Could Any Horizon League Teams Be On The Move In The Near Future?

[usc4valpo]

At least at Valpo you are an hour away from civilization!

[bbtds]

The new Big East has demonstrated that a football-free league can make a go of it. The WCC is another one. The four mentioned plus Valpo and St. Louis U would be an excellent core of like minded private schools. The footprint is quite compact (which might entice SLU).  That league would need to lure 2 initially, eventually 4, similar schools.  Anybody want to play what if?

Every time we would play Saint Louis someone should call it the annual "Keith Carter Lost Year Memorial" game. A reminder of Keith's lost year should be held up on a sign.

[VULB#62]

That's a given....   

But at some point we have let it go.

[bigmosmithfan1]

Let's talk about SLU for a moment. Yes, they aren't leaving the A-10 for anything other than a solid conference at the moment. But also, yes, they are not happy in a league where they are essentially out on an island, with the closest conference mate 365 miles away, and the second closest more than 600 miles away. Many SLU fans attribute their current struggles to this geographic disconnect. I've heard it from friends in that area over and over again. I'm stunned the MVC hasn't tried to pry them away.

[VULB#62]

Perhaps if WSU leaves, SLU would be their #1 invite.  It does make sense geographically and their past RPI (certainly not now, but....  ) would help that league if they can get back to what they were.  And being in the MVC would be a recruiting booster.  Their facilities and arena are very good and they bring the St. Louis market.  Of course they then would neutralize  the "neutralness" of Arch Madness and be the de facto permanent host    Enrollment is 13K and the alumni/fan base is heavily local and much larger than Valpo's.  On pretty much all counts (except recent RPI) they compare much more favorably than Valpo.  But then Loyola was a HL drag and still got an invite over VU to secure the Chicago market.

Many people thought they'd be a shoe-in for the new Big East but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.