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Fort Wayne To The Horizon League?


Old Titan

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It's official - and it's immediate:

http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/the-horizon-league-picks-iupui-to-replace-valpo-and-might-add-more-teams-in-future/

The scary thing is that the Horizon League may not be done expanding (though they're probably done for this year), and they have a propensity for raiding the Mid-Con/Summit when they do grow.

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49 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

It's official - and it's immediate:

 

time to go find 2 more games for Coach Mills and Coach Cussen

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So IUPUI's exit is immediate.  What happens to their $1,000,000.00 exit fee?  Secondly we will have to replace all games/events this year with IUPUI in all sports?  I wonder if there is a breach of contract clause in our contract with them whereby they will have to pay us something for breaching the contract to play us?  Hopefully there is and it is steep.

As for the Argus Leader article posted above, I assume it was written by someone in the Dakotas.  I laughed when the writer stated that basically there was no comparison between USD, SDSU, NDSU and UND and the rest of the league and that "There is more money flying around in sports other than hockey and more fan interest and facilities are in most instances substantially better."  Apparently the writer has never been to either Denver's campus or our campus and has no clue what either Denver or we spend on basketball.  Take away Denver and you will find that what we are paying Coach Mills this year in MBB is still at the top of the Summit food chain.  Secondly, both Denver's basketball arena and Mabee Center are light years ahead of anything the Dakota schools have, and our attendance, even as down as it is, still leads the Summit.  I assume that the writer does not know that we are finishing a $14,000,000.00 track and field complex which will host the Summit Championships next year.  In short, the writer was going off about how great the Dakota schools are and how they are light years ahead of anyone else in the Summit, which I would seriously question on multiple levels.

Be that as it may, what does concern me is why the Summit is not becoming more proactive in getting programs to join our league, and I am not talking about the Chicago States of the world.  No offense to anyone in the Horizon, but that conference IMHO is not that great and certainly not better than the Summit.  Cleveland State, Wright State and Youngstown State are considered after thoughts in the State of Ohio.  Cleveland State is an over grown commuter college, and so is Wright State.  Youngstown State is not any better and all seriously lack any redeeming academic  quality. 

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1 hour ago, ORU82 said:

So IUPUI's exit is immediate (yes).  What happens to their $1,000,000.00 exit fee? (they must pay it, or the Horizon pays it, or some combination thereof; between the two, they have the money)  Secondly we will have to replace all games/events this year with IUPUI in all sports? (only if those games/matches/etc. are necessary to meet minimum scheduling requirements for total games)  I wonder if there is a breach of contract clause in our contract with them whereby they will have to pay us something for breaching the contract to play us? (it's all part of the conference schedule; that's why there's an exit penalty with the conference) Hopefully there is and it is steep. (valid point: do the league schools each get a portion of that penalty fee for their trouble in re-scheduling games?)

As for the Argus Leader article posted above, I assume it was written by someone in the Dakotas (the Argus-Leader is based in Sioux Falls, so, "Yeah").  I laughed when the writer stated that basically there was no comparison between USD, SDSU, NDSU and UND and the rest of the league and that "There is more money flying around in sports other than hockey and more fan interest and facilities are in most instances substantially better." (partially true, but better facilities in 'most instances' is an exaggeration, particularly in baseball) Apparently the writer has never been to either Denver's campus or our campus and has no clue what either Denver or we spend on basketball. (most likely true) Take away Denver and you will find that what we are paying Coach Mills this year in MBB is still at the top of the Summit food chain (really? source on that?).  Secondly, both Denver's basketball arena and Mabee Center are light years ahead of anything the Dakota schools have (not true anymore), and our attendance, even as down as it is, still leads the Summit (not really true, and hasn't been true for years).  I assume that the writer does not know that we are finishing a $14,000,000.00 track and field complex which will host the Summit Championships next year. (probably true - but how IS work coming along on that thing?) In short, the writer was going off about how great the Dakota schools are and how they are light years ahead of anyone else in the Summit, which I would seriously question on multiple levels. (are we sure they aren't?)

Be that as it may, what does concern me is why the Summit is not becoming more proactive in getting programs to join our league, and I am not talking about the Chicago States of the world (how do we know the league isn't proactive about expansion?).  No offense to anyone in the Horizon, but that conference IMHO is not that great and certainly not better than the Summit. (TV contract better than Summit?)  Cleveland State, Wright State and Youngstown State are considered after thoughts in the State of Ohio.  Cleveland State is an over grown commuter college, and so is Wright State.  Youngstown State is not any better and all seriously lack any redeeming academic quality. (they would all still be welcome in the Summit)

(see above)

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ORU better start looking for a new conference home tomorrow. The interview with Commissioner Douple didn't inspire a lot of confidence.

