Purdue University Fort Wayne Leaves Summit League

[ORU GRAD]

https://horizonleague.org/news/2019/8/5/general-purdue-university-fort-wayne-to-join-horizon-league.aspx

[ORUTerry]

So they are leaving after this season. That means the league needs to move quickly to find a replacement school that is immediately eligible. 

Augustana University is named as a probable replacement school - but they are currently D-2. They announced on 12.13.18 that they would begin pursuit of a transition to D-1 status. Can’t find any update on their progress. I think that process can take several years to navigate - which would leave the Summit League in a lurch. 

[ORU82]

As stated elsewhere on this Board, go for Grand Canyon, New Mexico State and/or Northern Colorado.  The Summit may even try UALR.  A great get would be to add both Grand Canyon and New Mexico State.  Anything but Augustana who I am not sure will even be D-I eligible when PFW leaves.

[ORUTerry]

Augustana is going to be added to the Summit League. They have a major benefactor who is influential with the other Dakota schools - as well as the league office. The push to include them is questionable - except for the apparent financial considerations. They are attempting to transition to D-1; there is no guarantee that they will be successful. The transition will take years. Cal Baptist started the process this year and they will be a full member in 2022-23 (4 years)

I don’t see Augustana listed as an institution attempting to reclassify as a D-1 school. I assume they are waiting to join a D-1 conference before stating the process 

 

[EagleManiac]

So do we lose the baseball auto-bid if Augustana is our only addition? 

[Hammersmith]

41 minutes ago, EagleManiac said:

So do we lose the baseball auto-bid if Augustana is our only addition? 

No. There is a 2-year grace period, and the NCAA has shown a willingness to extend waivers to cover a year or two gap as long as a conference has a plan in place. It happened recently with UNO and the Summit.