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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2019 18:49:24 GMT -6
Link per espn991.com:Purdue Fort Wayne to Horizon LeagueThis shouldn't come as a shock to anyone around this part of the country, but reports are out that Purdue Fort Wayne will be leaving The Summit League.
Purdue Fort Wayne is scheduled to make a "major athletic announcement" on Tuesday, August 6. The announcement will be held on campus and the university says that no other information will be released until that time.
But the word is out and it's not much of a surprise. Stadium's Jeff Goodman is reporting that the Mastodons will leave The Summit League to join the Horizon League. The move reunites Purdue Fort Wayne with IUPUI and Oakland. IUPUI left The Summit League in 2017, while Oakland left following the 2013 season.
The move to the Horizon League does have an impact on The Summit League in regards to baseball. The Summit League will be down to five baseball programs. NCAA rules require six teams in order to keep an automatic bid.
Purdue Fort Wayne would spend this upcoming 2019-2020 season in The Summit League before departing. Kansas City (UMKC) will rejoin The Summit Leauge starting with the 2020-2021 season.
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Post by ougrizz05 on Aug 5, 2019 19:10:27 GMT -6
Meh. I'm not thrilled about the move. It was expected, but I thought it would have taken longer. Some optimistic thoughts; at least they got rid of the IPFW name. Purdue Ft Wayne does sound much better. It is a good school. It is within the geographic footprint. It is another IN school which should add some fans for the tournament (TV optics will be better).
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Post by vugrad1314 on Aug 5, 2019 19:52:57 GMT -6
I wonder if perhaps this means Robert Morris is coming aboard as well. The move makes sense for Fort Wayne and (geographically) for the HL. While there are definite concerns about their competitiveness, the travel cost savings and the ability to compete against more regional schools in some of the midwest's premier markets might help them realize gains on the field as well. I think this has a chance to be a good logical move for both sides. It could also mean that another move may be in the offing (MVC expansion? I don't think so as we haven't heard anything but the MVC is always very quiet about these things so who knows?) If I had to guess though this is an expansion move by the HL only but if it is a reaction to an upcoming announcement of another team moving the shortlist would probably be NKU Wright State Milwaukee UIC and Oakland in that order (maybe Milwaukee ahead of WSU and possibly ahead of NKU as well because they were a very serious contender the last time the MVC was looking for schools.
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Post by rogobob77 on Aug 5, 2019 20:43:56 GMT -6
Jeff Goodman, basketball analyst at Stadium (watchstadium.com) is tweeting that Purdue Fort Wayne is heading to the Horizon League. Could be true but very strange: - Weird timing for the announcement. Possibly the timing helps Fort Wayne meet some notice period requirement in their contract with the Summit?
- The new challenge series (double round robin) between the Horizon and Summit left me with the impression that the HL would stop poaching the Summit. If this move really happens, the HL will have two more members than the Summit (after UMKC rejoins the Summit) so the challenge series will be unbalanced. And unnecessary, as the HL can go to a 20 game conference slate.
- Fort Wayne has been passed over before by the HL and they haven't gotten any better over time. They finished eighth (of nine schools) last year in the Summit League Commissioner's Cup, easing past Western Illinois to avoid last place. Men's basketball was okay at 9-7 in the conference, but most of their teams were at the bottom of the standings. Women's basketball 3-13, baseball 2-28, softball 3-15.
If this really happens the next question is if the Horizon League is planning to stay at eleven, and odd number. Maybe someone is leaving and LeCrone wanted to get ahead of the news? Or a twelfth member is in the offing?
I’m not sure that this is a “poaching” situation per se. There are some downsides for the Summit losing Purdue Fort Wayne, but the school is a significant geographic outlier and perhaps the more westerly located conference is not really sad to see them go. Wouldn’t be overly surprised to hear that they moderated or even waived the exit fee.
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Post by gbphoenix1 on Aug 6, 2019 8:31:05 GMT -6
It's official, PFW is joining on 7/1/20.
No Q&A on the live stream so hopefully someone with knowledge is there and can ask some questions about finances, facilities and scheduling.
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Post by gbphoenix1 on Aug 6, 2019 8:38:57 GMT -6
The PFW chancellor specifically mentioned the financial component on changing leagues. I certainly sense they paid to get in the HL.
I would also guess this isn't catching the Summit off guard. My guess was this was done in collaboration to some extent.
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Post by kevinudm on Aug 6, 2019 9:16:18 GMT -6
A few takeaways from today's press conference: - Jon LeCrone cited the importance of Mitch Daniels in this decision. Daniels is the former governor of Indiana the current president of the Purdue university system (West Lafayette + Indianapolis + Fort Wayne). Daniels has made efficiency and cost containment a hallmark of his tenure. He spearheaded the rejiggering and rebranding of IUPUI and Purdue Fort Wayne, and has maintained a tuition freeze at Purdue for the past six years. It's easy to see why Daniels would push hard for this change, and would have used IUPUI to champion it from inside the Horizon League.
