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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on May 10, 2017 7:46:27 GMT -6
Fail to add Murray State or Belmont for next season and the Horizon League suddenly looks like the Southland North. It seems like a merger with the Summit League may be the only other thing that can save it. Save it from what? |
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on May 10, 2017 8:32:57 GMT -6
I saw someone say Morehead State. Might be a solid move from the OVC to the HL. No football team in the OVC.
I seen others say Denver. I don't understand that. Travel is a killer. For what?
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on May 10, 2017 9:16:01 GMT -6
I really like Jimmy's idea, but I just have a strong felling Murray State is a pipe dream unless Belmont say yes to it.
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Post by ghostofdylan on May 10, 2017 9:28:05 GMT -6
Fail to add Murray State or Belmont for next season and the Horizon League suddenly looks like the Southland North. It seems like a merger with the Summit League may be the only other thing that can save it. Save it from what? Low-majordom at best; dissolution at worst. Before everyone here brands me as a doom-and-gloomer, please look at the enrollment and attendance figures of the schools recommended by DeCourcy. |
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Post by Pantherholic on May 10, 2017 9:48:24 GMT -6
I don't see Belmont moving unless they're forced to. They seem to LOVE their inexpensive travel budget and appear to wield a lot of power in that conference. I can't envision them walking away from that easily.
Murray State & Omaha are huge question marks because no one knows what they were told in their rejections from the Valley. Also, if they're still a candidate in a year or two, why would they move to the HL in the interim? Omaha's finances and true commitment to basketball (compared to hockey) is also a concern.
Robert Morris has a solid resume and is a minimum burden to expanding the travel budget. I have no issue with inviting them.
I believe it was Jimmy who suggested Morehead State and they're an intriguing possibility. Not far from NKU and have been competitive in the OVC.
UMKC - why? They aren't competitive in the WAC and they weren't when they left the Summit.
Both Indiana schools shouldn't be up for discussion just like Chicago State.
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Post by BBFran on May 10, 2017 9:52:01 GMT -6
Is it possible we could take a moment to notice the elephant in the room?
A group of University Presidents and administrators in the MoVal just compared Milwaukee, a 30,000 student R1 research University in a major metropolitan market, against Valpo, a small religious university in a very small city in Indiana with utterly no TV market, an hour from the nearest commercial airport (making travel options for their Universities' teams and fans miserable) with an NCAA history in the flagship sport of men's BB absolutely no better than our own. They chose Valpo. Post-Homer, post-Bryce Valpo.
Let that sink in.
According to this morning's paper, our administrator, clearly auditioning for the job of White House press secretary, issued a quote saying “It is a tribute to our student-athletes, coaches and staff that we were seriously considered as a finalist in this process."
Utterly shameless. We have now been under this administration's "direction" for more than four years. I would like ANYONE to defend what has happened to our athletics program in general or our basketball program in specific during that period. When a struggling mid-major league like the MoVal looks at you and decides that a small school in northwest Indiana is a better bet to solidify its conference and raise its profile into the future, you are past crisis stage and barreling towards utter irrelevance.
(edited to correct syntax)
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Post by theDarkHawkReturns on May 10, 2017 9:58:40 GMT -6
Dylan, I agree with you. There aren't a lot of "good options" for the HL. Sure, there are a few programs we would like to ask, but can we really expect them them to make such a move? Look at the HL track record of the last few years regarding members. Valpo was added, and then the bottom starts to fall out. Butler leaves after some incredible success. They are replaced with Oakland (remember when they were everyone's early season Non-Con opponent of choice?). BIG step backwards for the HL. Then Loyola leaves. They are replaced with Northern KY (who JUST joined D1). Another step backward for the HL. Now Valpo leaves. Can ANYONE realistically propose a replacement that is NOT another step backwards for the HL. Meanwhile, Milwaukee seems to be chained to a pipe in the lower decks of the Titanic that is the HL, and our only hope seems to be someone coming in with an axe to free us before we go down with the ship, because we are incapable of freeing ourselves.  |
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Post by PantherU on May 10, 2017 10:19:38 GMT -6
I don't get the doom and gloom with the turnover we have had in certain administrator positions. I mean I realize it's not a good look, even if AB were removed from the job in the near future.
But if last year taught us anything, it's that hiring is extremely important. The jury's still out but every indication is that LaVall Jordan was an excellent hire. I'm no fan of Chancellor Mone, but he learned from the experience and didn't hire Amanda's guy. When Amanda goes, you can bet your ass her replacement is going to be excellent as well - not because Mone really wants to put the work in for athletics to be amazing, but because he doesn't want the headaches of Spring 2016 to dominate his schedule again.
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Post by mrpantherfan on May 10, 2017 10:58:07 GMT -6
The Valley smart guys are saying Valpo was chosen to balance the league with 5 public and 5 private schools. Dumb guys like me know it's for one reason, basketball. Did the Valley people even look inside their facility or see that they average well less than a thousand lower than the rest of the Valley? Their facility is worse than a high school. And did they see who's coaching now and that NKU won the league?
They didn't take Valpo because of women's basketball. Or soccer, track, tennis, volleyball, baseball and softball. UWM would have been the choice for an overall athletic program.
Everyone in the Valley thinks this is awesome. They should be careful.
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Post by parkerj on May 10, 2017 11:20:50 GMT -6
Then Loyola leaves. They are replaced with Northern KY (who JUST joined D1). Another step backward for the HL. Well that's some revisionist history. Loyola's last winning record in Horizon League play was 2006-07. NKU got it done in year 2, and at 12-6 "they didn't have to deal with Butler" doesn't even come into play. |
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Post by ghostofdylan on May 10, 2017 11:28:46 GMT -6
In short, my grave concern is that our intrepid chancellor views our athletics department -- and specifically men's basketball -- as something that he (periodically) has to "deal with," rather than viewing it as a self-sustaining engine for university-wide success.
Until this attitude changes at Chapman Hall, there's no hope for us no matter who our men's basketball coach is.
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Post by ghostofdylan on May 10, 2017 11:43:13 GMT -6
I really like Jimmy's idea, but I just have a strong felling Murray State is a pipe dream unless Belmont say yes to it. I'm truly not trying to be in thorn in the side, but who is UIC's travel partner ... or Green Bay's? How does this work? |
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on May 10, 2017 11:47:32 GMT -6
I really like Jimmy's idea, but I just have a strong felling Murray State is a pipe dream unless Belmont say yes to it. I'm truly not trying to be in thorn in the side, but who is UIC's travel partner ... or Green Bay's? How does this work? I was trying to figure that out as well. I guess UIC and CSU will be in that map. |
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Post by ghostofdylan on May 10, 2017 11:58:52 GMT -6
Chicago and Cleveland are 345 miles and five and a half hours apart. Sadly, no plan works logistically without adding either IPFW or IUPUI instead of Robert Morris ... and IUPUI doesn't have baseball.
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Post by parkerj on May 10, 2017 12:01:53 GMT -6
Chicago and Cleveland are 345 miles and five and a half hours apart. Sadly, no plan works logistically without adding either IPFW or IUPUI instead of Robert Morris ... and IUPUI doesn't have baseball. Nah, it'd be instead of Belmont...because for some reason they're happy where they are |
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