|
Post by wsuairstrike on Jan 25, 2022 19:16:47 GMT -5
Leaves HL open to add Chicago State!! Lord help us.
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Jan 25, 2022 19:28:02 GMT -5
The HL is not going to invite a school that does not offer baseball especially one as bad as Chicago State.
|
|
|
Post by raiderrunt on Jan 25, 2022 22:29:06 GMT -5
The HL is not going to invite a school that does not offer baseball especially one as bad as Chicago State. Hope you are right. Have no faith in the Horizon League to do the smart thing. It is a good thing that Chicago State doesn't have baseball.
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Jan 25, 2022 22:47:16 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by wsuraider09 on Jan 26, 2022 14:45:36 GMT -5
UIC is officially out, as announced today. Possibilities for the HL league (just based on prior discussion and my own research):
Bellarmine - Recently moved to D1. Brings baseball and swimming and diving, both sports that the HL could use more teams in. However, they sponsor a bunch of sports the HL doesn't including wrestling, lacrosse, and field hockey; all teams that would need an affiliate membership elsewhere (which can be complicated). Easy to fix the travel partners by breaking up WSU and NKU, pairing us to IUPUI and putting Bellarmine (located in Louisville) with NKU. Biggest hitch is they went D1 in 2020 and joined the ASUN; how quick are they looking to make another move?
Chicago State - Been thrown out a bunch. Doesn't sponsor baseball. Replaces UIC easily for travel partners, but the school does sponsor sports the HL sponsors, but missing baseball is big. Without replacing UIC as a baseball program, we are working with the minimum required number of teams for the sport. Not to mention their basketball program has been an abomination the last decade. The HL will be interested in retaining the Chicago market, but it comes at a serious cost to the league regarding conference rankings for our main sport, men's basketball.
Southern Indiana - Currently a D2 school, but there's plenty of info out there that they are interested in moving to D1. Their list of sports includes baseball, and includes a group of sports largely sponsored by the HL making the transition look nice on paper. Located just west of Evansville, they could step in and pair with IUPUI as a travel partner being about 3 hours away from Indianapolis, just as Chicago was. USI applied for a bid to the OVC, so their interest in the HL could be limited if that conversation is gaining traction. The OVC is probably desperate for membership though.
Eastern Illinois - Current in the OVC and located about 2 hours west of Indianapolis. Some chatter about them being open to a move due to the status of the OVC, their main issue is around football. Much like YSU, they sponsor a FCS football program, which is sponsored in the OVC. Part of their issue is they have their swimming and diving program as well as soccer in the Summit League, but the rest of their sports in the OVC. They could move all their sports sans football to the HL, and make a good travel partner for IUPUI. As the OVC has been picked apart the last few years, EIU could certainly be looking for an out. EIU used to be in the MidCon and is familiar with many of the current HL schools.
Other OVC members that could be looking for a new home that don't currently sponsor football but seem a bit more of a geographical reach include Morehead State and Southern Illinois. Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, and UT-Martin are also hanging chads in the spiraling OVC, but are all outside our current footprint, and all sponsor football. The Tennessee schools certainly have an option to stay together as a pact, but how the OVC shakes out remains to be seen.
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Jan 26, 2022 15:11:49 GMT -5
Southern Indiana - Currently a D2 school, but there's plenty of info out there that they are interested in moving to D1. Their list of sports includes baseball, and includes a group of sports largely sponsored by the HL making the transition look nice on paper. Located just west of Evansville, they could step in and pair with IUPUI as a travel partner being about 3 hours away from Indianapolis, just as Chicago was. If you read a few posts up you will see that Southern Indiana is headed to the OVC.
|
|
|
Post by wsuraider09 on Jan 26, 2022 15:19:17 GMT -5
If you read a few posts up you will see that Southern Indiana is headed to the OVC. I saw that, but I don't see anyone else corroborating that in the national media. That single tweet is the only reference I can find to that being the case in the last two days. While it could very well be correct, it seemed fitting to list them, as the HL came up in several different places in regards to them making the move to D1. I personally don't know if the HL should be the leaping point for a team to make the transition, there is certainly plenty of things on the 'that could make sense' list to me.
