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Post by originalfan on Jul 7, 2012 8:45:21 GMT -6
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Post by PantherU on Jul 7, 2012 15:09:56 GMT -6
Thanks for posting my article, originalfan, but I believe these 'Nix have posted it on the board already.
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Post by originalfan on Jul 7, 2012 16:09:44 GMT -6
sorry must have missed that one great post however!!
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Post by PantherU on Jul 8, 2012 10:04:47 GMT -6
sorry must have missed that one great post however!! Thanks, man. Whether or not the Horizon League goes that far, we can all be certain that an ambitious, multiple-team expansion is necessary. Also, Youngstown State must be given an ultimatum - increase your basketball budget or suffer the consequences.
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Post by can opener man on Jul 10, 2012 10:48:05 GMT -6
kentucky is still considered the southeast region and were also bringing up teams like george mason, and drexel. CAA will go after schools from other east coast conferences like siena and rebuild. The MAAC is going to be a likely target here. Oakland is realistic, I think that's the only realistic one in the article. Horizon league would have a better shot going after North Dakota State and South Dakota State who would pair as travel partners. Then from there if they want to go past 12 which is unlikely, they would be better off talking to other Illinois or Indiana mid majors about upping their budget if they are interested in taking a step up in conferences. For example a southern illinois edwardsville a newer d1 school, if they happen to get serious about upping their budget or even iupui, maybe even throw in robert morris into the debate. remember butler was built up over time and alot of those players from indiana, there is alot of talented players in that state not going major d1, thats why if we do go to 14, we need to have the 13th team be from the state of indiana, so its easier for the horizon to ensure they are getting their share of players out of the state. butler leaving and recruiting national, will help valpo more than anyone in this conference. plus an oakland school is within reasonable recruting distance from indiana. but yeah just to conclude here is my 3 i would add oakland north dakota state and south dakota state as a pair. --------------- decent shot: robert morris as a youngstown travel partner (3100 capacity for robert morris tho is that an issue, they are real close to pittsburgh and horizon league likes teams close to larger cities) long shots: Southern Illinois Edwardsville (4200 capacity) www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/sam-m.-vadalabene-center-s801/------------------ I'll take back the iupui, because their arena is less than 2000 seats, that wouldnt be acceptable in the horizon league, but it would be nice throwing in another indiana school to recruit the state.
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Post by PantherU on Jul 10, 2012 14:52:30 GMT -6
SDSU and NDSU are big trips for both of us, the Wisconsin schools. Each would be the longest trip for Milwaukee, while I believe for Green Bay they'd be the second-and-third longest trips. They're just too far out. If they were located in Winona and Duluth, I'd say hell yeah. But they're two full states away - you have to cross all of WI and all of MN to get to them. Robert Morris' 3,100 capacity is not an issue. The second Butler left the conference it became a non-issue. I think IUPUI's 1,500 would be a problem, but I don't see 3,100 as an issue. At Milwaukee, we still will build our new arena (whenever the hell that happens) at 6-7k, but 3,400 this year won't be a problem at the KC. I actually saw the Panthers plat at SIU-E (my sister lived in St. Louis, which is about 15 miles away from Edwardsville). I was very impressed, although I kept thinking it was a super D-II facility. The concessions are weird but the seating bowl has nice seats, albeit a bit uncomfortable for me because I'm the tough combination of fat and tall. The only Indiana school I see the Horizon League going for is Evansville: - Ball State won't leave a football conference - Butler left us - Evansville may consider a conference they might actually win on occasion - Indiana is Big Ten - Indiana State has stronger MVC ties (football and longer membership) - IPFW is a bad program in a dead city in a huge, barn of a craphole arena* - IUPUI's arena is too small and their academics add nothing to the HL* - Notre Dame is Big East - Purdue is Big Ten - Valparaiso might come to the Horizon if we asked them nicely * - I have it from AD employees at multiple schools that IPFW and IUPUI are on a list of schools marked "absolutely not" by the conference presidents and chancellors. Tough luck for those schools, but we can do much better than alphabet soup. There are a few things IUPUI would have to do to get into the Horizon. 1. Expand or build a new facility at 4k or above (it's different for RMU since theirs is existing). 2. Expand their men's basketball budget (Green Bay spends $200,000+ more as one of the smallest budgets) Optional: change that god-awful name. IUPUI just doesn't do it for me. I'd rather see UIndy go D-I and get THEM in the Horizon.
