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Glad to hear that report Eddie, because I haven't heard anything good from his time at IU.  I'm hoping a new location and a fresh start has positives results!

Really? Every IU fan I know seems to love the guy. Several plan to drive over to a few VU games next year just to see him play.

Yet another reason not to stand pat with 5,000 seats and the current ARC: the home schedule. If you want to see better home opponents consistently in the non-conference schedule, instead of a parade of Calumet Colleges and Manchesters with the occasional bone thrown our way by Purdue every 5-6 years, you need an arena that makes such games financially viable. Having an extra $25,000 or $30,000 in gate revenue available makes it easier to schedule more like Butler and less like Bethel.

Eight hours ago, Paul Oren was tweeting

Starting to hear word from the national scene that Bryce Drew to Mississippi State is a done deal. Trying to confirm on local level.

Naturally, he's current with the press release now.  But, how quickly these things move!

Oren was reacting to a tweet from the editor of the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, a pretty well respected national college hoops writer who nevertheless ran with some premature "done deal" info today. If he had waited about ten minutes, he'd probably have held off, as pretty much every MSU beat reporter in the state of Mississippi knocked down that tweet immediately.  And in fairness to Paul, he added the disclaimer that nothing was confirmed and he was trying to do so independently.

Um, bump...

If today's events aren't an emphatic reason why you don't sit pat and wait on facilitiy upgrades until we "fill the seats we have," I don't know what would be... I'd say this subject has increased in urgency over the past 24 hours, no?

I think you can still be a devout Christian and find those warm-up shirts that Baylor's team was wearing yesterday... distasteful. And Scott, of all people, should know better.

That said, it was great to see Janet healthy enough to make the trip. Her bravery is inspiring.

I've seen it theorized on Twitter that Butler is also using this to extract a better $ deal (a la Texas in the Big 12) from or better teams into the HL. Don't discount that as a possibility.

(I actually would like it if it were the second case... wouldn't it be something if the HL pulled a switcheroo for the 2nd time and SLU, X, etc. ended up in the HL?)

The HL can't stay at 9 teams.  We need to add a school with a baseball team or the HL will lose it's automatic bid. 

You need 8 teams to maintain your auto bid, not 10.

I'm glad that we got a matchup with a major conference opponent. This will be good preparation for everyone on the team for next season.

Tis true that the new arena partnership with the city died, but that had more to do the the economy making a large public expenditure for something like that a non-starter than a lack of viability for a new venue. Make no mistake, the city would still absolutely love something like that as a centerpiece for the East Lincolnway renewal project.

I don't think anyone needs a 9 or 10K seat venue, but there's absolutely no reason to sit pat at 5K. Give your program room to grow. As long as we are spitballing, here's my (realistic) fantasy ARC renovation:

-Knock out wall behind chairbacks (easier than you'd think, the architecture of the building was designed with this in mind -- a nice piece of foresight by the administration in charge back in 1984). Add another mezzanine level (doesn't need to be as big as the other side) with a handful of suites on top for expanded corporate revenue streams. Add new entrance lobby on that side with new concession areas, Crusader Club space, etc. Build dedicated practice gym underneath, devoted entirely to teams' use, new dressing rooms/training could be part of this space as well.  Turn the remaining space between new arena entrance and Brown Field into a pedestrian-only promenade for the athletic campus (new home for Victory Bell, statues, etc.) Entry to new seating area would be "stadium-like" similar to the renovated Loyola arena. Better sightlines, better access, more of an "arena" look.

-Replace lower level bleachers behind benches with chairbacks to match north side. The relocation of the dressing rooms would allow VU to use restricted hallway by current dressing rooms as additional egress for fans, reducing congestion and allowing for additional access points into the arena (two additional tunnel-like entryways could be carved out, improving sightlines) or new concessions.

-Add permanent bleachers to east endzone similar to current student section. New concession areas make current temporary window moot.

-Total capacity expanded to 6,000 - 6,500. Additional seats for community's/university's future growth, increased viability for hosting other large events, enabling ARC to become defacto "civic center" for Northwest Indiana. Sell naming rights to building. "Centier Bank Center" or "Strack & Van Til Arena" or whatever. 

-New scoreboards/video board and new floor are already checked off the list. VU is already part of the way there!