|
|
|
Post by Big D on Jan 26, 2022 20:59:39 GMT -5
Bellarmine - Recently moved to D1. Brings baseball and swimming and diving, both sports that the HL could use more teams in. However, they sponsor a bunch of sports the HL doesn't including wrestling, lacrosse, and field hockey; all teams that would need an affiliate membership elsewhere (which can be complicated). Easy to fix the travel partners by breaking up WSU and NKU, pairing us to IUPUI and putting Bellarmine (located in Louisville) with NKU. Biggest hitch is they went D1 in 2020 and joined the ASUN; how quick are they looking to make another move? My educated guess is that they are going to be the next school invited to the HL and they will accept. They wanted in the HL the last time we expanded. We told them that we were interested but we wanted them to follow the path we gave NKU. When NKU wanted to join the HL we told them they needed to start their transition to D1 in another conference and increase their athletic department budget. If they could do that we would extend an invite. I hear we had the same talk with Bellarmine and they followed the exact same path even joining the ASUN like NKU. Southern Indiana - Currently a D2 school, but there's plenty of info out there that they are interested in moving to D1. Their list of sports includes baseball, and includes a group of sports largely sponsored by the HL making the transition look nice on paper. Located just west of Evansville, they could step in and pair with IUPUI as a travel partner being about 3 hours away from Indianapolis, just as Chicago was. USI applied for a bid to the OVC, so their interest in the HL could be limited if that conversation is gaining traction. The OVC is probably desperate for membership though. Like Bellarmine, Southern Indiana wants into the HL. I hear we had the same talk we previously had with NKU and Bellarmine telling them we are interested but they need to increase their athletic department budget and recommended they join the OVC as they transition to D1. I think we will hear an announcement from them that they are going D1 and joining the OVC in the next 1-2 months. I also think they will join the HL in the next 3-4 years. Chicago State - Been thrown out a bunch. Doesn't sponsor baseball. Replaces UIC easily for travel partners, but the school does sponsor sports the HL sponsors, but missing baseball is big. Without replacing UIC as a baseball program, we are working with the minimum required number of teams for the sport. Not to mention their basketball program has been an abomination the last decade. The HL will be interested in retaining the Chicago market, but it comes at a serious cost to the league regarding conference rankings for our main sport, men's basketball. Chicago State is not being considered. I've heard directly from multiple HL ADs from schools that sponsor baseball. They are voting together on expansion and WILL not vote for any school that does not sponsor baseball. Eastern Illinois - Current in the OVC and located about 2 hours west of Indianapolis. Some chatter about them being open to a move due to the status of the OVC, their main issue is around football. Much like YSU, they sponsor a FCS football program, which is sponsored in the OVC. Part of their issue is they have their swimming and diving program as well as soccer in the Summit League, but the rest of their sports in the OVC. They could move all their sports sans football to the HL, and make a good travel partner for IUPUI. As the OVC has been picked apart the last few years, EIU could certainly be looking for an out. EIU used to be in the MidCon and is familiar with many of the current HL schools. Eastern Illinois could be a possibility because they fit in the HL's geographic footprint and sponsor baseball, but they are absolutely horrible at basketball. I don't think they are being considered but if multiple schools higher on our list all say no, who knows. Other OVC members that could be looking for a new home that don't currently sponsor football but seem a bit more of a geographical reach include Morehead State and Southern Illinois. Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, and UT-Martin are also hanging chads in the spiraling OVC, but are all outside our current footprint, and all sponsor football. The Tennessee schools certainly have an option to stay together as a pact, but how the OVC shakes out remains to be seen. Morehead State is the only school in that group that somewhat makes sense for the HL. They are further outside the HL's geographic footprint than we want but they are still close enough to make sense. The play football in the Pioneer league, not the OVC so they could move all their sports to the HL and not have to worry about finding a new home for football. They have baseball and their basketball program is actually doing really well right now (110 in the NET). The main concern with Morehead State is their finances which has been an issue for them the last several years. My guess is that they are #2 on the HL's current wish list after Bellarmine.