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Post by thetulsawarrior on Jul 10, 2012 15:11:14 GMT -6
Kowalczyk always wanted Evansville in the Horizon League. IUPUI might not be a bad addition in terms of location. Conferences have to consider travel costs and three schools in Indiana would help. (Valpo, Evansville and IUPUI)
The Oakland addition would be a no brainer for the Horizon League.
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Post by can opener man on Jul 10, 2012 15:40:16 GMT -6
What is chicago state doing building a new arena (7000 capacity) opened in 2007. www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/jones-convocation-center-s786 arena looks very nice, is this a school that could get serious abut basketball. they might play in a nicer place than uic and loyola. theri in teh great west and they just cant seem to win anything.
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Post by PantherU on Jul 10, 2012 16:46:05 GMT -6
We don't need another Chicago school, especially one that sucks so much and doesn't spend enough money to win.
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Post by can opener man on Jul 10, 2012 22:04:23 GMT -6
i wasn't saying we should add them.
my question is why are they building a 7000 gym to play in, if they are not committed to winning, that is a real nice place. there is obviously enuf talent in that town for them to win.
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Post by can opener man on Jul 11, 2012 10:28:08 GMT -6
sorry for not being able to stay away from this one, i like talking conference realignment.
with the talks of a potential all private school league forming in the midwest, which may never happen, it would be a good proactive move to go for a evansville type program who is a public school for the horizon league, I wonder if the horizon league did contact them, how serious evansville would actually take us, with mvc just being ranked 8th last year.
plus if i remember right, chicago state left the summitt league in the mid 2000s in hope to garner interest from the horizon league, i dont understand the logic behind that one, one would think upping the budget, getting a new gym, and winning the summitt would get another conferences interest up.
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Post by PantherU on Jul 12, 2012 17:10:11 GMT -6
I think Chicago State has a "if you build it they will come" mentality.
Public/private will have no bearing on HL expansion. Basketball success (recent past and future), budget, academics (only slightly), and location will have much more bearing.
Oakland is going to happen. Robert Morris is likely going to happen, if we get another team. I think a 14-team conference adding Oakland, Robert Morris, Murray State, Morehead State and Belmont is actually likely. After OU and RMU, Murray makes the most sense, but I don't know if they'd take the full dive without Morehead and now Belmont. If we get all three, it'll kill the OVC and position the Horizon well.
The hopeful destination is to be in the 8-9-10 level. Power 6 and A-10 are impassable, but with the right additions the Horizon League could become an easy peer to the MVC, MWC and WCC.
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Post by can opener man on Jul 15, 2012 9:45:23 GMT -6
here is the current schools (9.) and potential schools (9.) budgets: www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/wright-state-university-raiders/horizon-league-builds-plan-for-future-1388954.htmlafter seeing this, robert morris is alot more attractive. of all teams combined on this report, they have the highest recruiting budget of the potential schools and only 2 current horizon league teams would be above them. After reading thru some more articles on this that went more indepth this is what I got. Oakland is waiting and is likely to accept if offered. (i guess we really need them for the baseball auto bid as well). Robert Morris is open minded. Murray State is willing to listen but wants traveling partners such as morehead state(second highest recruiting budget of potential schools) and possibly another close school because they are concerned about travel costs. Belmont is another close school, but there is uncertainty because they just changed conferences. This seems it would be a work in progress because it would be a package deal. the more i read, the more i pull for the horizon to bring in some of these KY/TN schools. -------- here is another article on the topic www.midmajormadness.com/2012/7/6/3136452/horizon-league-expansion-why-oakland-and-others-make-sense
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Post by PantherU on Jul 15, 2012 11:27:51 GMT -6
Where have you seen that Murray State is willing to listen? I can't remember them having any comment.
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