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Post by perry c on May 12, 2023 13:29:50 GMT -6
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Post by perry c on May 12, 2023 13:45:26 GMT -6
corrected departure date in original post title
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Post by true2theroos on May 12, 2023 13:48:58 GMT -6
I think we need to make a move for Green Bay and Milwaukee. They seem to be isolated from the rest of the Horizon League since UIC left, and we’d still be able to do a double round-robin conference schedule (20 games).
That’d actually work out great for us from a scheduling standpoint; between the Big Sky Challenge and our buy games, maybe we’d officially be done with the JUCO/D2 games.
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Post by perry c on May 12, 2023 14:25:19 GMT -6
I see that several conferences had 11 members last season.
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Post by true2theroos on May 12, 2023 15:29:25 GMT -6
Also, this will never happen, but I’d love to create a conference filled with UMKC’s peer institutions: non-football public universities in major U.S. cities.
East Division: Cleveland St, IUPUI, Fort Wayne, NKU, Oakland, Wright St
West Division: Green Bay, KC, Milwaukee, Omaha, SIUE, UIC
We’d pretty much be insulated from any football-related realignment (e.g., Dakota schools) or private universities leaving for the A-10 or MVC. We’d also be pretty much guaranteed to get some sort of ESPN+ streaming deal and have our conference tournament be on one of the ESPN networks.
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Post by section28 on May 12, 2023 21:07:01 GMT -6
green bay... UGGG that drive sucked... anything available in Arkansas... better 7 hour drive in the winter for me
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Post by perry c on May 12, 2023 22:09:56 GMT -6
Little Rock fits 28's description. But a Dakotas/Colorado league would be a tough sell for them.
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Post by true2theroos on May 13, 2023 8:59:10 GMT -6
I saw on Twitter that Northern Colorado was a school being floated as a potential replacement.
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Post by perry c on May 13, 2023 17:15:08 GMT -6
Any D-I school that changes conferences must sacrifice their share of league March Madness TV revenue for five years. So these decisions aren't made casually.
Accordingly, it seems that a D-II move-up is the most likely option for the Summit, assuming they feel any urgency to backfill.
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Post by true2theroos on May 13, 2023 18:22:36 GMT -6
Any D-I school that changes conferences must sacrifice their share of league March Madness TV revenue for five years. So these decisions aren't made casually. Accordingly, it seems that a D-II move-up is the most likely option for the Summit, assuming they feel any urgency to backfill. I know Augustana has tried in the past, but I actually think Minnesota-Duluth might be the choice if they go with a D2 call up. Would give St. Thomas a traveling partner and their hockey program is in the NCHC, which the Summit League’s current commissioner used to run. Their facilities are also on-par with the rest of the conference. Travel wouldn’t be great for the rest of us, but just some food for thought. |
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Post by chiefs89 on May 17, 2023 14:10:51 GMT -6
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Post by perry c on May 17, 2023 20:02:21 GMT -6
There is no "Lindenwood option." The Summit makes no sense for them. I'd give N Colorado slightly better odds of joining the Summit: maybe 50-to-1. Can't imagine what they would gain by joining this Midwestern, non-football conference. Conferences can't get bids to the FCS football playoffs if they have fewer than six football teams. |
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Post by bigroobluefan on May 17, 2023 20:24:55 GMT -6
Good read by Denver writer not a lot of good options to choose from their list.
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Post by true2theroos on May 17, 2023 20:34:54 GMT -6
There is no "Lindenwood option." The Summit makes no sense for them. I'd give N Colorado slightly better odds of joining the Summit: maybe 50-to-1. Can't imagine what they would gain by joining this Midwestern, non-football conference. Conferences can't get bids to the FCS football playoffs if they have fewer than six football teams. I think the Summit League makes sense for Lindenwood under this scenario: The Summit’s current commissioner is the former NCHC hockey league commissioner. There’s been rumors since he’s taken over that either he or the Summit programs in the NCHC would like the Summit League to sponsor the sport. Let’s say the Summit League decides to do just that. Lindenwood would have the opportunity to join a hockey league consisting of Denver, North Dakota, Omaha, and St. Thomas. Those four alone have the makings of a top-tier college hockey league, which is infinitely better than their current situation as an independent. However, that would only get them to five, and you need one more school to sponsor the sport. Does Minnesota-Duluth or one of the other D2 Minnesota schools (e.g., Minnesota State) join for hockey or even move up altogether and give UST a traveling partner? I think that could be a possibility. The biggest problem Lindenwood would have with this is where they’d park football. Assuming they’d lose OVC football membership by joining the Summit, I’m not sure they’d get accepted into the MVFC. Would the Summit consider sponsoring football at that point? That might be where Northern Colorado comes into play. This is less of a prediction and more of me thinking out loud, but just some food for thought. I do think there’s several different ways this could play out based on what angle they look at it from (basketball, potentially football and/or hockey). |
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Post by perry c on May 17, 2023 21:17:02 GMT -6
With the OVC, Lindenwood has a regional conference for nearly every sport. Edwardsville, Macomb, Cape Girardeau, and Martin are all very close. Fargo, on the other hand, is not close at all. So I have trouble squeezing this fantasy into a realistic framework.  Lindenwood might be interested in moving to the Missouri Valley at some point. Until then... |
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