Northern Kentucky to Join Horizon League

[valpopal]

Various sources are reporting confirmations that Northern Kentucky will join the Horizon League this year.

[valpopal]

Wright State President welcomes likely future travel partner Northern Kentucky on twitter:


[tweet]597085413858287617[/tweet]

[nkvu]

Gee. I wonder when the Wright State folks stopped laughing at the idea of NKU joining the Horizon League?  Amazing the difference a couple of years can make in ones sense of humor.

[VULB#62]

Wouldn't you think news of this proportion would have been broken FIRST on the HL web site?

Nah!

Nuthin!

Nada.

[VULB#62]

Ok, now that the two big stories have dropped, let's at least look at the positives of NKU:

Sports: 15 -- the only sports that we have that do not align are FB, Bowling and M&W Swimming & Divng

MEN
Baseball
Basketball
CC
Golf
Tennis
Soccer
T&F

WOMEN
Softball
Basketball
CC
Golf
Tennis
Soccer
T&F
Volleyball

FACILITIES:
Home to Norse Basketball, The Bank of Kentucky Center sits at the front entrance of Northern Kentucky University's Highland Heights, Ky., campus.  Opened in 2008, the $60 million complex has laid a great foundation for NKU's future.   The Bank of Kentucky Center holds 9,400 seats and serves as a multipurpose arena for not only NKU but the surrounding community as well. The facility serves the Norse athletic teams with excellent strength and conditioning facilities, training areas, meeting rooms and beyond.

The Norse men and women's soccer teams host their home matches on Northern Kentucky University's campus at the NKU Soccer Stadium. Located in the front of campus adjacent to The Bank of Kentucky Center, the stadium welcomes Norse fans and the community alike.

The stadium opened in August of 2009. The $6.5 million soccer stadium offers a World Cup style 120-yard by 80-yard FieldTurf competition surface. With bleacher seating, the stadium is well-equipped to seat 1,000 spectators, plus additional space for standing room for a comfortable and enjoyable experience. The stadium also contains several other amenities including four team locker rooms, an officials' room, an office suite for the men's and women's soccer coaching staff, press box, athletic training facility, and a laundry and equipment storage area. The Founders' Room, located above the seating area overlooking the field, is a 1,000-square-foot luxury suite offering a VIP experience on game day and a comfortable and spacious meeting and event space throughout the year.  NOTE:  the NKU soccer stadium makes Brown Field look like a Middle school facility. http://www.nkunorse.com/sports/2015/3/24/Facilities_SocStadium.aspx?id=219

Newly renovated in 2013, the Bill Aker Baseball complex is symmetrical left-to-right, with a 320-foot fence down the lines and a 365-foot distance in to the centerfield wall.  Equipped with brand new synthetic artificial turf for the infield, the only dirt that remains is on the pitching mound. Also added to the renovated facility is a new fence and drainage system.

The Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field, opened in 2000, is home to NKU's softball team. Located at the far west side of Northern Kentucky University's campus, the field hosts the home competitions throughout the athletic spring season.  The facility is equipped with bleacher and ground level seating for approximately 500 fans, enclosed home and visitor dugouts, bullpens and batting cages for both teams and a press box. The outfield fence at the Grein Softball Field extends 190 feet down the lines and 200 feet in center field.

The Joyce E. Yeager The Joyce E. Yeager Tennis Complex was dedicated on April 22, 2007, and is the home of the NKU tennis program.  The facility has six courts, seating for about 200 fans and includes lights for practice and recreational use. was dedicated on April 22, 2007, and is the home of the NKU tennis program.  The facility has six courts, seating for about 200 fans and includes lights for practice and recreational use.

They do not list a track as a facility but do have a T&F program

We will probably travel with UIC and see a lot of WSU and NKU on the same weekends.

[valpotx]

Wow, only 365 feet to center??  I can still hit it past that to dead center at age 33, so how many homeruns are hit for these 18-22 year olds??

[Pgmado]

Wouldn't you think news of this proportion would have been broken FIRST on the HL web site?

Nah!

Nuthin!

Nada.

It's not official yet. Horizon League site won't have anything till it's official. Just good reporters doing their job. 

[humbleopinion]

I wonder if these last two decisions from the league will make it more likely that VU will get more serious about changing conference affiliation.

[crusadermoe]

You'd like to think so.   But the Loyola add to the MVC was a dagger.    The MVC needed a 10th and picked a less successful Horizon team than Valpo.   No reason for us to join any other league than MVC.    If Wichita State leaves, we might catch a break.  Do they play football?

I think playing conf. finals in Detroit is a much bigger downer for our staying in the Horizon than adding NKU.  It really turns us into an Ohio-Michigan conference at a 3rd rate rank in that footprint behind the MAC.   With Loyola, we had the #2 tier rank in our Chicago-based footprint.

[valpopal]

It's official.


[tweet]597761754966294529[/tweet]

[a3uge]

Its not the end of the world, but its not Murray State or Belmont either. On the bright side, they certainty have one of the best names in D1 sports.

