Possible Missouri Valley Conference Expansion

[VU2014]

Well this is interesting. IPFW feels like a lock to the HL if offered, which seems likely.

https://twitter.com/TonyPaul1984/status/877590727923859456
https://twitter.com/LindsayScar34/status/877609285840142338
https://twitter.com/IPFW/status/877613845363150848

http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/schools/20170617/no-div-i-for-iu-athletes-in-fort-wayne

No Div. I for IU athletes in Fort Wayne
Details of IPFW split approved
RON SHAWGO | The Journal Gazette

Indiana University students enrolled in what is now IPFW will not be able to participate in Division I sports when the school splits next year.

That policy is one of many approved Friday by trustees for Indiana and Purdue universities, which have jointly operated IPFW for more than 50 years. Spelled out in legal detail, the agreement addresses how the universities will cooperate through July 1, 2018, when IPFW officially becomes two schools. It also outlines terms after the split. Division I will be Purdue's domain.

The 77-page agreement, with appendices, covers responsibilities for financial aid, faculty transfers between schools, property, the campus library, its bookstore and even how the name "IPFW" can be used in the future. The trustees approved the agreement in separate board meetings.

Buried deep in the document is the fact that although IU Fort Wayne students will be able to participate in athletic events, recreational activities and intramural sports, they will be barred from Division I.

National Collegiate Athletic Association rules prohibit players from two different schools competing on one team, IU spokeswoman Margie Smith-Simmons said in an email response.

......

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/TonyPaul1984/status/877612544726376448
https://twitter.com/TonyPaul1984/status/877607440665194496

[vu72]

So it could be IUPUI (logically) presuming they agree to upgrade their club baseball to D1.  I don't think they will want to fool around with the situation at Fort Wayne.  Not sure Edwardsville would jump from the OVC and Grand Canyon would be nuts.  Imagine money strapped Green Bay being excited about flying their teams to Phoenix?  Now, if they can get New Mexico State and Grand Canyon then they might be on to something.

[valpotx]

IUPUI had D-1 baseball up until 2000 or 2001.  I assume that they still have the same field in place.

[IndyValpo]

IUPUI had D-1 baseball up until 2000 or 2001.  I assume that they still have the same field in place.

I am pretty sure there is no baseball field on campus. The club team plays on the south side of Indy. Until a conference is desperate the lack of baseball will kill their chances of moving.

[valpotx]

Correct, they often used different city fields

[Dave_2010]

It's starting to look like the HL is replacing us with IUPUI...the HL board seems about ready for a serious mental breakdown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[valpotx]

To think that the remaining programs feel that the HL is on the rise...

[Dave_2010]

It's starting to look like the HL is replacing us with IUPUI...the HL board seems about ready for a serious mental breakdown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's even better than I thought...now Jimmy wants UWM to join the Summit League!

https://twitter.com/pantheru/status/878078674939129856

[M]

He's the worst.

[oklahomamick]

SL probably not worried iupui left  because they are gaining another Dakota school next year. 

Ft. Wayne is now on an island in the SL geographical footprint.  Only school in eastern time zone.  Only a matter time before the HL gives them a chance.

Umkc has to be on the move to the SL soon.  I wonder if umkc has reached out To the SL but the SL is still upset the kangaroos left and aren't answering the phone. 

[valpo04]

IUPUI receives Horizon League invitation

With Valparaiso departing for the Missouri Valley Conference, the Horizon League was facing the threat of not having a school in Indiana, home of the league's offices.

The Horizon League worked swiftly to keep that from happening.

In the last week, the Horizon League has offered membership to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, according to a source with direct knowledge of the league's plans. IUPUI would come from the Summit League, the same conference Oakland came from when it joined the Horizon League in 2013.

[VUGrad1314]

It's starting to look like the HL is replacing us with IUPUI...the HL board seems about ready for a serious mental breakdown. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's starting to look like the HL is replacing us with IUPUI...the HL board seems about ready for a serious mental breakdown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's even better than I thought...now Jimmy wants UWM to join the Summit League!

https://twitter.com/pantheru/status/878078674939129856

What an offseason it's been for him. Here's a timeline:


Valpo to MVC rumors surface: We don't need Valpo The league will be just fine without them


Milwaukee also considered for MVC; Yay! Please happen! Spends considerable time lobbying  (begging?) for Milwaukee to get an invite


Milwaukee passed over by MVC: It's okay The HL will get all the best candidate schools and be a great conference again! We should all band together to make Valpo regret their decision  (said after literally begging for an MVC invite for his school)


IUPUI invited to join HL: Come on other schools Let's go join the Summit!


