titansforever Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/sports/oru/oru-sports-with-summit-league-return-can-oru-put-black/article_4d35c9d2-aecf-11e3-a459-001a4bcf6878.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 good article, but i believe they have another year of "black hat" status. i gotta think a lot of good will was lost in the Summit with the departure two years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 These last two years have been a nightmare: poor performances from all sports, poor fan attendance for conference foes, poor relationships with member institutions, poor profile nationally in all sports, etc. And I was actually in favor of the switch to the Southland; always thought that it would be in ORU's best interest to be associated with Texas schools. But, in hindsight, ORU appears to have been more consumed than confirmed by their new league, and it felt like the entire athletic program - and we fans - lost our mojo somewhere along the way. Here's hoping the return to the Summit provides a much-needed rejuvenation for all things ORU Athletics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 The move to the Southland turned out to be a disaster.....does Mike Carter or anyone else have to answer for that decision?.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 These last two years have been a nightmare: poor performances from all sports, poor fan attendance for conference foes, poor relationships with member institutions, poor profile nationally in all sports, etc. And I was actually in favor of the switch to the Southland; always thought that it would be in ORU's best interest to be associated with Texas schools. But, in hindsight, ORU appears to have been more consumed than confirmed by their new league, and it felt like the entire athletic program - and we fans - lost our mojo somewhere along the way. Here's hoping the return to the Summit provides a much-needed rejuvenation for all things ORU Athletics. Those are magnanimous words coming from someone who not very long ago was still feeling like we hadn't given the "Southland Experiment" an adequate chance. And I have to agree with you - the move somehow caught our program at an inopportune time, so that it really didn't work out at any level. I do wonder how much of that was due to unmet expectations between ORU and the league, but I think at most that was only part of the problem. And I'm not sure that the move back to the Summit will be the answer, at least in the short term. Time will tell. I'm a little concerned that ORU has entered an athletics "Bermuda Triangle" and we may struggle to find ourselves for a while. I guess this viewpoint sort of fits in to the "dark ages" discussion of another thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 ORU needs Boone Pickens to take a liking to us and donate some big $$$ to the athletic program.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I too have some reservations about the Summit, but at this point virtually anything appears better than staying in the Southland. I feel like these last two years have been spent in the Twilight Zone and was only getting worse the longer we stayed. Don't get me wrong, I am impressed with SFA. Throw in Northwestern State and possibly SHSU who have their moments as well. Beyond that it goes down hill dramatically, and overall the Southland is basically a greased slide to disaster. One thing is for sure, it is not a basketball conference and apparently will not be for the foreseeable future.Which leads to my next point and that is we are a basketball/baseball school (translated non-football) and therefore need to be in a conference which places emphasis on basketball as much if not more than football. Thus, either the Summit, Horizon, A-10, CAA, Mo Valley or Big East are where we need to be. Right now I will take the Summit. As I posted elsewhere, at least fifty percent (50%) of its current membership is in some form of post season play regarding men's basketball. That is what I call a good start! Will we always be in the Summit, who knows? Should we strive to be the best we can be? Without a doubt! Could that lead us to another conference? Possibly but for right now lets look at getting better and trying to dominate the Summit.GO GOLDEN EAGLES! BRING ON THE SUMMIT! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Nice job, 82!....TheEagleman agrees with your comments....Summit League here we come!.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 The Southland felt like we were the new family in the neighborhood, trying to fit in at the block parties but never quite getting all the inside jokes and references. Looked good on paper, but just never clicked. Now, we've moved back to our old stomping grounds, which offers the security of familiar turf, but where some of our former next-door-neighbors have moved away (Oakland, UMKC, Southern Utah), leaving the street to upstart newbies who are none too anxious to surrender their new-found status. Kinda hard to decide whether to bake 'em all a pie and make nice, or just act like we never left in the first place and remind 'em to stay off our lawn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 The Summit will be a much better league over the long haul. Stephen F. Austin had to have a once in a lifetime season to get the same seed as NDSU. Plus, the bottom half of the Summit will probably improve much faster than the Southland's. From NDSU's BIsonville: Summit building boom IUPUI(Pepsi Coliseum) http://news.iupui.edu/releases/2013/...coliseum.shtml USD http://sports.omaha.com/2013/09/27/video-uno-offers-first-look-at-arena-project/#.UvHFOvldWHs This $53 million athletics project will include an arena, basketball practice facility, track and soccer field. Capacity for the basketball/volleyball arena will be 6,000 seats. There will be a science research facility that will link the basketball facility to the Dakota dome. As of December 2013 USD still needed to raise $9.5 in order to get construction started, the school hopes to break ground in the spring. NDSU 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 The Southland schools don't have much of an identity nationally or to our fan base. The Dakota schools are well supported and Denver and Indianapolis represent larger markets than most of the Southland schools. Yes IW is in San Antonio but no one is aware of that nationally. New Orleans may eventually bring some exposure to the Southland if their athletic teams improve. But we will instantly have significant rivalries in the Summit and with a stronger average RPI, when we do make the dance again our seed will probably be better. It would help if the Summit added another baseball team however. Here's hoping that even with Rob Walton gone, our baseball team is still capable of dominating the Summit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Game Point: Seriously, North Dakota State coach approves of ORU's return to Summit League By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Columnist (excerpt) SPOKANE, Wash. — Hey, Scott Sutton, Misti Cussen, Mike Carter and the Oral Roberts University athletic department family: North Dakota State basketball coach Saul Phillips has a question. “Who invited them back?†Phillips asked on Wednesday. “I liked it better without them.†OK, the truth is, Phillips was joking around when I asked him during a press conference at Spokane Arena (where the Bison play Oklahoma on Thursday) about ORU. My question was serious: next season, when ORU returns to the Summit League after a one-year hiatus (or defection, let’s call it what it is) in the Southland, would there be any animosity toward the Golden Eagles? Eventually, Phillips was serious, too. “Well, first of all, it’s really good for our league,†Phillips said. “I say that, but I mean it’s REALLY good for our league. I think that’s what you’re getting at. And I really like their (men’s basketball coaching) staff. They’re a class group. It’s going to be fun having some friends back in the league. Full Article 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I love Coach Phillip's closing comments about wanting to turn the Summit into a multi-bid league. I also like the commitment as shown above by the respective universities to commit serious $$$ to upgrade their facilities. Both the aforementioned attitude and the aforementioned commitment were not present in the Southland. It speaks volumes when a school is willing to spend serious jack ($$$) to either upgrade or build new facilities. Although a long way off, with that type of commitment the Summit could become a multiple bid league. At least the Summit schools are not satisfied playing their home games in what are nothing more then glorified high school gyms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 I think if we knew what was going on behind the scenes, your "aforementioned" issues played a significant role in the decision to return to the Summit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 NDSU's victory is great for all the Summit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 NDSU's victory is great for all the Summit! And the fact that they defeated the Sooners will raise the respect for the Summit in Oklahoma. Very good for ORU... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 And the fact that they defeated the Sooners will raise the respect for the Summit in Oklahoma. Very good for ORU. Retweet/Like/This/etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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