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ORU returns to Summit League


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I still believe that in five years, the Southland will be on the rise as the result of their recent expansion (and because they have football), and the Summit will be still be just one or two defections away from falling apart (because they DON'T have football revenue).

 

Then what would ORU do?  Crawl back to the Southland again?

 

Talk about your "hat in hand" scenarios...

 

I would argue that Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, and Abilene Christian are going to sink that conference like a rock.

 

Were any of those schools even competitive in NAIA?

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I would argue that Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, and Abilene Christian are going to sink that conference like a rock.

 

Were any of those schools even competitive in NAIA?

 

They have relatively large enrollments for the Southland, especially Incarnate Word.  Their success will depend on a variety of factors:  commitment, funding, coaching, recruiting, etc.

 

You know:  the usual ingredients for success.

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Maybe. But I don't see any of those new Southland additions reaching the level of NDSU. Will ESPN's College Game Day travel to Incarnate Word? I doubt it.

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ORU at Incarnate Word.....now THAT'S a game the nation will want to see!!!..... |(

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Ah....sounds like OKCEagle has some experience at IWU?.....LOL......speaking of which.....TheEagleman will be arriving in OKC Thursday night for a short turnaround trip.....staying at the Spring Hill Suites on West Memorial....then working at the office in Quail Springs on Friday and having a team holiday dinner at the Melting Pot in OKC Friday night....would rather drive to Tulsa for the ORU-Missouri State game.....but alas....duty calls......then flying back to Philadelphia on Saturday..... :nerd:

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Not sure how accurate this is but Ryan Holloway from UCA had this to say about he move:

https://twitter.com/ryanmholloway/status/410118747241062401

 

that's an expensive mistake by the athletic dept and administration.  i hope the Summit will be waiving their entry fee.

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That tweet from the guy at UCA got my conspiracy-theory wheels turning...

 

DISCLAIMER:  I have ABSOLUTELY NO INSIDE INFORMATION to support the following scenario - it is ALL utter speculation and conjecture. 

 

In short, just the sort of crap I post on here all the time...

 

Here goes:  It's been mentioned already in this forum that, when ORU left the Summit League over two years ago, the Southland Conference was going to pony up for the exit fee, right?

 

I don't remember ANYTHING being said at that time about an approximately $300K "buy-in" to the Southland (as mentioned in the tweet).

 

So, here's what I'm wondering:  is the aforementioned SL "buy-in" actually the Summit League "buy-out" for leaving the league?

 

If that's the case, then why hasn't it been paid yet, by either ORU or the Southland?

 

Did the Southland, in fact, stiff ORU & the Summit League by not paying the buy-out over the past two years, as ORU was (reputedly) led to believe when they joined?

 

Is this the REAL reason ORU is leaving the Southland:  because the conference welched on their end of the original deal, leaving ORU holding a $300K bag on the Summit League buyout fee?

 

And now, assuming the Summit League is forgiving ORU's buy-out upon their return, should ORU be held to the resulting Southland buy-out (also in the $300K range, per the tweet), since in this scenario the SC reneged on the original deal, creating a breach of contract?

 

Or, if the Southland buy-out is iron-clad, is the Summit League in their eagerness not only forgiving ORU's original exit fee, but also agreeing to pay the Southland penalty, too?

 

If any of this far-fetched yarn proves to be true, is there a chance ORU gets off completely scott-free in the two moves? :whew:

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Doesn't sound out of the realm of possibility.

 

The Southland we thought we were joining IS NOT the present Southland. The Southland began to add a bunch of lower level D2 / NAIA teams at random.

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When I first heard the report of returning to the Summit, I thought it was a ill-timed April Fools Day joke.  As I learned that the news was a reality, my emotions turned from shock to embarrassment.  Let's be honest, how many D1 programs leave a conference for greener pastures and return two years later?  Since I can't remember one in recent history, I would suspect that number to be pretty low. The whole "ping-pong" approach makes our school and athletic department look pretty foolish.  Did we not do our due diligence on the Southland before we made this move in the first place???

 

After allowing the announcement to simmer for awhile, I now have become more accepting of the move.  Although I like the Southland's geography (and weather) and the strength of the baseball programs, the departure of UTA and the addition of four start-ups that all plan to offer football certainly created the dynamic for a strained long-term relationship between the SL and ORU.  I am assuming (and have NO insider information to support this) that we saw challenges for us in the future SL - and were offered an arrangement by a Summit League in need of stability that we couldn't refuse.  I've always been told, "if an experiment is not going to work, then fail quickly... and move on", and that is exactly what ORU has done. 

 

I don't like the Summit travel or weather, the power of the Dakota-centric institutions (including the Sioux Falls championship venue), the overall strength of conference baseball, and (the most important) the risk of a defection or two which could leave an NCAA automatic bid in jeopardy.  But, I also have to believe that ORU must know something not yet publicly-known, as I don't believe the athletic department would knowingly return to a sinking ship (if this proves to be wrong, then my previous comments about looking foolish are a vast understatement).

 

One thing I DO like about the Summit is the fanbase - they care. How many Southland fans stormed onto our message board to lambast us for spurning their conference?  Umm, none?  Instead, we had Summit fans welcoming us back.  And, when I did a quick google search of "Oral Roberts Southland Summit", it seemed like all the media outlets picking up the story were in Fargo, Brookings and Omaha, not in San Antonio, Nacogdoches, or Beaumont.  Any buzz around ORU leaving the Southland was overwhelmed by the sound of crickets...

 

Eventually, the whole story will come out, and it will be interesting to hear how this all came down.  One thing this whole debacle has taught me - I really wish we were in the Valley!   :|

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Maybe now we know why MM moved on to Liberty...... :nerd:

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I too never was a SLC fan, especially after what I consider some of the better teams left.  What really turned me sour was the addition of the most recent teams who are basically on life support and will take years to get off the ground, if ever.  I am also not a big fan of the Summit but having no knowledge of what took place so I can only hope the powers that be have good reasons for doing what we just did.  Like others, I pray for the day we can move on to either the Mo Valley or other conference.

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An SDSU fan, my Norskie (Norwegian) ethnic background created my Handle Nidaros, which is the large cathedral in Trondheim Norway. Most if not all of my ancestors came from around Trondheim.

 

Good to see ORU coming back to the Summit. The Summit was close to losing the auto bid for baseball, but with ORU coming back I believe we have six. Your basketball programs are first class and a challenge. We welcome you back. If push comes to shove, I tend to believe the current Summit members would waive the re-entry fee. 

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First, MVC chose Loyola not UIC.  Second, I don't think MVC nor the presidents of the school were interested in ORU.  The presidents and MVC were interested in 3 schools and they visited those campuses.  Loyola, UIC, and Valpo hosted the presidents and MVC on their respective campuses and had talks.  ORU was not one of them and leads me to believe the Golden Eagles were not an option. 

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First, MVC chose Loyola not UIC.  Second, I don't think MVC nor the presidents of the school were interested in ORU.  The presidents and MVC were interested in 3 schools and they visited those campuses.  Loyola, UIC, and Valpo hosted the presidents and MVC on their respective campuses and had talks.  ORU was not one of them and leads me to believe the Golden Eagles were not an option. 

 

The MVC will regret not adding a solid school like Belmont or ORU with a proven track record in multiple sports.

 

Loyola could do a lot to keep the Valley from being a 2-bid league.

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