89rabbit Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Terry Vandrovec (SDSU's beat writer) is starting a three part series on the Summit League, here is story #1: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 50323/1002 The Summit League - Who are these guys? SDSU's new conference home has gone through many changes By Terry Vandrovec tvandrovec@argusleader.com Published: September 5, 2007 Conferences are generally centered on commonalities, but good luck connecting the dots between the 10 NCAA Division I schools making up the Summit League. Add newcomers South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne to the mix with existing members and the conference spans 1,850 miles, nine states and three time zones. The schools have enrollments between 29,953 and 905 and athletic budgets ranging from $8.7 million to $3.8 million. They are public and private, regional and flagship universities, new and old, metropolitan and rural. Diversity, maybe more than similarity, is what defines the Elmhurst, Ill., based Summit League, commissioner Tom Douple said, and also what makes it appealing. "Barring the travel issue, having diverse groups from different regions of the country and different areas and different missions is healthy, just like diversity is healthy for our country," said Douple, the former Southern Utah athletic director in his second year as the conference's commissioner. "Whether it's in your community, whether it's in your school, it provides different perspectives on how they operate, different goals of the university and what athletics does. What the league does is form a commonality." Such diversity in a league is not unprecedented. Conference USA, for example, operates under a similar premise - but the casual fan is at least familiar with that conference because of its broadly successful programs. . . . (read more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89rabbit Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 Part 2, Meet the Summit League Members: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 002/SPORTS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKC Eagle Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I guess we should be honored that ORU is the main rival of just about every team in the Summit League. Everybody wants to beat the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadAdder Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 the campus architecture is said to be like something out of the Jetsons Rofl. The reporter is right on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacAlum Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 That is a pretty cool article about the schools in the conference. I like seeing all the notable athletic alumni (Casey Stengel went to UMKC???). Here's a stat--ORU leads the way with 104 NCAA Tourney appearances, the next closest is Western with 49? Wow.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 This guy has done his homework. It's nice to see someone who actually researched the schools and maybe even spoke to some people about the league and its members. Great story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 This guy has done his homework. It's nice to see someone who actually researched the schools and maybe even spoke to some people about the league and its members. Great story! You know, I've read quite a few stories that 89rabbit has posted out of the Argus Leader, and they're all good! Remember earlier in the year when all of the scoops seemed to be coming from up north? We even talked about it at the time. The writers up there really seem to be trying to get the scoop, and get it right. That's a good thing. I'm looking forward to the third installment of that series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I wrote the reporter to thank him for his story and commented how much I enjoyed it. He wrote me back to thak me and say that he has additional stories on Thursday and Friday about the league. He also said that he looked forward to visiting Tulsa when SDSU comes to town in early December. I invited him to visit the message board so he could keep up to date on ORU - and other Summit League teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I'm pretty sure that UMKC is one of the only schools in the country that is licensed by Disney to use one of their characters... (I bet TMH can guess another one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Great picture Doc.... how did you find that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89rabbit Posted September 6, 2007 Author Share Posted September 6, 2007 Here is Part 2 (yea, I thought that little "meet the Summit League Members" was part 2, but I was wrong ): http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 002/SPORTS Affiliation advantages differ Not all SDSU teams gain scheduling, playoff edge By Terry Vandrovec tvandrovec@argusleader.com Published: September 6, 2007 For South Dakota State's basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball teams, the benefits of gaining entry into the Summit League after three seasons as Independents are marked and obvious. Conference affiliation means round-robin schedules with up to 18 league contests during the regular season, routine travel and automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA championships for teams that win the league's postseason tournaments. As a result, "We can start (recruiting) kids that are even more competitive," Jackrabbits volleyball coach Andrew Palileo said. "We had to take a couple chances on kids that didn't care much other than getting that (Division I) scholarship." But what about the school's other programs? Limited budgets and geographical diversity within the 10-team conference mean that SDSU's runners, golfers, swimmers and tennis players might not encounter Summit League competition until the year-end conference tournaments - some of which do not guarantee NCAA postseason advancement for the winners. Nonetheless, Rod DeHaven, head coach of the Jacks' cross country and track and field teams, called gaining conference affiliation - even before earning wholesale postseason eligibility - a great thing. "It can't be overstated enough what it does for the entire athletic department," he said. . . . (read more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89rabbit Posted September 7, 2007 Author Share Posted September 7, 2007 Part 3: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/SPORTS0202/709070334/1002/SPORTS Summit turnover could threaten bids Automatic qualifiers uncertain if colleges leave By Terry Vandrovec tvandrovec@argusleader.com Published: September 7, 2007 Perhaps this latest batch of moves - losing Valparaiso and the addition of South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne - will be the last, and the Summit League will take on the characteristics of its mountainous new logo: stable and pointed skyward. But history says otherwise. Since it was founded 25 years ago, the former Mid-Continent Conference has housed 26 members, with its lineup changing in 13 of the past 18 years. The turnover is more than a matter of inconvenience; it could cost the 10-team conference its status as an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and the corresponding financial windfall. It's happened before - in 1995, following the departure of four schools - and could happen again if any two of the Summit League's seven established members were to leave prior to 2010-11. And two Summit schools, Centenary and Southern Utah, could be facing decisions about staying or going. "I think every conference has some doubts and worries about its changing membership," Jackrabbits athletic director Fred Oien said. "It isn't something we worry about every day because looking eye to eye, everything we've been told by the commissioner as well as in our conference meetings is we're a stable conference and that the presidents are committed to it." . . . (read more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89rabbit Posted September 19, 2007 Author Share Posted September 19, 2007 Here is a quick blurb about proposed NCAA rule changes: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 002/SPORTS . . . . Among the other items at the cabinet meeting that Grom said is by far the most consequential in his tenure: It will consider a piece of legislation that would halve the time a reclassifying school waits to become a "core" member of a conference - a key component to maintaining automatic-qualifier status - from eight years to four in men's basketball. That would make the Jacks a core member of the Summit League in 2012-13 (good news for the turnover-prone conference) . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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