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Jimmy the Loser, er Panther (wait, redundancy alert) had a meltdown as WSU was beating the @#% out of the Panthers in yet another sport on Twitter:

"Man, I can't wait for Valpo to roll over in the NCAA Tournament in yet another sport #HLBB #HLnightmare"

I'll tell you what, I can't wait for him to write something worth reading. Because I can't wait forever.

And when we're talking about "HL Nightmares", I checked that hashtag and the only thing there is "the entire UWM athletic department".

Paul Oren gamely tried to point out that we won games in softball and bowling, and then PantherU claimed to "exist in a world where soccer, basketball and baseball are all that matters.

The butthurt is strong with him. The three at the top of the league (VU, UIC, UWM) were pretty balanced this season with WSU solidly at 4 and YSU (as is typical) pulling up the rear. Considering their sweep in Valpo two weeks ago, I think it's safe to say the Panthers were definitely not the league's hottest team headed in to this weekend (my money would be on UIC for that honor).

Truthfully, I'm not convinced UWM was the league's best team at any point this season. We got wins in Tempe and Tampa (ASU and USF both look tourney-bound) and UIC beat TAMU in College Station. The only tourney team it looks like UWM beat is going to be the HL champ.

Just because your team got cold at the wrong time and couldn't take care of business as the #1 seed doesn't mean that the league tourney format should be changed.

By the way UIC just took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 4th on WSU in an elimination game to play the loser of the Milwaukee/Valpo game.

WSU managed to pull off the upset in an outstanding game. The UWM game tomorrow will be interesting. Looking forward to heading from Cleveland to Youngstown for an afternoon of baseball...hopefully I won't have to stay for the elimination game.

The Michigan and Cal games were ugly, but well for the trade for a win. It was fun to hear CMU fans talking about how there was no way they would lose to Valpo and then watch them squirm in their seats the whole game as their team went down.

With most of the key contributors coming back next year, this team should be the clear favorite for a Horizon League three-peat in 2014. Here's hoping the baseball team can match the ladies' success next weekend in Youngstown.

Considering that the league seems to have its financial books in order even while taking the hit on HLN production, I would be extremely disappointed if HLN went to a subscription model.

If the network goes to a subscription model, I hope that the league would reinvest the money in further improving its media product instead of just using the cash to balance HLN's books. As it currently stands, the spring sports and studio coverage from the network are both disappointing at best. Both would have to be improved to justify putting content behind a pay wall.

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.

I love the end or the article about the Oakland/UDM "rivalry" that "was abruptly ended when the Golden Grizzlies began having success." Seems like a typical UDM move.

Outstanding choice. I was on campus for a weekend several months ago and heard him preach as part of Dr. Wangerin's "celebration of preaching" series at the Chapel. I believe it was the Sunday after the Orchestra/Chorale/Band Christmas concert, but don't hold me to it. Regardless of when it was, he is a gifted speaker and should do a great job.

Even if they don't catch UWM before the end of this season, this is definitely a team destined to make noise in Youngstown during the HL tournament. With Wormington getting things figured out his last few outings, they have 5 pitchers that are serious threats to pitch 5-7 innings per outing...a huge advantage in tournament play. VU's pitching depth (both starters and in the pen) makes them dangerous any time they get run support. The offense is heating up at the perfect time to provide that support.

Outstanding game today. Two straight weekends that you can take positives from (outside of 2 or 3 innings they had a great showing in Youngstown...too bad they couldn't complete the sweep).

Unfortunately, the regular season Horizon championship is probably out of the question. However, if they can pull out a 9-3 or 10-2 record the second time around the HL schedule they should have some good momentum headed into the league tournament where anything can happen.

In spite of a couple of rough outings this weekend (ASU will do that to you) the pitching has been solid all season. They need the bats to play up to their talent to get back to NCAA regionals.

I was at Friday's game and might be going back tomorrow (weather permitting). Cole Webb has been impressive this whole season and he finally got the run support he deserves. It's nice to see the offense finally stringing hits together and putting up crooked numbers. With 7 losses already, the regular season championship is probably out of the question but a good 5 weeks will provide great momentum heading into the tourney.

This is disappointing for a handful of reasons. Hopefully this rejection will get the administration's attention and encourage to move the timetable for athletic facility renovations forward. I wouldn't be shocked if the A-10 makes a move at a couple of the eastern HL schools in the event of any more defections in its ranks (read: SLU, Dayton).

On another note, Jim LeCrone needs to hit a homerun with any possible replacements. Oakland (or any other Summit school) will impress nobody. Ideal world is Murray State and Belmont, but I'm not sure why either school would want to make the jump. The OVC has better geography for them and has been consistently earning higher seeds recently (Butler excluded).

When you start playing through all the different scenarios, you come to the conclusion that there is currently one (or two if you count the soon-to-be-extinct Great West) too many conferences trying to cover the same relative geographic area (The Valley, Horizon, Summit, and WAC) and one will eventually cease to exist. In spite of losing Creighton, the Valley remains the most stable and should stay that way for some time. My money would be on the WAC and Summit fighting for programs until one finally gives up the ghost with the WAC and western Summit teams in one league and the eastern Summit teams looking at the HL or OVC.

Though it is probably the second most stable league after the Valley on this list, due to its geographic location the HL is under serious threat of raids from both the east (A-10) and west (MVC) and stands to lose at least one or two members in the next cycle of realignment. Every time the league loses a "top program" it is likely to turn to the Summit League for a replacement. If we chose to remain loyal to the HL, we could end up in a league that progressively looks more and more like the old Mid-Con with each passing year (just look at the lists of potential Butler replacements that have been thrown around this board over the last year).

If the opportunity to move to the Valley presents itself, it would be very difficult for Heckler, LaBarbera and the rest of the administration to sell the Valpo community on staying in a consistent one-bid HL seemingly destined to take several additional steps back long before it can start moving forward post-Butler. Especially when the Valley feels like a much better fit from a cultural standpoint (see my previous post on this thread).

From a purely cultural perspective, the MVC is a significantly better fit for Valpo than the Horizon League ever was (especially after Butler left). Across the board, schools in the Valley are in smaller markets than HL schools, but they are typically the focal point in terms of fan interest in that city. On the other hand, the HL is primarily made up of large, urban commuter schools with little media coverage in their (admittedly) larger media markets.

Playing games in the major markets of the Great Lakes region is fine, but If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, did it make a sound? That's kind of how I feel about playing a great deal of our HL road games. If you play Cleveland State in front of 2,000 people and 10,000 empty seats, did you really play a meaningful game in the Cleveland market? Or, would you be better off pitching playing in a smaller market, but in front of more people night in and night out?