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Post by HLFanaticus on Dec 21, 2013 10:56:00 GMT -6
For the '13-'14 season, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies were the only team added. The HL is still at 9 teams and are looking to get back to ten. A lot of the fan base wants the league to go to 12 to avoid being raided by other leagues again. What's your take on the next Horizon League team or teams?
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Post by HLFanaticus on Dec 21, 2013 10:58:18 GMT -6
The Horizon League will increase by just one team and that team will be Northern Kentucky. I truly hope I'm wrong, but it looks like just one addition.
By the way, some of the Horizon League brass peruse this message board. Hopefully they'll get a feel for what the fans are expressing. Not that we matter all that much. We just pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and fees which helps some people keep jobs, including Presidents, Commissioners and Athletic Directors. Just saying.
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Post by commissioner on Dec 21, 2013 11:16:49 GMT -6
The Horizon League will increase by just one team and that team will be Northern Kentucky. I truly hope I'm wrong, but it looks like just one addition. By the way, some of the Horizon League brass peruse this message board. Hopefully they'll get a feel for what the fans are expressing. Not that we matter all that much. We just pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and fees which helps some people keep jobs, including Presidents, Commissioners and Athletic Directors. Just saying. If that's true the question you may want to ask is not "who will it be" but "who do you want it to be?"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2013 11:28:22 GMT -6
I know I've posted that the HL will only have one team. But I'm still hopeful that through some miracle we can get to 12, with the other two being Belmont and Evansville. Murray State was the first option to go along with Belmont, but they're so entrenched that it would truly be a miracle to uproot them.
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Post by motorcitysam on Jan 14, 2014 15:27:20 GMT -6
My personal choice would be Evansville, given their history and location. I think it's good to have an Indiana presence, even if they are at the other end of the state.
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Post by HLFanaticus on Jan 14, 2014 15:42:50 GMT -6
At this point, Evansville would be a better choice than just Northern Kentucky and would be a better travel partner with Belmont. If the Horizon League goes to 12 teams, then all three would make perfect sense.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2014 22:08:27 GMT -6
I like Northern Kentucky, Belmont and for some reason I think there just might be some validity to that rumor that was going around a year or so ago about Evansville coming back to the Horizon. Time will tell.
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Post by commissioner on Apr 13, 2014 7:01:50 GMT -6
I've listed in the table below about every school I think is even remotely a candidate for Horizon expansion. I've also listed just direct basketball-related performance criteria - budget and three year average RPI and attendance. Obviously geography, facilities, size, public/private mix, APR, and other factors come into play. But I'm just looking here at how they seem to fit in in terms of immediate commitment to basketball (budget) and recent success, as reflected in RPI and attendance. I start with the Horizon schools, at the top, and then list various candidates. School | Budget (2013) | 3 Yr. RPI | 3 Yr. Attend. | Cleveland State | $2,189,220 | 125.0 | 2554 | Detroit | $2,507,046 | 140.3 | 2326 | Green Bay | $1,399,814 | 121.3 | 3376 | Milwaukee | $1,925,114 | 186.0 | 3089 | Oakland | $1,728,287 | 158.3 | 2900 | UIC | $1,839,018 | 259.3 | 2906 | Valparaiso | $2,001,213 | 115.3 | 3130 | Wright State | $2,029,536 | 177.7 | 3935 | Youngstown State | $1,323,788 | 197.7 | 2421 | Belmont | $2,383,453 | 47.7 | 2488 | Evansville | $2,254,434 | 148.7 | 4715 | Murray State | $1,633,967 | 93.3 | 5003 | Northern Kentucky | $1,172,537 | 291.0 | 2397 | Morehead State | $1,237,720 | 161.0 | 2327 | Omaha | $857,386 | 249.5 | 1135 | UMKC | $1,535,381 | 267.0 | 1407 | Denver | $2,597,855 | 100.7 | 3964 | IUPUI | $1,273,095 | 285.7 | 850 | Chicago State | $902,203 | 306 | 726 | IPFW | $978,815 | 216.0 | 1336 | SIU-Edwardsville | $728,745 | 309.7 | 1743 | Western Illinois | $1,095,048 | 190.3 | 1786 | Eastern Illinois | $1,065,620 | 286.3 | 1097 | Lipscomb | $1,786,101 | 222.7 | 2010 | Robert Morris | $1,347,565 | 119.0 | 1374 | Duquesne | $3,551,737 | 173.7 | 3168 | Canisius | $1,681,925 | 180.7 | 1490 | Niagara | $1,529,288 | 207.7 | 1547 |
I'm assuming here that that MVC won't start to fall apart, which would open up Drake and Bradley as candidates. I've included Denver - other than geography, they'd be a great fit, so I've listed them as a personal fave. Omaha and UMKC are a pretty good geographic reach, but I've seen their names bandied about, so they make the cut. Other teams that might be worth considering would include James Madison from the Colonial (but they've got football) or Georgia State. For my money, the odds of Duquesne leaving the A10 are somewhere between .000003% and 0, but again, I've seen them mentioned with some frequency, so I put them in the table. Other OVC schools might be faint possibilities, or going hard east with not only Niagara and Canisius but trying for Siena or Stony Brook. Originally posted at udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/273/horizon-league-expansion
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2014 15:31:01 GMT -6
Based on your breakdown, the BEST choices would be Belmont, Murray State and Denver. The more PRACTICAL choices would be Belmont, Murray State and Evansville. Robert Morris would be disqualified for me because they have no baseball.
