TrueBlue82 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Will the latest conference shift with the WAC's announcement of adding UT-Arlington make things interesting for ORU in the months ahead??? The WAC has stated that they would like to expand to 12 (need two more), and while they are primarily looking for football schools, their latest addition (UTA) does not have a football program. ORU falls within the WAC's geography, fitting well within the triangle of La Tech, UTA and Denver. The WAC has recently added two private schools (Seattle and Denver), so ORU's private status should not be an issue. ORU currently offers 12 of the WAC's 16 sports, and the only ORU program not offered by the WAC is Men's soccer. Would be a definite step up for ORU. More likely, however, is the conference that UTA left, the Southland. The Southland has lost three programs to the WAC (UTSA, Texas State, UTA), leaving it with nine, an awkward number at best. While the Southland bills itself as a "football first" conference, UTA's non-football status may call for a non-football replacement. ORU would be the northern-most school, but would still fit well with the Louisiana/Arkansas/Texas conference. Finally, in the current configuration, Central Arkansas needs a travel partner - and ORU would fill that need. ORU currently offers 12 of the 14 Southland sports, and the only ORU program not offered by the Southland is (again) Men's soccer (must be a Title IX football issue). Would be a better geographic fit for ORU. All in all, the Summit has been good for ORU, and it's been said before that ORU needed to stabilize many things before even considering moving to another conference. That foundation work is in progress - and whether we're ready for a move is still in question. However, UTA's move certainly increases the possibility that Mike Carter may be having a conference with either the Southland or the WAC in the near future (or already has). Could be interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 The Southland sounds like it would be a good fit and save money in travel costs for all of our teams....those trips up to the Dakotas and Michigan must be costly over the long haul....but it's still hard trying to envision ORU leaving the Summit in the near future....TheEagleman doesn't think it will happen unless there is some behind the scenes politics going on..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Frankly, I don't think ORU's leaving the Summit either. But I do believe that the latest move by the WAC and UTA is more likely to impact ORU than any other conference realignment action in recent years, so it's worthy of a mention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 interesting analysis. it sounds like men's soccer would be dropped if a move to the southland happened. that's a shame, but i guess also an additional cost savings for the athletic dept. UTA saw the writing on the wall w/the southland and initiated the move to the WAC after UTSA and texas state jumped. i'm still not convinced that make carter and ORU are trying to move. i don't think there have been an rumblings about dissatisfaction w/the the summit. although, i guess that could be changing as the league becomes more dakota centric. the southland certainly make more sense for ORU and its alumni base than the summit league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Travel times from Tulsa aren't that much better in the Southland than in the Summit League. Natchitoches 7 hours Beaumont 8 hours Huntsville 8 hours Lake Charles, LA 9 hours Hammond, LA 10 1/2 hours Thibadoux, LA 10 1/2 hours Corpus Christi 11 hours With UTSA, Texas State and UT Arlington leaving the conference, that definitely opens up some slots in the Southland, but I don't see that as a better situation than the Summit League. If UALR is going to get kicked out of the Sun Belt for being the only member school to not have a football team, then the Southland would make a lot of sense for them. From Little Rock, they are 3-4 hours closer to the LA schools. I would selfishly love to see UALR in the Summit League if they do get pushed out of the Sun Belt, but my guess is that UALR would prefer the Southland. I'll bet that the Southland will take 1 or 2 more schools just to add some margin for error after dealing with these unexpected losses. Joining the WAC would significantly increase travel costs and wouldn't make much sense. The WAC is only a shadow of its' former self and is a fairly minor player now. Honestly, the WAC has a few good teams (Fresno St., Hawaii, Nevada) but other than that the WAC looks a lot like the Summit League at this point except with a larger geographic footprint. Now that Southern Utah will be leaving after next year, the Summit League footprint will be even tighter. Short of moving to the Missouri Valley Conference, I don't think the WAC or Southland provide much of a cost savings over the Summit League. The only advantage would be not having to brave the brutal weather during the winter in the Dakotas, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Of course, for our baseball team, the fact that we are the only warm weather school with a baseball team has certainly been helpful in allowing us to maintain a competitive advantage. But as I have argued before, the list of cities in the Summit League blows away the cities in the Southland. The potential for improved exposure in the Summit League down the road is much better than in Nagadoches or Thibadoux or Hammond or Natchitoches or Lake Charles or Corpus Christi. Detroit, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Tulsa, Omaha If the league can continue to improve, the chance for increased visibility in these markets is very significant. I've ran into people from Detroit who know all about Oakland and previously had no connention to the university. If other schools improved their programs like Oakland, the same thing could happen in other large markets. I would like to see another school with a baseball team in the Summit, but other than that, it is a stable conference. Out of the current group of schools, I would say the biggest risk to the stability of the conference would be if Oakland were to go to the Horizon or if ORU were to go to the MVC. While those things could happen, I don't see it happening in the next few years. For now I think we are where we are supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Good post, Jason....your points are all well taken....TheEagleman prefers the Summit over the Southland at this point....now if the WAC or MVC ever came calling it's a different story....but I just don't see that happening.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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