Jump to content

Conference office moving to Sioux Falls


91jack

Recommended Posts

I just figured that I'd let you know that the Summit League will relocate its conference headquarters to Sioux Fall, SD from Elmhurst, Ill.  They will be in a temporary location on Aug 1st at the Sanford Sports Complex.  They say that the Dakotas have been good for the Summit League and that Sioux Falls will be a more centralized location.  You can read the article if you go to Argusleader.com.

I think some teams like ORU, Denver, IPFW and Western Illinois could be not real thrilled with this decision.  I hope that the conference can stick with this it's existing members and add one or two more solid programs but we will see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

welp. Seems to be a pretty clear indicator of the direction the conference is headed and who's really running the conference. In reality, it probably will not change anything very significantly from how it is right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally would have liked to keep Oakland and IUPUI in the conference.  Neither of them are close to the Dakotas and IUPUI struggled their last year in MBB but they both brought several quality teams to the conference.  I would like it if the conference added NMSU, Grand Canyon, possibly Northern Colorado, or somebody like that to the conference.  I just want to see quality teams that make the conference better.  

UND is in the direction that some think (maybe it is??) the conference is going but two years ago (I think) they won the Big Sky in MBB, WBB and Football.  They didn't do that good last year but if the can win their conference and be a short drive from another school, they are a bad add.  Of course, NMSU would be a good add and they aren't in that direction.

This way you have 5 of the 9 teams in the conference within a 5 hour drive of the main office.  I know that they don't play basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, golf, etc.. at the home of the conference but now they are in driving distance of over half of the league.  

I might be biased but I would think having schools that are close together as a plus for the league.  I don't see the league playing on back to back nights but you could for some of the games.  It would be a little tougher getting from ORU to Denver but getting from UND to NDSU is only 1 1/2 hours, NDSU to SDSU is only 2+ hours, SDSU to USD is only 2+ hours, USD to Omaha is only 2 1/2 hours (or so).  With a day in between games you can probably play anywhere on a Thursday and a Saturday but wouldn't it be cheaper and more convenient to just drive for 2 hours (this is my argument against it not being all bad having some schools that are close together).

I still want to see good teams in the conference.  I don't want to see UMKC in the conference unless they turn things around even though they are only a short drive from Omaha.  I would rather have some of those other teams listed above.  (I haven't done much research on the listed schools but that is my uneducated take).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In related news, Western Illinois is endanger of becoming a new Chicago St basket case:

https://capitolfax.com/2018/05/22/wiu-looking-at-drastic-enrollment-declines-deficit-spending-increases/

WIU can’t afford the Summit as it must drastically reduce costs..

The Montanas and Idaho ride in to rescue the Summit.

ORU takes refuge in the WAC. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, UNDfan said:

In related news, Western Illinois is endangered of becoming a new Chicago St basket case:

https://capitolfax.com/2018/05/22/wiu-looking-at-drastic-enrollment-declines-deficit-spending-increases/

WIU can’t afford the Summit as it must drastically reduce costs..

The Montanas and Idaho ride in to rescue the Summit.

1

Really? Their name does end in Dakota!  Why would anyone want to join?  Maybe the Summit should join the WAC and have Tulsa as the base of Operations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can somebody give me a better understanding of what ORU"s options are?  

I know they are a catch (in my opinion anyway) but do they have some other options that will save them a ton in travel?  I'm fairly sure the WAC would require some travel.  The Big Sky isn't a bus league.  They tried another conference but that didn't work.  Too much expanding across Texas.  Is the some other conference that is around there that ORU would fit in?  

I know if they took all mid-major schools and re-conferenced them then it would probably work better for everybody but I don't see that happening.  At least in the Summit league, they can fly to play one team and take a 2 hour bus ride to play another.  Can they do this in a lot of other conferences?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/24/2018 at 8:26 AM, UNDfan said:

The Montanas and Idaho ride in to rescue the Summit.

ORU takes refuge in the WAC. 

5PV.gif

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The other Dakota schools would be idiotic to let this happen. 

Can South Dakota support three D1 universities?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Denver probably has a lot more options than ORU.

I think ORU is stuck.  ORU tried bolting and ended up in a conference that cared more about football and expanded so much that the league was diluted and travel costs actually increased.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for sharing that article. Obviously Commissioner Douple is a bit conflicted. That is not good for the league as a whole. I wish he would work harder on establishing inter conference games to help Summit schools with scheduling. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

What's really disturbing is that the letsgodu.com map of the "future Summit League" adds lowly Augustana to the mix and eliminates another (formerly) prominent member of the conference... 😠

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really nice small minded thinking on the part of the Summit League.  Do we have a vote in this?  If so, make our vote a loud NO!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...