|
|
|
Post by Jazzfan on Jan 27, 2022 8:39:31 GMT -5
The HL is down to the minimum number of schools with baseball to keep our automatic bid when UIC leaves. I don't see a scenario where we should add a team that doesn't sponsor baseball.
|
|
|
Post by freewind on Jan 27, 2022 9:02:07 GMT -5
Matt Brown mentioned on the Horizone that Grand Valley State is a 2nd possibility behind Bellarmine. He didn't seem big on Morehead State as a possibility.
|
|
|
Post by wsuraider09 on Jan 27, 2022 10:59:35 GMT -5
Matt Brown mentioned on the Horizone that Grand Valley State is a 2nd possibility behind Bellarmine. He didn't seem big on Morehead State as a possibility. Now, that's a name I can get behind! That's where I transferred to and finished my degree when my family moved to Michigan. I'm not in the know with their sports programs whatsoever, but they have a really nice campus and some top-notch nice sports facilities. Wonder what they would do with their historic football program though. I wasn't aware that they were considering or exploring a move to D1. The compete in the GLIAC in d2, and have been nationally ranked in several sports in the 8 years I've lived up here.
|
|
|
Post by guyinstandswithbeer on Jan 28, 2022 7:25:29 GMT -5
Matt Brown mentioned on the Horizone that Grand Valley State is a 2nd possibility behind Bellarmine. He didn't seem big on Morehead State as a possibility. Now, that's a name I can get behind! That's where I transferred to and finished my degree when my family moved to Michigan. I'm not in the know with their sports programs whatsoever, but they have a really nice campus and some top-notch nice sports facilities. Wonder what they would do with their historic football program though. I wasn't aware that they were considering or exploring a move to D1. The compete in the GLIAC in d2, and have been nationally ranked in several sports in the 8 years I've lived up here. If these are the type of schools the HL is pursuing, we need to just get the hell out of this conference. Going back to the SL would be an upgrade at this point in time.
|
|
|
Post by Legend on Jan 28, 2022 7:54:36 GMT -5
If these are the type of schools the HL is pursuing, we need to just get the hell out of this conference. Going back to the SL would be an upgrade at this point in time. The SL doesn't make any sense for us geographically. Most of their schools are way too far up north and out west for us. I really wish Bob Grant could do some wheeling and dealing and convince the MAC to admit us as a non-football member. The rest of our sports teams fit nicely into the MAC. They are a perfect geographic fit and all of their teams would give instant name recognition to our schedule and would revitalize our fan base.
|
|
|
Post by OG Raiderfan on Jan 28, 2022 8:05:17 GMT -5
Matt Brown mentioned on the Horizone that Grand Valley State is a 2nd possibility behind Bellarmine. He didn't seem big on Morehead State as a possibility. I have seen more talk of Grand Valley State ending up in the OVC because of their football program. If you can believe what you read on twitter, they have been telling football recruits they will be playing in the OVC in 2023.
|
|
|
Post by OG Raiderfan on Jan 28, 2022 8:11:24 GMT -5
I really wish Bob Grant could do some wheeling and dealing and convince the MAC to admit us as a non-football member. The rest of our sports teams fit nicely into the MAC. They are a perfect geographic fit and all of their teams would give instant name recognition to our schedule and would revitalize our fan base. I think all WSU fans would love to join the MAC. I just don't see that ever happening. The MAC had the chance to expand a few months ago and add Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State and chose not to. If they are going to turn down schools that sponsor football that could be full sports members, I don't see any option where they add us as a non-football member.
|
|