- Ron Elsenbaumer, chancellor of Purdue Fort Wayne, talked about the importance of various donors in underwriting this move (presumably the Summit exit fee and Horizon entrance fee). But no discussion of any new support for existing athletic programs, or even a commitment to use the eventual savings in travel costs to boost the athletic programs.
- Also addressed were the questions of Why Fort Wayne? And why now? The answers were mostly happy talk about institutional fit, commitment to ethics and inclusivity, blah blah blah.
Anyway, it was good to see some enthusiasm on the Fort Wayne side for this move, including the attendance of the Fort Wayne mayor at the presser.
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Post by vugrad1314 on Aug 6, 2019 9:25:22 GMT -6
I do agree with the assessment that this will increase PFW's regional economic impact. Closer travel should stoke rivalries and bring more opposing fans to Fort Wayne as well as probably more local fans. In addition, the travel cost savings--if it is not used on the athletic programs--will go to fund things like research that could (and should) increase the University's impact on the area. My question remains though and hopefully some light will be shed on it soon: Is this a standalone add to adopt an 11\20 schedule and lessen the presence of non D1s on HL member schedules or is another team (like Robert Morris or perhaps SIUE or (longshot) USI) coming in as well?
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Post by ougrizz05 on Aug 6, 2019 12:01:35 GMT -6
I watched the press conference. Strangely I found myself actually happy about the move. Maybe it was because of their AD & President's positive vibes. I will say that 2/3 (OU, NKU) of the last additions have been slam dunks. It is too early to tell about IUPUI. And of course Purdue Ft Wayne now.
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Post by vugrad1314 on Aug 6, 2019 12:08:31 GMT -6
If this is the only addition I nonetheless congratulate the HL on doing something to boost the quality of their schedules (less non D1s). I wish the MVC would do the same when we have a really good program in our footprint literally begging to join but their cries are falling on deaf ears. It's really sad to watch.
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Post by gbphoenix1 on Aug 7, 2019 16:27:47 GMT -6
When IUPUI was added from the time it was announced that expansion was happening to the it being public info this board managed to create a 7 page thread. Most message boards around the league had a robust conversation.
This time PFW generated maybe 15 posts on this board. No matter your take on PFW that is a bad sign for fan engagement. Not good enough to be excited and not dumb enough to piss people off is the general feedback. I like the move in general but man there is major fan apathy around the league. It's time for some major changes.
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Post by Blackbird on Aug 7, 2019 17:38:04 GMT -6
Next week, it finally makes sense as IUPUI is kicked out of the HL but we still have the contract to play Meth Cornfield Madness (or whatever it is now) at their gym. Then Butler rejoins along with Notre Dame who have decided their deal with the ACC is affecting their football program too much. Youngstown demands a yearly football game for ND to join and we use that as an excuse to drop the Penguins. LeCrone lights a cigar and we all stare in awe as he reveals the machinations of this master plan years in the making, one that required him to look like a fool for long stretches, but in the end, he persevered.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2019 18:49:34 GMT -6
When IUPUI was added from the time it was announced that expansion was happening to the it being public info this board managed to create a 7 page thread. Most message boards around the league had a robust conversation. This time PFW generated maybe 15 posts on this board. No matter your take on PFW that is a bad sign for fan engagement. Not good enough to be excited and not dumb enough to piss people off is the general feedback. I like the move in general but man there is major fan apathy around the league. It's time for some major changes. When IUPUI was added, it was on the heels of LeCrone making an announcement of sorts that the HL could expand to as high as 14. After Valpo left, the masses were now waiting to see by how much the League would grow. Quite a few names were thrown around, but in the end we all know what happened. This time around EVERYBODY (meaning us HL posters and mid-major fans) had an idea that Fort Wayne would be invited, it was just a matter of time. Even if RMU had come along it would have generated the same response or lack thereof. It was expected. I think the fan apathy is because of the quality of our league overall which is a direct result of the quality of our respective teams. We've all talked about if before: how does the League get better overall? What are member institutions doing with their athletic programs to make them competitive? As an example, when our coach Steve McClain came on board he recruited and SIGNED a number of 3-star players. Since then, the only 3-star he has signed has been PF big Taeyon Neal for the upcoming season. I personally think a move to the HL will help PFW. Coach Jon Coffman is a pretty good coach and now being in a tightly geographic league with new recruiting opportunities closer to home in Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detrot, Cleveland and Milwaukee will benefit. Hopefully the travel savings will be put into the program to help.
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