Old Titan Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Click on the pages (once or twice depending on your browser) for larger format versions: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 For those of you who are closer to being in the know. Is Mills lobbying to get out of the Summit League? If so, where do we go? Seems like he is casting a lot of ill will toward the main office in Sioux Falls. We all know about the Dakota bias in the league, but I'm not sure the bad-boy image is the persona he wants to have around the league and in the media. Then again, maybe it is the only way to get things done. What do some of you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofaLegend Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 I'm here in South Dakota, and found myself stunned at the SDSU fan attendance. It is truly the South Dakota State invitational. Truly bizarre for a conference to be in the back pocket of one school. I'm not sure how ticket sales work, but for a massive auditorium, I was kicked out of lower bowl seats for SDSU fans who own the entire lower bowl for all of the sessions. The Summit seemingly has chosen to focus on maximizing alcohol sales, over even attempting to put forth the appearance of a fair, unbiased championship. Where do we go? ANYWHERE. What good does the Summit league do for ORU? They benefit GREATLY from our presence in the SDSU league, and in return, give SDSU the Harlem Globe Trotter treatment, while treating everyone else as their traveling scrimmage team. Anyone who thinks Mills is wrong for complaining, need to understand what he is up against. To put together a season like he has, only to be told that due to the sub par competition in the Summit, you still have to win the tournament, what is the point? If Mills leaves ORU, it will be due to the extreme bias he faces at the permanent location of the tournament. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofaLegend Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Also, we have a friend in Bill Haiston. Great article. Expose the scam! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 In your estimation, how many ORU fans are there? I heard you guys chanting at the end of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idig32 Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 If ORU makes a tournament run, then maybe Mills is positioning them to be able to contact other conferences. It certainly would give leverage for getting some changes made in the Summit League. Of course, is there a better conference option? The Horizon League has 11 members, but they’re upper Midwest schools too. I imagine this is just complaining while we have leverage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofaLegend Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 36 minutes ago, ORUTerry said: In your estimation, how many ORU fans are there? I heard you guys chanting at the end of the game. The section behind the bench had about 7-8 rows of ORU fans. The only tickets available for us were up in the nose bleeds, and I never went up there, so there may have been a few more ORU fans up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 No Summit program besides ORU has the ability to bring in NCAA tournament revenue. The athletic dept should definitely be putting out proposals to other conferences if they haven't already. The other teams in the league just aren't focused on competing nationally and instead focus on this Dakota tournament as their ultimate goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 7 minutes ago, SonofaLegend said: The section behind the bench had about 7-8 rows of ORU fans. The only tickets available for us were up in the nose bleeds, and I never went up there, so there may have been a few more ORU fans up there. Are there any students there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceManSpiff Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 5 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said: No Summit program besides ORU has the ability to bring in NCAA tournament revenue. The athletic dept should definitely be putting out proposals to other conferences if they haven't already. The other teams in the league just aren't focused on competing nationally and instead focus on this Dakota tournament as their ultimate goal. Are there any better conferences (quality opponents and geography) which don’t require football? I honestly have no idea. We did make a short move to the Southland but came right back... Can anyone recap what all happened in that situation? I forget the specifics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Great article. For Coach to give that interview with those comments I would guess he got the green light from the Administration and Athletic Department. Nothing he said was untrue but in most worlds this type of interview is normally approved from the top. As for where we would go, certainly not the Horizon, Southland or even the WAC. As for the MVC, I am not sure they would take us (apparent bad blood with some of its members) and I am also not sure they are a step up. Gonzaga stayed in the WCC and it took years for that league to get to a multi-bid league but basketball in the WCC really elevated over the years. As for the Tournament coming to Tulsa, right now I would say a snow ball would have a better chance then that happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 The only conferences that seem to make possible sense would be the Missouri Valley and maybe Conference USA. The logical course of action is to stay in the conference and compete while trying to work with the non-Dakota schools to make changes. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 19 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said: Are there any students there? No. Disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 ConfUSA is a different brew. There is also the SunBelt if they would take us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 3 minutes ago, ORU82 said: Gonzaga stayed in the WCC and it took years for that league to get to a multi-bid league but basketball in the WCC really elevated over the years. Gonzaga forced the league to change the tournament format to send the best team. The Conference relented because Gonzaga was bringing in NCAA win shares. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 You are correct again Doc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasgrip Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 I like Mills’ “home team” site idea for q-finals as a conversation starter. I’m guessing it would be too complex for the tournament to potentially move every year based on previous season champion (a la baseball). It’s certainly easy to have a perspective of bias with the tourney running this many years in Sioux Falls. However, didn’t other teams use to complain when Tulsa hosted the Mid-Con tourney all those years? How long was it in Tulsa? Is the “bidding” process similar in The Summit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Just now, SpaceManSpiff said: Are there any better conferences (quality opponents and geography) which don’t require football? I honestly have no idea. We did make a short move to the Southland but came right back... Can anyone recap what all happened in that situation? I forget the specifics. There aren't many opportunities for a Division 1-AAA (no football) school. Maybe the WAC?? Some FCS leagues allow a school to compete without football, but not many. The Southland was a football league in their mind (FCS, at that). The Southland was a good geographic fit for ORU and provided Central Arkansas as a travel partner for the northern-tier schools (all other Southland schools were in Texas/Louisiana). After we announced the change, but before we came in the Southland, they brought in Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian University. Getting to Abilene and San Antonio changed the travel dynamics and costs of getting to New Orleans, Houston, and Dallas and bussing to the other schools from there. It took the economics away from the Southland move and we were competing against a basketball style and year-round baseball that was not good for our competitive teams. We have competed well in the Summit - even if it is a one-bid league and they weren't the same league once they lost ORU and UMKC. We were able to attract Denver from the Sun Belt to provide ORU a travel partner until UMKC came back into the league. Now the Summit is where all the transitional D-1 teams look to be admitted (UST, Augustana, etc.). Most teams don't come to the Summit from other established D-1 leagues. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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