakland as well as try to protect Wright State financially and stoke greater interest in Youngstown State by minimizing travel costs and adding closer teams(Robert Morris IUPUI and IPFW would be my leading candidates in a sane universe where footprint matters I think adding Denver New Mexico State and Grand Canyon is just a foolhardy notion. They'd be more likely to join the Summit or the West Coast Conference than the Horizon League. The Western part of the Horizon League will be swallowed up by the Missouri Valley in fairly short order in all likelihood. I can foresee a day where both Milwaukee and UIC are Valley members (as long as they continue to improve). However, if my memory serves, the Summit League has already outperformed the Horizon League in two of the past three seasons and that was BEFORE Valpo departed. How much worse will it get now? They have to act on Summit League teams immediately before the gulf between the two leagues widens to the point where teams like IPFW, IUPUI, and Western Illinois don't deem the hit in competition worth the travel savings of joining the Horizon. LeCrone's inability to act in a timely manner following Valpo's departure may cost him his best chance of saving his league. This is, of course, good for us because that means that they may be forced to look at the OVC for teams to help placate Northern Kentucky (Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky would be strong candidates in this case), which decreases the stability of that league and makes Belmont more likely to entertain a jump to the MVC pushing us further toward multi-bid status. Fun fact, I heard several weeks ago on that Murray State podcast that the Eastern Division of the OVC (Where Belmont is) actually outperformed the Horizon league in the Sagarin ratings. Granted, Belmont had a big say in that, but that's still a real black eye for a once great mid major league. I wonder if all of this realignment and shuffling will eventually result in conference mergers. I can't decide whether that would be good or bad for mid-major basketball if mergers were to occur.

This is just so awesome. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Valpo would play in a conference like this. I've been a fan of Missouri Valley hoops since I was young. When Valpo got the invite, I could not stop smiling and even found myself frequently humming our school song. This is one of my proudest moments so far in my short time as an alum. I believe that this marks a new era in Valpo's hoops and athletics programs, one that will be marked by increased engagement from the administration the alumni and the community at large. People are excited and have been thrilled by the past several years. Every time Valpo's doing well there is palpable buzz around the community (though admittedly most of the people I talk to are alums). Valpo is recruiting more kids from the surrounding area, taking steps toward the goal of becoming "the region's team," and that should only get better playing in a higher profile league with more national exposure. Having two in-state schools in Indiana State and Evansville in conference doesn't hurt either. We should start to see more Indiana kids opt to come to Valpo. As for recruiting as a whole, I believe Harry Schroeder (MVC Insider who runs valleyhoops.com) has said that Valpo's recruiting class would rank as the best (or one of the best) in the conference. Lottich does appear to have some recruiting chops. What sealed it for me was that he was able to lure Fazekas although he had interest and presumably offers from a Power 5 school (Vanderbilt) and an A10 school in (Fordham). Yes, playing close to home probably mattered, and even Valpo's move to the MVC probably played a major role as well. but I can't help but think that Lottich's recruiting ability (he was on staff when Valpo was recruiting him in High School) was key in sealing the deal.  In short, while Valpo offered the best mix of playing time, national exposure, program success, and being close to home, to discount the coach's role in the recruiting process ignores perhaps the most important ingredient. If the coach doesn't know how to relate to and recruit players, they won't come to their school even despite all of these things. There had to be some trust and belief in Coach Lottich for Fazekas or any player to come to Valpo, and yet Lottich has brought in talented players from all over the country and internationally. I wasn't sold at first, but I believe that we are in good hands with Matt Lottich at the helm.

a3uge,

I don't think the Butler-Xavier situation is quite an apples to apples comparison. Xavier and Butler only played once because the A10 has so many teams they can't do a round robin. I'm not sure what they would do in this situation. I would hope they would just allow us to keep the tournament since the agreements were made before we joined. (I say this selfishly because I think that the chance to play UNCW and Kent State two programs that won 20+ games last year would be a very good thing for this young team but the fact that Loyola(Chicago) and Valpo are now conference foes again may indeed complicate matters. After all, we saw a nonconference agreement with Indiana State terminated since the two schools will now play each other in conference. I honestly don't think it will be  a problem and here's why: 1. Butler and Xavier have already done this before as you have said, and 2. the Phil Knight Tournament this year features many teams from the same conferences. I'm not sure how that tournament is going to be run since it's new, but I don't think having multiple teams from the same conference is an issue for tournaments. It just won't count in the conference standings obviously. I don't know this for sure but I am simply speculating based on some limited evidence of similar cases from the past and present.

Lexus would be a very nice get for the Golden Grizzlies and make them an even tougher team this year. Frankly I'm surprised he's still available with all the visits he's taken. You would think some program would have signed him already. Part of me was always rooting for him to come back but I know that won't happen now as Valpo has no scholarships available.

The key difference is that Valpo has not been in any conference alongside Northwestern and therefore was never a "peer" institution; while Butler was in the same conference as Youngstown State just five short years ago. The implication is that they were at roughly the same level by their conference affiliation (although they were not on nearly the same level as programs despite this fact) just a short time ago, and now are getting paid like some low-major opponent with no chance to win against the Bulldogs to come to play a team they used to play home and home not long ago as conference foes. It's both a testament to what Butler has accomplished in such a short time through their commitment to their basketball program and shows where Youngstown State is as a program and its general attitude toward hoops (which isn't surprising since it's clearly a football school.) His point about teams like Youngstown State being a major reason why so many teams are looking to exit the Horizon League makes a great deal of sense. This was a league that used to be in the top 12 in the nation and its teams were once in the at large conversation come tournament time. That's no longer true, and that is why teams like Butler Loyola and Valpo have left and why teams like UIC and Milwaukee are trying to leave.