ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer Published: 9/30/2011 2:28 AM Last Modified: 9/30/2011 4:43 AM Oral Roberts University will enter talks about possibly joining the Southland Conference, ORU athletic director Mike Carter confirmed Thursday. "No invitation is expected any time soon. Nothing is pending," Carter said. "They're interested in us and they've asked us to come and visit with them about it." Carter said such talks would occur in the next couple of weeks..... http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/ORU/article.aspx?subjectid=95&articleid=20110930_95_B1_OralRo406535 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Link to the Southland Conference site: http://www.southland.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Here is a thread about it on the SDSU forum... they don't seem too broken up about the possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 A highly placed Tulsa World source said, "There is interest both ways, and most people (involved) think it will happen." i hope the reporting is correct and this is pretty much a done deal. i think this would be a great move for a lot of reasons. not the least of which would be raising the profile of ORU in neighboring states (especially texas) for recruiting. the only question would be what to do w/the men's soccer team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Current members: University of Central Arkansas (Conway, AR) Lamar University ( Beamont, TX) McNeese State (Lake Charles, LA) Nicholls State (Thibodaux, LA) Northwestern State (Natchitoches, LA) Sam Houston State (Huntsville, TX) Southeastern Louisiana (Hammond, LA) Stephen F. Austin (Nacogdoches, TX) Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi, TX) 4 Louisiana schools, 4 Texas schools and one Arkansas school Three schools are leaving next year to join the WAC: UT- Arlington UT- San Antonio Texas State Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Despite what some of our opponents fans have posted on their message boards, Mike Carter has stated time and time again that we are comfortable in the Summit and aren't 'upset' or 'mad' that the conference tournament for basketball is remaining in SF. Having said that, I agree with the other posters that have said any move would be based on finances and recruiting. As far what to do with Men's Soccer, they are probably exploring options to get provisional membership in another regional conference. It would be hard to just drop it considering the financial investment that they just made in building the new complex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 According to Wikipedia, there has not been a repeat basketball champion in the league since 1992. There is not a dominant basketball team in this league - and has not been for 20 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Southland is a weaker basketball league than the Summit... but a stronger baseball league. We could dominate in basketball but struggle to compete in baseball. The thing is you have an opportunity to go to the tournament every year in that league. Plus the regional benefits (travel / rivalries ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 In baseball the Summit League was ranked 28 out of 32 school last year; the Southland was ranked 8th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 the Summit has had a higher conf RPI the last two years, but the Southland had the better RPI the two years prior. move ORU from the summit to be replaced by a transitional school and i bet the Southland will have the better RPI. the Summit already has UNO making the move up in the next couple of years so i predict the Summit's conf RPI would decline if ORU departed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Southland Basketball Tournament Champions Year Champion 1981 Lamar 1982 Louisiana-Lafayette 1983 Lamar 1984 Louisiana Tech 1985 Louisiana Tech 1986 Louisiana-Monroe 1987 Louisiana Tech 1988 North Texas 1989 McNeese State 1990 Louisiana-Monroe 1991 Louisiana-Monroe 1992 Louisiana-Monroe 1993 Louisiana-Monroe 1994 Southwest Texas State 1995 Nicholls State 1996 Louisiana-Monroe 1997 Southwest Texas State 1998 Nicholls State 1999 Texas-San Antonio 2000 Lamar 2001 Northwestern State 2002 McNeese State 2003 Sam Houston State 2004 Texas-San Antonio 2005 Southeastern Louisiana 2006 Northwestern State 2007 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 2008 Texas-Arlington 2009 Stephen F. Austin 2010 Sam Houston State 2011 Texas-San Antonio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU GRAD Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Have you noticed that OT has not weighed in on this conversation? I really wanted a move to the Valley. However, since the Dakota Schools have joined, the alliance with the Commish is very evident. I really don't think we are the only player looking to a possible move. The Valley just makes alot of sense though and this is a downgrade in my opinion in Basketball, and a step up in Baseball. I just like the schools in the Valley. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 The MVC would be a great league, but I don't think that is an option for now - if ever. We need to be careful what we ask for - we might get it. Look what happened to Valpo. They are in the Horizon and have not sniffed any championships and will probably never be heard from (in the NCAA tournament) again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Have you noticed that OT has not weighed in on this conversation? I really wanted a move to the Valley. However, since the Dakota Schools have joined, the alliance with the Commish is very evident. I really don't think we are the only player looking to a possible move. The Valley just makes alot of sense though and this is a downgrade in my opinion in Basketball, and a step up in Baseball. I just like the schools in the Valley. Just my opinion. The MVC was a good league 5-7 years ago... it doesn't have cache it used to. Could it again? Maybe. It has the history, fan support, recruiting, TV deal, the coaching pedigree. But despite all that it has been a 1 bid league for a while now. You are correct that The Southland is a big step down in basketball RPI... we would roll those clowns. There is not an Oakland in there. I predict a lot of ORU 20+ slam fests like UMKC game a couple of years ago. Baseball is different... I think we could really struggle to stay competitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 NDSU message board thread on the possible move... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Stephen F. Austin did beat us recently though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Stephen F. Austin did beat us recently though. Stephen Freaking Austin - did we have to bring that game up?? It was nine stinking years ago, and it was our first loss after a 6-0 start on the season. And they beat us by a lousy three points. I still wake up in cold sweats thinking about that game. The thought of being in the same league as them makes me shudder. My blood pressure spiked just thinking about it . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Interesting comparison of the two conferences' RPI's from StatSheet.com shows the following: Year Summit/Mid-Con Southland 2011 21 29 2010 23 26 2009 26 19 2008 22 19 2007 22 26 2006 29 19 2005 23 27 2004 21 26 2003 27 25 2002 22 23 2001 22 26 2000 29 24 Total 287 289 Avg 23.9 24.1 I obviously don't know how to insert a table - but the numbers show that the two conferences are remarkably close over the 12 year period... with lots of fluctuations. The Summit has been better the last two years - and the Southland for the two years previous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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