Teams on the Horizon League's horizon

[LaPorteAveApostle]

UMKC:HL::Loyola:MVC

[StlVUFan]

UMKC is a big time NO in my opinion. They have done nothing basketball wise PERIOD. They don't fit our demographics at all, besides opening up a KC market they do nothing for the HL except worsen the HL's credibility.

https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/330010145214058496

[VULB#62]

Very early on, I was asking: "Why not WIU?"  Got shot down pretty quick. But now as the dust settles, and based on your posts plus the competitive men's soccer that has happened recently, and not to mention the lack of other great options, I think WIU is at least in the conversation.  I personally would like to see Oakland and WIU come in together to fill the slots vacated by the school from down south and Loyola to bring us back to 10 while adding 2 baseball schools.  Both have demonstrated D-I competitiveness at the top half of the Summit.  Now.........  NKU is very appealing from a travel partner perspective and because of all the $$ they've invested in going D-I, but their D-I track record is still in its infancy.  At least you guys have a track record.

Now, regarding Robert Morris:  Sorry, but as an easterner, I'm thinking that they are just too eastern oriented.  Does anyone think they will break off their scholarshipped NEC football program AND their scholarshipped lacrosse program to upgrade basketball?  In the east, for many schools, MBB is second tier or shares the top tier.  They have to compete against ice hockey for fan support.  I just checked the RMU web site for this post -- the first two pictures and stories that popped up were about hockey and lacrosse.  Some posters are quick to dismiss midwest schools that carry a FCS scholarship football program as a distraction.  That ain't nothin' compared to eastern hockey that clamors for the same in-season headline space as MBB.

No, the HL needs to stay in the midwest where BB is the driver.  Please forget about RMU -- it's not worth the effort.

[Western4Life]

Personally, I feel the new coach at UMKC will have their program stomping the competition in the WAC and then they will try to re-enter the market as a squad that has accomplished something. All I know is if they are willing to drop $ that means they are better than most. I feel KC is a traditional Midwest market too while Pittsburgh is not. RMU is legit but they try to attract students for the eastern coast.

WIU would be able to improve the level of recruiting and support with a move to the HL. That is a fact. Shieza, I'd send in 10K alone right now if they announced it.

Also, the state of IL pass the new road project list. Macomb actually did well and there will be access directly to St. Louis (Alton, IL all the way up to the Quad Cities). With that major addition Macomb isn't as far out of the way. Peoria phase I of construction also got fully funded including the initial roads.

Ten years from now nobody will complain about access to Macomb IMO. Now if the hotel and beach in that picture could just be completed 

Edit: I will still complain actually, they really need access to Peoria asap. STL and QC interests got the most recent four lane access done. The road is fully funded. Whether or not we see those checks bounce is on the state. It is an improvement at least, I am not saying it deserves a parade. It will likely be 15-20 years from now before the entire area of Macomb has much easier access.

[historyman]

#68, I did mean to put UIPUI and IPFW without adding

Are you misspelling IUPUI on purpose or are you that bad at recognizing that you have put UIPUI several times. IUPUI / UIPUI -- do you see the difference?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

c'mon, man, "ooey pooey".  of course it's intentional -- it's funny.

[VULB#62]

Apostle, you crack me up!  But of course I'm on my third glass of Bogle Phantom (great California red blend).  Try it if you can find it.

Oh, BTW I'm 62 not 68.  Has nothing to do with grad class, just position (RG/LB).

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Thanks!


FLETCH LIVES (1989)
Sheriff (Don Brockett)
→ Were y'all doin' drugs?

Irwin 'Fletch' Fletcher (Chevy Chase)
→ Just Bogle.

Sheriff
→ Bogle? What's Bogle?

Irwin 'Fletch' Fletcher
→ It's a very popular drug. Made from grapes.

Sheriff
→ You're under arrest.

Irwin 'Fletch' Fletcher
→ What's the charge?

Sheriff
→ Pissin' me off.

Irwin 'Fletch' Fletcher
→ Is that a felony or a misdimeanor?

[Western4Life]

It was just a typing error, obviously I know who and what IUPUI is but just didn't take the time to read it thoroughly. IUPUI just catches me for the way I type too it seems. My bad. "I feel shame" Slapshot: You feel Shame


I wanna do it one last time tho so I can get it out of my system UIPUI... ha when I typed it things felt so natural. Am I the only one that feels a name change should be in order for these schools? Just for marketing at least. Was Ft. Wayne State really that bad?

[a3uge]

I can just see the initial decision to name the school: "Woah WOW Indiana University... AND Purdue University... TEAMING UP in Indianapolis... What should we call it???"

[wh]

Something noteworthy about IUPUI is that it happens to be a palindrome - probably the only university palindrome in the country.  Ok, now that everyone has looked up the definition for palindrome, I never said it was interesting, only noteworthy. 

[VULB#62]

wow

[historyman]

If you are really interested here is a history of how IU and Purdue melded together in Indianapolis. I read over it quickly and did not see anything about how the two schools chose the name other than this:

The first dean of the new School of Liberal Arts was Dr. Taylor, a revered and honored community leader, especially among the African American community. He headed the Downtown Campus, and then the SLA, for twelve, highly significant years, 1966-1978. Thus he played a large role in working out the details of the merger as IU-I and PU-I became IUPUI.

http://www.iupui.edu/spirit/history/history-1971.html

[valporun]

wh, while not always considered a college program, there is the AFA...Air Force Academy. Palindromes at their finest.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

a man, a plan, a canal...

as a dead languages major, palindrome is from two greek words meaning "the Alaska stadium Governor Sarah built".

