MoState417 Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Was there ever a time where the Valley even showed a remote interest in any athletic program at ORU? I highly doubt it. I think our baseball program would thrive in the Valley, but I seriously question your assumption that we were considered. Someone else here said ORU was asked to join just in baseball. The Valley only has 9 teams in basball so it makes sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 The story I heard is that ORU was approached about joining the MVC for baseball only. We had just joined the Mid-Con and felt it was not prudent to antagonize our new conference brethren. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlh Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Instead of expanding...I think that several Mid-Con schools, maybe most of you will be looking for conferences that will take them. It makes more sense to do that, or form a new conference with others that are available, than to continue to take anyone possible just to retain the automatic bid. It would probably in the long run be easier to join another conference which already has the bids. Don't have anything to base this one, except what seems to make sense to me. Without us (and Chicago State), the profile of the conference has dropped several rungs and it will be difficult to continue. Just my opinion, with nothing to back me up, but seems logical to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praetorfenix86 Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I didn't even think it was possible for the profile of our conference to get any lower before this happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89rabbit Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 Here is the latest from the Big Sky Presidents meeting: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 002/SPORTS Big Sky looking at adding 10th member Chris Solari csolari@argusleader.com May 24, 2006 Big Sky Conference leaders are developing a plan to look at adding a 10th member to the league. On their last day of meetings Tuesday in Missoula, Mont., officials told Commissioner Doug Fullerton to put together a report on what a 10-team conference would look like. The league is not looking at plans to increase its membership to 12. Fullerton said six schools are in the mix, among which are South Dakota State and North Dakota State. He said his research will include travel amount, projected budgets and detailed look at potential schedules. League leaders are not planning visits to any of the schools, Fullerton said. He is to give his report at their next meeting on Oct. 11 in Salt Lake City. The Big Sky, which added Northern Colorado a year ago, took up the expansion discussion after athletic directors found it difficult to balance basketball schedules with nine teams. "We're still wrestling with the nine-team schedule in basketball," Montana President George Dennison said. "We'll continue to wrestle with that." Fullerton said the schools the conference is looking at are SDSU, NDSU, the University of North Dakota, Southern Utah, Denver and Utah Valley State. Southern Utah is currently a member of the Mid-Continent Conference, and Denver is in the Sun Belt Conference. Denver and Utah Valley State do not offer football. Fullerton has said in the past that an odd number for football scheduling and an even number for basketball is optimal. . . . (read more) Word on the street is that it looks like it will be Denver or Utah Valley State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 Very interesting that the report - and subsequent decision - will occur after October. That indicates that they are not looking for a football school - or else they would expedite the process. Glad to hear they are only looking to add one school. As much as it would be a benefit for Southern Utah to join the Big Sky, it would be a big blow to the Mid-Con (and ORU). If Denver moves from the Sun Belt to the Big Sky (better fit for them from a travel and rivalry perspective) - does ORU make a push to replace them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyb Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 If Denver moves from the Sun Belt to the Big Sky (better fit for them from a travel and rivalry perspective) - does ORU make a push to replace them? If Denver bolts for the Big Sky, no way the Sun Belt expands. They'd be at 12 teams (perfect number) and adding ORU wouldn't be ideal for them in geographic terms. But Denver moving out of the Sun Belt could mean the league's other non-football teams (i.e. UALR, South Alabama, New Orleans) could be shopping for new conferences as well. If that were to happen this fall, the Mid-Con should jump in and try to steal a couple (if not all) of those teams right away. That could set up the possibility of the best "Save the Mid-Con" scenerio: Northern Division NDSU (Inevitable member) SDSU (Inevitable member) Oakland IUPUI Western Ill. IPFW (Inevitable member) Southern Division ORU UMKC Centenary UALR (Sun Belt defector) New Orleans (Sun Belt defector) Southern Utah Really wanted to add South Alabama to this list, but as good as their baseball and men's basketball teams are, you'd have to think they'd be more likely to end up in the Big South. *Note* No way this really happens, but if the fighting chickens were to stay in the Mid-Con, this would make for an all right league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 I agree that it is unlikely the SunBelt would add another school right after the "travel defecto" in the eastern division (Denver) left for the Big Sky. I think it's also unlikely that they would send the other non-football schools packing because they would be right back in the situation they were in before with more teams in the east than in the west. Then they would know firsthand what the Big Sky is going through right now with the scheduling woes of a 9 member conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyb Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 I agree that it is unlikely the SunBelt would add another school right after the "travel defecto" in the eastern division (Denver) left for the Big Sky. I think it's also unlikely that they would send the other non-football schools packing because they would be right back in the situation they were in before with more teams in the east than in the west. Then they would know firsthand what the Big Sky is going through right now with the scheduling woes of a 9 member conference. Not saying they'd send them packing. What I am saying is that those schools would want out 'cause we all know a conference's major revenue sport (Sun Belt=football) runs the show and if there were 9 football voices vs. 3 without, those three might not want to deal with being the second tier step child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 If they only wanted a 12-team league, then why would they have added Denver in the first place? Especially with the huge travel demand placed on all the other teams. If the Big Sky does add Denver, I think we should consider the Sun-Belt seriously, because it is a much more stable conference, is a good regional fit, and has a somewhat better quality of competition. Although travel to Florida is pretty much as far as travel to Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89rabbit Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 Although travel to Florida is pretty much as far as travel to Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Tulsa to Brookings, SD - 654 miles Tulsa to Fargo, ND - 840 miles Tulsa to Oakland, MI - 975 Tulsa to Boca Raton (Florida Atlantic) - 1,409 Tulsa to Miama (Florida International) - 1449 You could get from ORU to SDSU and back and still not have gotten to the closest Florida school in the Sun Belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 89rabbit, I think that we need to bring in the Dakota schools just to reward you for all of the campaigning you've done to make it happen over the past two years. You've made the case VERY WELL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89rabbit Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 89rabbit, I think that we need to bring in the Dakota schools just to reward you for all of the campaigning you've done to make it happen over the past two years. You've made the case VERY WELL! Thanks, I do what I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 89 Rabbit, while I do appreciate the Rand McNally stats, it is probably easier to get from Tulsa to Boca Raton and Miami than to Brookings and Fargo. It's travel time, not mileage, that matters in this case. And, let's face it - would you rather travel to Boca Raton or Brookings in mid-January?!? That said, I do believe the Mid-Con should offer membership to both NDSU and SDSU, especially now that it appears the Big Sky is not (as) interested. However, if a spot in the SunBelt would open for ORU, we should flee the Mid-Con and not look back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyb Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 If they only wanted a 12-team league, then why would they have added Denver in the first place? Especially with the huge travel demand placed on all the other teams. If the Big Sky does add Denver, I think we should consider the Sun-Belt seriously, because it is a much more stable conference, is a good regional fit, and has a somewhat better quality of competition. Although travel to Florida is pretty much as far as travel to Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota. If you could count, you'd know Denver wasn't school #13. They're at 11 right now, with FAU and La.-Monroe to become full members next year. Denver's been in the Sun Belt since they became a full fledged DI member during the 1999-2000 school year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Maybe they added LA Monroe and FAU (the 12th and 13th team) with an expectation that Denver would bolt, and then they would have a 12 team conference. Or maybe they added that 13th team (which was not Denver-sorry) because they want 13 teams (although, I don't know why they would). It's still worth looking into, because we would offer a lot to the Sun Belt and would be a regional fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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