HL Extends Invitation

I think Murray State was the ideal choice for most of us, as it would keep the geographic footprint relatively tight while adding a program with some cache. Some thought they might have said yes, but I wasn't especially optimistic.

Eastern Kentucky was mentioned but had similar problems (less basketball success and a greater football emphasis than Murray). In both cases, raiding the OVC for a football playing school would have been difficult though.

Many people had hopes of an expansion out west with the likes of New Mexico State, Grand Canyon, or Denver. Schools with past success or seemingly on the verge of something special.

The HL's coveted choices were Belmont & Murray State. After Butler left, that scenario seemed to fall apart. There was still hope as Belmont signed a 4-year soccer affiliation contract with the conference which included Belmont playing teams in Men's and Women's BB, Baseball, Softball, and Volleyball. This was like a trial run, to get the gist of the travel and the competition. The HL began to tail off in quality (RPI) and became unappealing to both Murray and Belmont, both preferring to be big fish in a little pond. Belmont, after the '17'-18 season will move their Soccer to the SoCon.

Knowing that Belmont and Murray State were "no-goes", we fans shifted our focus on three teams to make the conference competitive and that most of the fans would embrace: GCU, NMSU and Robert Morris. GCU was the hottest thing going with money, facilities and the most rabid fan base this side of the Cameron Crazies! They are NCAA eligible in '17-'18 and would have been a good get.

New Mexico State has tradition and would also help the HL's RPI and status. The fans realized that both teams would just be "rentals" until they found better leagues, but their time in the conference would've been enough to jump start us.

Robert Morris, although with no baseball, gives the Horizon the Pittsburgh market and a new recruiting landscape. They also have a bit of basketball history. They also are building a brand new basketball arena.

Outside of those three choices, nothing else tickled our fancy. Oral Roberts was in the conference before, but they're like nomads. They left Div I. Came back. Went to the Summit. Left the Summit. Went to the Southland. Left the Southland. Went back to the Summit. We don't need that. Little Rock is a bit out of the footprint and with some of the League Presidents balking at GCU and NMSU because of costs, the Trojans would fall under that as well. Morehead State is not a bad program although very hard to get to. I wouldn't mind them and they are in Kentucky.

In all reality, if it's going to 12, it'll more than likely be Fort Wayne and Robert Morris next season. If the HL decides on 14 teams, you might see Omaha and possibly Denver added as well.

IUPUI was not my first choice either, but I cannot believe you have NJIT and CHICAGO STATE on the list! CSU might not even exist in two years!!! I understand listing those schools just underscores the frustration you have in IUPUI's inclusion.

Let's just wait until the announcement to see what LeCrone and Jaguar Chancellor Paydar have to say. I'm particularly going to be listening to hear about any athletic upgrades, especially concerning baseball.

We all still need to remember and have confidence in the teams that are still here, that they will improve individually and thus raise the level of the entire League. I still believe that improvement must be internal and not contingent on an invited school to bear that burden. It APPEARS that all of the changes have been for the good on paper. We've got some good coaches who are bringing in good recruits. I still have faith in the current members.

I wouldn't necessarily take the report that the decision was "unanimous" literally. Could have theoretically been a 6-3 split, but at the end of the day the HL like most organizations do not want to telegraph internal dissension to the outside world. So in such a case there is a second vote taken and this time everyone votes in the affirmative and they all smile and announce that it was a unanimous decision.

Relative to rebranding, IUPUI has limited options. There is the private University of Indianapolis in town that brands as UIndy, so "Indianapolis" and "Indy" are probably off the table. If I were in their shoes, I would change the name of the school to the neat and clean Indianapolis St. University, but that is not going to happen. As UCLA has proven, a college brand featuring initials works just fine if you develop a winning tradition.

Changing the name is not totally out of the question. Southwest Missouri State University changed their name to the more attractive and brand-friendly Missouri State University. Indianapolis State University doesn't sound bad at all, but like Rogobob77 said, probably won't happen.

On the other had, on some of IUPUI's literature or backdrops, the lettering of the IUPUI makes it look cooler that the plain scripted letters and it's also tolerable under the main Jaguar logo.