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Haskell and Tabor probably are available....get Micah Ratzlaff on the phone....maybe TU will want to play a home and home???....:-P

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Got this interview with the league commissioner (Tom Douple) off the Bisonville (NDSU) message board:

 

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According to the NCAA website, the average home attendance for the 2016-17 year is as follows:  ORU - 3,317; SDSU - 2,781; NDSU - 2,778; USD - 1,873 and UND - 1850.  As for over all men's basketball athletic budgets for the 2015-16 year according the U.S. Department of Education it is as follows:  Denver - $3,361,111; ORU - $2,741,482; UND - $1,579,108; SDSU - $1,443,001; NDSU - $1,417,450 and USD - $1,156,551.

I also agree that the interview with Commissioner Douple came across pretty weak, at least to me.  That coupled with OT's statement above that the Horizon was still on the hunt for additional teams did not leave me with a lot of confidence in the Summit.  If you know of something OT, please feel free to share.

Terry, without listening to the entire broadcast what was the gist of what the Commissioner had to say?

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Not encouraged by our commissioner apparently being surprised by IUPUI's move to leave. Not clear he has a plan or is working towards a good plan. Hope I'm wrong. 

There are rumors that the WAC is looking to expand. 

We should be talking with:

Northern Colorado 

Grand Canyon 

New Mexico State

UMKC

at the least....

 

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I just listened to the Commissioner's interview on KWSN in Sioux Falls.  That did not leave me feeling really confident the League has a plan.  I appreciate the fact he likes to play his cards close to the vest, but in all honesty, I really took nothing positive away except for his "trust me". 

I then listened on the same station to an interview they did today with Dom Izzo of WDAY in Fargo.  That really put things into perspective in the sense that perhaps we should be working actively on "Plan B" just in case IPFW bolts for the Horizon as well. He also discussed the possibility that UNO could leave which would effectively end the Summit.  Apparently the good people in Fargo are worried about the collapse of the League as well, and it was his suggestion to start working on "Plan B".

The last thing talked about on both interviews was bringing Augustana up from D-II.  As Izzo pointed out, even if Augustana started the process to make the move to D-I, it would take five (5) years.  That does us no good.  Secondly, is there not someone better than Augustana that we could look at for expansion?

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Douple does not impress. They need to be very proactive/aggressive. Hopefully the AD's are involved. 

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a couple things on scheduling from those interviews

  • the conf sched will not be re-done for 2017-18
  • teams had stadium issues and wanted to fill the lost dates themselves
  • ORU lost two Saturday home games
  • the league will waive the "only 2 non-D1 games" rule
  • the league already had a 5 year league sched they had put together ---- WHY????:huh:

 

completely agree w/others assessment --- Douple does not project confidence and has zero charisma.  He did not sound that interested in bringing back UMKC and like he would rather go the transitioning D1 route again.

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1 hour ago, ORUalum said:

completely agree w/others assessment --- Douple does not project confidence and has zero charisma.  He did not sound that interested in bringing back UMKC and like he would rather go the transitioning D1 route again.

UMKC should be the absolute last resort. They add nothing but easy wins in every sport.

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1 hour ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

UMKC should be the absolute last resort. They add nothing but easy wins in every sport.

UMKC more than held their own in men's basketball during the Michael Watson days in the Mid-Con, and their tennis program has traditionally been very good.

But, even if Doc is right re: the other sports, UMKC represents one of the few (the only?) potential Summit League prospects that's a reasonable drive for ORU athletes, their families, and Golden Eagle fans. 

Plus, it's simply a great place to visit, and an even better place from which to recruit.

I would accept them on geography alone.

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20 hours ago, ORU82 said:

According to the NCAA website, the average home attendance for the 2016-17 year is as follows:  ORU - 3,317; SDSU - 2,781; NDSU - 2,778; USD - 1,873 and UND - 1850.  As for over all men's basketball athletic budgets for the 2015-16 year according the U.S. Department of Education it is as follows:  Denver - $3,361,111; ORU - $2,741,482; UND - $1,579,108; SDSU - $1,443,001; NDSU - $1,417,450 and USD - $1,156,551.

I also agree that the interview with Commissioner Douple came across pretty weak, at least to me.  That coupled with OT's statement above that the Horizon was still on the hunt for additional teams did not leave me with a lot of confidence in the Summit.  If you know of something OT, please feel free to share.

Terry, without listening to the entire broadcast what was the gist of what the Commissioner had to say?

All I know about Horizon expansion is what's written in those articles.

Here's something I AM pretty confident about:  ORU's home attendance figures (going by your numbers above) are alternative facts, pure and simple.

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