Er, actually "to run back/again"

[VULB#62]

wh, while not always considered a college program, there is the AFA...Air Force Academy. Palindromes at their finest.

Er...   Valporun, in your example don't you mean PalinDRONES?

[valporun]

I thought about that, #62, but the red line underneath was really thin, and I didn't want that troubling me.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

*dying laughing.

This is why I love this board.

[zvillehaze]

a man, a plan, a canal...

... Panama!

[valpopal]

Not sure if anyone has focused on this or if I missed it, but the person just named the new interim AD at Northern Kentucky is a former Wright State AD, who helped guide them during their transition into the Horizon League. He was also a Horizon League insider for a number of years. Could be coincidence, but it has been no secret that the goal of Northern Kentucky is inclusion in the HL.

Also, as some posters have indicated, Northern Kentucky would be a good fit for a few reasons. Therefore, with this hiring there should be an easier path to add Northern Kentucky to the Horizon League if the parties eventually decide to do so—maybe not for 2013-2014, but possibly for 2014-2015. 

[Valposter]

Not sure if anyone has focused on this or if I missed it, but the person just named the new interim AD at Northern Kentucky is a former Wright State AD, who helped guide them during their transition into the Horizon League. He was also a Horizon League insider for a number of years. Could be coincidence, but it has been no secret that the goal of Northern Kentucky is inclusion in the HL. Also, as some posters have indicated, Northern Kentucky would be a good fit for a few reasons. Therefore, with this hiring there should be an easier path to add Northern Kentucky to the Horizon League if the parties eventually decide to do so—maybe not for 2013-2014, but possibly for 2014-2015.

Valpopal, great insight!  Very interesting connection of the dots.  Thanks for sharing!  I am very much in the camp that Northern Kentucky makes a lot of sense for the HL and has a lot of upside from an athletic perspective.  Fits geographically.  Travel partner for Wright State.  Gains recruiting access to attractive Cincy metropolitan market.  Very nice athletic facilities.  Demonstrated financial commitment of the school to athletics.  Mutual interest so easier sell to accept invitation.  Win/win, so lets make it happen in fairly short order.  No reason to wait.  Gets us to 10 schools now, and if Belmont and/or Murry State want to come on board afterward, then we expand to 12, no problem.   

[valpotx]

BTW, NKU has a board of trustees meeting at 1 pm today, but no word if it relates to anything in athletics.

[Valposter]

Not sure if anyone has focused on this or if I missed it, but the person just named the new interim AD at Northern Kentucky is a former Wright State AD, who helped guide them during their transition into the Horizon League. He was also a Horizon League insider for a number of years. Could be coincidence, but it has been no secret that the goal of Northern Kentucky is inclusion in the HL. Also, as some posters have indicated, Northern Kentucky would be a good fit for a few reasons. Therefore, with this hiring there should be an easier path to add Northern Kentucky to the Horizon League if the parties eventually decide to do so—maybe not for 2013-2014, but possibly for 2014-2015.

Here's the link for the news from valpopal about the interim AD just named at NKU:

http://www.kyforward.com/our-northern-kentucky/2013/04/01/nku-turns-to-former-wright-state-ad-to-lead-department-during-search-for-new-director/

Very interesting.......

[LaPorteAveApostle]

the person just named the new interim AD at Northern Kentucky is a former Wright State AD, who helped guide them during their transition into the Horizon League. He was also a Horizon League insider for a number of years.

This is great work.  Kudos to your detective-ness.

This post and Tx's are great examples of why I love the internet.  How else would I learn things as they are happening, instead of in some press release I probably would have missed?  C'mon, NKU!

Also, can we have your Rossis too?
http://www.allkyhoops.com/2013/04/three-players-transferring-from.html

[Dave_2010]

NKU seems to be gaining a great deal of momentum as #10 amongst HL fans...probably for good reason. Though I'm not against the move (it very well may be the best realistic expansion option left on the table) I don't think it's the slam dunk perfect move that some (including our friend over at PantherU) believe. In many ways, it looks very similar to the gamble that the MVC made adding Loyola over Valpo or ORU.

For starters, we would be assuming that an investment in facility improvements will lead to an improved product on the field. Whereas Loyola has a history of bad D-I basketball, NKU has a history of good (though never to national championship-level) play in D-II. In both cases, the new league would be gambling that the programs are on an upswing that will be maintainable.

The other argument I've heard regards how this will get the league into another basketball crazy state (Kentucky) and a major media market (Cincinnati). Though this is technically true, if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I've spent significant time in Cleveland, Chicago, and Milwaukee...to say the HL schools represented in those markets (CSU, UIC, UWM) are an afterthought would be an understatement. Though it would help recruiting the area, I sincerely doubt NKU would get much coverage competing with Ohio State, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Xavier, and even Miami (OH) for Cincinnati media attention.

None of this means I'm against NKU, far from it. I just wouldn't be so quick to move on NKU without evaluating other options. There is no choice that is as good of a fit for the league at #10 as Oakland was at #9.