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Post by commissioner on Apr 14, 2014 10:02:53 GMT -6
I really like Denver - they'd be a great pick up except for geography. But also, they too lack baseball. If the league were to add 3 teams to go to 12, that wouldn't matter much - they just need one or two with baseball. My fear is we'll be totally reactive again. I outline what I think ought to be the objectives of expansion (and conclude that the Horizon should look to add at least 1 team) and evaluate these teams a bit more here: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/273/horizon-league-expansionBelmont is obviously the prize, and really should join. I don't see Murray State joining because of football, and while I'd be very happy to have them, I don't see them as the prize some others do. That doesn't leave much else.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2014 10:54:02 GMT -6
I really like Denver - they'd be a great pick up except for geography. But also, they too lack baseball. If the league were to add 3 teams to go to 12, that wouldn't matter much - they just need one or two with baseball. My fear is we'll be totally reactive again. I outline what I think ought to be the objectives of expansion (and conclude that the Horizon should look to add at least 1 team) and evaluate these teams a bit more here: udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/273/horizon-league-expansionBelmont is obviously the prize, and really should join. I don't see Murray State joining because of football, and while I'd be very happy to have them, I don't see them as the prize some others do. That doesn't leave much else. My hope would be to add at least 3 teams. That's the least they should do for being inactive when Butler left and slow to react after Loyola. If they only add at least 1 team, it would have to be a strong basketball school that itself could get an at-large big. Of all the schools mentioned by HL fans, that school would be Belmont. But it would be difficult to pull a Belmont if they have no natural or close travel partner. In the HL, they would make a pretty "funky" travel partner with Wright State, being almost 5 hours apart.
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joker
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Post by joker on Apr 14, 2014 14:53:10 GMT -6
wishful thinking here. but i personally would like to add nku niagara & canisius lol poaching to the nth degree. both schools have baseball, but also have hockey & canisius has lacrosse to boot as well. it would even appease the private schools.
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Post by commissioner on Apr 14, 2014 20:23:39 GMT -6
I hear ya, Big D, but it's also over 10 hours from Green Bay to Nashville, home of Belmont. Unless IPFW, IUPUI, and Chicago State are on the map, it's going to be tough to expand without some new travel. And playing #124 Niagara (their 2013 RPI) doesn't sound so bad. Canisius has been #114 and #98 the last two years. Overall, Canisius and Niagara require substantially less travel time on a league-wide basis than do Belmont and Murray State. Of course the latter are more desireable programs (at least Belmont is, and probably Murray State), and of course the travel burdens are not equally distributed. But that is how any expansion is going to work.
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joker
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Post by joker on Apr 15, 2014 0:34:43 GMT -6
you people rip my picks, but have kansas city, omaha, fort wayne & iupui as possible additions? gtfoh. both of my picks far outweigh ANY of those programs.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2014 8:15:14 GMT -6
you people rip my picks, but have kansas city, omaha, fort wayne & iupui as possible additions? gtfoh. both of my picks far outweigh ANY of those programs. Joker come on. Those names have been thrown out there for regional purposes and have all been shot down. Nobody wants those schools (maybe except LeCrone for IUPUI because he lives in Indy). They're not on the same page with any of our HL members. I hope the HL is not looking at any more Summit League/WAC teams. As for the teams you've suggested, the only name recognition they generate is a nice place to go for a honeymoon (Niagara) and a name some boxer changed his name from to Muhammad Ali (Canisius).
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