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Western Illinois Leaving Summit for OVC


TrueBlue82

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per Jeff Goodman:

Western Illinois will withdraw from the Summit league prior to the 2023-24 academic year and join the Ohio Valley. The effective withdrawal date is June 30, 2023.

While this will do nothing to upset the competitive balance of the league, because WIU was rarely competitive in ANY sport, it does take away a long-time member that helps the Summit qualify for NCAA Championships in many sports just by their participation.   It also opens the floodgates for other members to consider leaving and/or the League quickly adding to its membership (usually from the bottom of the barrel) in an attempt to ensure eligibility and long-term stability.  I didn’t see this one coming - and the potential impact for the Summit in the ever-shifting conference affiliation landscape could be significant.

 

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Ouch......SL probably has Augustana on speed dial....Image result for george costanza

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1 hour ago, TrueBlue82 said:

per Jeff Goodman:

Western Illinois will withdraw from the Summit league prior to the 2023-24 academic year and join the Ohio Valley. The effective withdrawal date is June 30, 2023.

While this will do nothing to upset the competitive balance of the league, because WIU was rarely competitive in ANY sport, it does take away a long-time member that helps the Summit qualify for NCAA Championships in many sports just by their participation.   It also opens the floodgates for other members to consider leaving and/or the League quickly adding to its membership (usually from the bottom of the barrel) in an attempt to ensure eligibility and long-term stability.  I didn’t see this one coming - and the potential impact for the Summit in the ever-shifting conference affiliation landscape could be significant.

 

Can’t wait to see what the SL comes up with viable teams.

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1 hour ago, TrueBlue82 said:

per Jeff Goodman:

Western Illinois will withdraw from the Summit league prior to the 2023-24 academic year and join the Ohio Valley. The effective withdrawal date is June 30, 2023.

While this will do nothing to upset the competitive balance of the league, because WIU was rarely competitive in ANY sport, it does take away a long-time member that helps the Summit qualify for NCAA Championships in many sports just by their participation.   It also opens the floodgates for other members to consider leaving and/or the League quickly adding to its membership (usually from the bottom of the barrel) in an attempt to ensure eligibility and long-term stability.  I didn’t see this one coming - and the potential impact for the Summit in the ever-shifting conference affiliation landscape could be significant.

 


This is from the WIU Twitter:

The agreement between the University and the OVC was signed by WIU President Guiyou Huang Friday morning. 

"This is going to be an excellent new endeavor for Western Illinois University," said Dr. Huang. "We are excited to join our peers of similar size and communities, and we look forward to great competition."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by ORUFanbase
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Some middle school in Sioux Falls is about to get the D1 call up

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The conference should be contacting UALR. They are an outlier in that conference and would make a nice travel partner for ORU. 

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3 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

The conference should be contacting UALR. They are an outlier in that conference and would make a nice travel partner for ORU. 

That’s a valid point there. Ular doesn’t have football and Oru plays them in most sports. 

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How in the world can a member school leave as soon as June 30th? That is less than 50 days from now. That is incredible and almost unbelievable. 

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4 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

The conference should be contacting UALR. They are an outlier in that conference and would make a nice travel partner for ORU. 

With all due repsect, UALR is a LOT closer to OVC schools (even as an outlier) than Summit schools. 

Ain't no way UALR would even take the Summit League's phone call. 

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For WIU, this makes a lot of sense, to be better connected with two of the other Illinois geographical schools (Eastern and Southern-Edwardsville), reduce overall travel, and escape the Dakota-centric attitude.  I'm just surprised the OVC invited them - and VERY surprised that WIU will be allowed to cause such upheaval with a transition six weeks after the announcement. 

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3 hours ago, oruvoice said:

With all due repsect, UALR is a LOT closer to OVC schools (even as an outlier) than Summit schools. 

Ain't no way UALR would even take the Summit League's phone call. 

😄 They could be an outlier in the Summit League… Getting to some of those OVC  schools is tough. Wait until they travel to Maconb. Tulsa, KC, Omaha, Denver and Minneapolis are a lot easier (not necessarily cheaper) travel destinations. 

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This does not help ORU, what with the hockey-lovin’-Big-Sky-leanin’-north-of-the-40th-Parallel-lurchin’ sensibilities of the current Summit League leadership. 

Maybe Indiana Southern’s AD is traveling with the baseball team this weekend and is available for a meeting with ADTJ over pancakes at Hatch Cafe…

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1 minute ago, Old Titan said:

This does not help ORU, what with the hockey-lovin’-Big-Sky-leanin’-north-of-the-40th-Parallel-lurchin’ sensibilities of the current Summit League leadership. 

Maybe Indiana Southern’s AD is traveling with the baseball team this weekend and is available for a meeting with ADTJ over pancakes at Hatch Cafe…

Wouldn't ADTJ prefer Daybreak Cafe, Waldos, Tazikis or the Golden Sombrero?   Or they could just meet at Jim Norton Toyota for a free cup of coffee while TJ get's a free, guaranteed, no obligation price to buy his car.

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I just reviewed the locations of the OVC schools. Wow. They may not be as far flung as the Summit, but getting to Morehead State, SE Missouri State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Martin would be an adventure. 

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Realistically the only option the Summit has is bringing up another D2 like St. Thomas.

Extremely unlikely a current D1 school leaves their current conference to play road games in the Dakotas. Large D2 schools in MN or the Dakotas are probably targets.

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Press release from the Summit League.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Summit League received Western Illinois’ official request to withdraw as a League member Friday, May 12, 2023, and do so prior to the 2023-24 academic year. The effective withdrawal date is June 30, 2023.

“Despite today’s news, the Summit League’s foundation is strong. Our focus remains on being a leading Division I conference with a resolute commitment to broad-based competitive success, high academic achievement, and preparing future leaders,” said Commissioner Josh Fenton. “The League and its member institutions are aligned and will continue working on bold strategies to further strengthen the membership and enhance the experiences for our student-athletes.”

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33 minutes ago, ORUTerry said:

I just reviewed the locations of the OVC schools. Wow. They may not be as far flung as the Summit, but getting to Morehead State, SE Missouri State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Martin would be an adventure. 

I did the same thing Terry.  You can add UALR to that list.  I'm not sure what flight service out of McComb looks like but it seems like there will be a lot of 8 hour bus rides. 

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