Having Nored as a coach is definitely interesting and an aspiring young coach is certainly a breath of fresh air in a conference full of uninspiring stagnant fossils like Kampe, Slocum, Waters, and McCallum. They may be in way over their heads, but hell, even Loyola was able to turn their dumpster fire of a program around with a conference switch. I have faith that in 4 years NKU won't be a bottom dweller, but not getting Murray State or Belmont is disappointing. It takes two to tango, so I doubt the HL passed on these two schools for NKU.

[valpo84]

Time to leave the HL!

[a3uge]

Time to leave the HL!

That's cool, but conferences are invite-only.

[oklahomamick]

I wonder if we leave if we could get some of our exit fee waived....Because this is not what we signed up for.  The HL is massively different from what we entered 10 years ago.  Butler and Loyola gone.  Oakland and NKU added.  Tournament in Detroit five hours and different time zone from our recruiting hot bed.  UIC, UWM, and CSU were really good when we entered even earned at large bids.  Not a two bid league anymore.

[classof2014]

LeCrone is a terrible commissioner, the HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left. You lose two private schools and replace them with two commuter schools. The basketball programs have gotten worse. The only school making big strides up is Valpo.

There is no regulations on scheduling, Oakland shouldn't be allowed to play a complete B1G schedule for OOC while Wright State plays Northeast Idaho State.

Also when you look at academics, Butler and Loyola are two of the better schools in the country. You replace them with Oakland, which is basically a community college, and Northern Kentucky. I'm not bashing people who went to state, commuter schools, but the HL lost two of its best in terms of academics and you basically find scrubs to fill their shoes.

I want LeCrone gone. He's a joke of a commissioner, if he really tried we would have better replacements for Butler and Loyola. Maybe he has a few tricks up his sleeves to pull in a few privates to make it a twelve team conference but I doubt it. I have zero confidence in LeCrone; I hope that Wichita St leaves the MVC and we are the replacement. The Horizon League isn't the same league it was in 2010. It's basically turned into a more compact version of the Summit League.

[crusaderjoe]

Found this perusing other HL fan message boards today:

http://norseforce.proboards.com/

NKU's fan message board.

[a3uge]

LeCrone is a terrible commissioner, the HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left. You lose two private schools and replace them with two commuter schools. The basketball programs have gotten worse. The only school making big strides up is Valpo.

Also when you look at academics, Butler and Loyola are two of the better schools in the country. You replace them with Oakland, which is basically a community college, and Northern Kentucky. I'm not bashing people who went to state, commuter schools, but the HL lost two of its best in terms of academics and you basically find scrubs to fill their shoes.

I want LeCrone gone. He's a joke of a commissioner, if he really tried we would have better replacements for Butler and Loyola. Maybe he has a few tricks up his sleeves to pull in a few privates to make it a twelve team conference but I doubt it. I have zero confidence in LeCrone; I hope that Wichita St leaves the MVC and we are the replacement. The Horizon League isn't the same league it was in 2010. It's basically turned into a more compact version of the Summit League.

If the Horizon added Northern Iowa and Wichita State, they'd be adding two public commuter schools. That certainly isn't the problem as the MVCs strongest programs have been their large public universities (sans the departed Creighton).

Revisionist history is complaining about Loyola leaving. That was one of the best things to happen to the Horizon. Even with a somewhat decent season last year, they still havent broken the top 100 RPI since 1985. Loyola has an embarrassingly bad program which consisted of 7 consecutive 199+ RPI seasons (damn that one data point) from 2007-2014. Their average conference tourney seed was 6.4 and their highest seed was 3. It's just nonsensical to mention losing Loyola as a negative.

The league was terrible last year, but its still consistently much better than the Summit and it was last year as well. People forget how terrible some of these conferences are. The Summit hasn't been close to an at-large bid, while Valpo and Green Bay have been borderline the past two years. They've sent only 4 teams to the NIT, while the Horizon has sent 21. The conference rank is consistently at least 5-10 spots better than the Summit. Calling the Horizon basically a more compact version of the Summit is simply not remotely true from a factual standpoint.

[FWalum]

Some interesting thoughts from people in the Atlantic Sun about NKU's move.  Not Everyone Happy with NKU move to Horizon League
Interesting comment at bottom of article:

Horizon is not a step up. Just bc the local fan base has heard of wright state doesn't make it better. Giving up the opportunity to play in a geographical region rich with athletes and selling 4 trips to Florida was an advantage. There is no advantage to playing in the Midwest.

[Commissioner]

I wonder if we leave if we could get some of our exit fee waived....Because this is not what we signed up for.  The HL is massively different from what we entered 10 years ago.

the HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left.

You know I love you guys, but
1) This is not the Horizon the Titans signed up for either. You think it is different from 10 years ago--We signed up for a conference with Xavier & Evansville, with its sights set on Marquette, Dayton, DePaul, St. Louis, Bradley.
2) "A downward spiral since Butler left"? The league has been in a downward spiral since Marquette and St. Louis left in 1991. Look, Valpo has the most in common with Detroit of any current Horizon school, and of late has been the #1 program, year in and year out - starting even before Butler left. So I'm not trying to slight you when I say that for Detroit fans, Valpo is part of the decline. No offense, but Xavier or Dayton you ain't. Again, don't get me wrong - right now, you're about the best thing the league has going, and I'd hate to lose you. We sure ain't Xavier or Dayton - programs we once considered equals - anymore either. But that fact that you are the best thing going shows the decline of the MCC/Horizon. The conference we want, and were once in, was Butler, Dayton, Evansville, Loyola, Marquette, St. Louis, Xavier, and Detroit. If we could put that back together, we'd be happy to have you, too.


So...
1) No, you don't get your exit fee waived. If you can't afford the exit fee, you're not ready to move; and
2) Let's hope our programs can both soar in the next few years, and we can move on together!


Love ya,


The Commish

[vu72]

I wonder if we leave if we could get some of our exit fee waived....Because this is not what we signed up for.  The HL is massively different from what we entered 10 years ago.

the HL has been in a downward spin since Butler left.

You know I love you guys, but
1) This is not the Horizon the Titans signed up for either. You think it is different from 10 years ago--We signed up for a conference with Xavier & Evansville, with its sights set on Marquette, Dayton, DePaul, St. Louis, Bradley.
2) "A downward spiral since Butler left"? The league has been in a downward spiral since Marquette and St. Louis left in 1991. Look, Valpo has the most in common with Detroit of any current Horizon school, and of late has been the #1 program, year in and year out - starting even before Butler left. So I'm not trying to slight you when I say that for Detroit fans, Valpo is part of the decline. No offense, but Xavier or Dayton you ain't. Again, don't get me wrong - right now, you're about the best thing the league has going, and I'd hate to lose you. We sure ain't Xavier or Dayton - programs we once considered equals - anymore either. But that fact that you are the best thing going shows the decline of the MCC/Horizon. The conference we want, and were once in, was Butler, Dayton, Evansville, Loyola, Marquette, St. Louis, Xavier, and Detroit. If we could put that back together, we'd be happy to have you, too.


So...
1) No, you don't get your exit fee waived. If you can't afford the exit fee, you're not ready to move; and
2) Let's hope our programs can both soar in the next few years, and we can move on together!


Love ya,


The Commish

Fair analysis.  Heck, you might as well include Notre Dame.  They left you behind as well!!

[webbvufan]

Commish, that was a good post.  I didn't realize the total scope of the changes that you guys have had to endure in the HL.  Your summary of the last 10 years doesn't inspire optimism regarding the state of the HL or its future under LeCrone's continued leadership. Do you think we've reached the point where the HL Board of Directors or the university presidents have to seriously consider whether he is the person to lead us forward?   

[oklahomamick]

You know I love you guys, but 1) This is not the Horizon the Titans signed up for either. You think it is different from 10 years ago--We signed up for a conference with Xavier & Evansville, with its sights set on Marquette, Dayton, DePaul, St. Louis, Bradley. 2) "A downward spiral since Butler left"? The league has been in a downward spiral since Marquette and St. Louis left in 1991. Look, Valpo has the most in common with Detroit of any current Horizon school, and of late has been the #1 program, year in and year out - starting even before Butler left. So I'm not trying to slight you when I say that for Detroit fans, Valpo is part of the decline. No offense, but Xavier or Dayton you ain't. Again, don't get me wrong - right now, you're about the best thing the league has going, and I'd hate to lose you. We sure ain't Xavier or Dayton - programs we once considered equals - anymore either. But that fact that you are the best thing going shows the decline of the MCC/Horizon. The conference we want, and were once in, was Butler, Dayton, Evansville, Loyola, Marquette, St. Louis, Xavier, and Detroit. If we could put that back together, we'd be happy to have you, too. So... 1) No, you don't get your exit fee waived. If you can't afford the exit fee, you're not ready to move; and 2) Let's hope our programs can both soar in the next few years, and we can move on together! Love ya, The Commish

I was being sarcastic when wanting exit fee money.  Mercy absolutely has a louder complaint than we should.  I don't disagree. 

[a3uge]

Commish, that was a good post.  I didn't realize the total scope of the changes that you guys have had to endure in the HL.  Your summary of the last 10 years doesn't inspire optimism regarding the state of the HL or its future under LeCrone's continued leadership. Do you think we've reached the point where the HL Board of Directors or the university presidents have to seriously consider whether he is the person to lead us forward?   

Considering the majority of the ADs voted for both Detroit neutral location, as well as NKU, I doubt there's much pressure to get Lecrone out.

Also, pretty much every mid major league has members that want to bolt for a big and better league. Its just hard to blame a commissioner for that happening. Of course Butler wanted into the A10. Of course a crappy Loyola program wanted into a better league. Same with SLU, VCU, Creighton, Xavier, etc. There's just a clear tiered system in college conferences with movement everywhere. The Horizon isn't unique to losing members.

[Valpofan00]

So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.

[a3uge]

So much hate on the commissioner when he's not here but as soon as he posts something everyone apologizes and somewhat agrees with him.

As opposed to Grizz and Jimmy whom we unapologetically troll even when they're not here.