Does this guy have a position regarding the Horizon League he's willing to stick to ,or is he simply going in whichever direction the wind blows? He can't have it both ways: either the Horizon League is a decent league that had a bad year| a few bad years or it's a declining league destined for low major permanent one bid league status. So, which is it?

[M]

He's the worst...

[ValpoDad89]

Or bipolar.

[bigmosmithfan1]

Guys, when you have a chance to grab the 6th or 7th most popular basketball team in Indy, you have to do it.

(Does someone need to ask whether this move was solely made to justify LeCrone's ridiculous insistence on keeping the league HQ in Indianapolis years after Butler left? Ok, I'll ask, then.)

[bbtds]

Guys, when you have a chance to grab the 6th or 7th most popular basketball team in Indy, you have to do it.

(Does someone need to ask whether this move was solely made to justify LeCrone's ridiculous insistence on keeping the league HQ in Indianapolis years after Butler left? Ok, I'll ask, then.)

There is a lot of strength in IUPUI other than in athletics including medicine, law school, business school, computer science, etc. But when you are the metropolitan underling of the major university of a state there is no way that state university is going to let the underling university get ahead in an area (athletics) that they have a great history established. See Alabama and their underling program Alabama-Birmingham in football. IUPUI will never be allowed to ever be a great mid-major athletic school.

[bigmosmithfan1]

There is a lot of strength in IUPUI other than in athletics including medicine, law school, business school, computer science, etc. But when you are the metropolitan underling of the major university of a state there is no way that state university is going to let the underling university get ahead in an area (athletics) that they have a great history established. See Alabama and their underling program Alabama-Birmingham in football. IUPUI will never be allowed to ever be a great mid-major athletic school.

Indeed. (Though its probably worth noting that at least two of the academic programs you mention have been in Indy decades before IUPUI's creation and have always basically been fully considered part of IU-Bloomington -- medicine and law). But your point that IU's administration will *never* allow IUPUI to be consistently competitive to the point where they might peel off loyalty from the flagship is completely true. IU and Purdue do everything they can to undermine state funding to BSU and ISU whenever those institutions present a threat on the academic, facilities or athletic front, and those are two universities they don't even have direct control over.

[vu72]

There is a lot of strength in IUPUI other than in athletics including medicine, law school, business school, computer science, etc. But when you are the metropolitan underling of the major university of a state there is no way that state university is going to let the underling university get ahead in an area (athletics) that they have a great history established. See Alabama and their underling program Alabama-Birmingham in football. IUPUI will never be allowed to ever be a great mid-major athletic school.

Indeed. (Though its probably worth noting that at least two of the academic programs you mention have been in Indy decades before IUPUI's creation and have always basically been fully considered part of IU-Bloomington -- medicine and law). But your point that IU's administration will *never* allow IUPUI to be consistently competitive to the point where they might peel off loyalty from the flagship is completely true. IU and Purdue do everything they can to undermine state funding to BSU and ISU whenever those institutions present a threat on the academic, facilities or athletic front, and those are two universities they don't even have direct control over.

Now that the NCAA is putting more emphasis on academics as well as financial rewards to conferences with schools providing academic success, it is even more of a blow to the Horizon with Valpo leaving and being replaced by a school like IUPUI.  Valpo now hanging out with the likes of Bradley, Drake, Loyola, Evansville and Northern Iowa will certainly become much more rewarding financially versus being associated with Cleveland State, Youngstown State and Green Bay, for example.

[VU75]

This from IUPUI Athletics twitter account:

"Please join Chancellor @Paydar and others for a special announcement at 10 am Wednesday or watch live on #IUPUI Facebook or Instagram."

[bigmosmithfan1]

Can't think of another situation where a college team that has had seven straight losing seasons and just a single NCAA appearance in its history (14 years ago) fell upwards like this, save for maybe Rutgers, and even they had experienced some semi-recent success in football. But you do you, Horizon League.

[Dave_2010]

Can't think of another situation where a college team that has had seven straight losing seasons and just a single NCAA appearance in its history (14 years ago) fell upwards like this, save for maybe Rutgers, and even they had experienced some semi-recent success in football. But you do you, Horizon League.

In fairness, who were they going to add? Grand Canyon and New Mexico State were hoping to use the HL as a catapult to a bigger league (WCC & CUSA respectively). Omaha and Fort Wayne are broke. RMU cares more about hockey than any sport the HL sponsors. Murray, EKU, and Belmont had no interest.

As best I can tell, that left you with IUPUI, Lipscomb, and UMKC. Not much there when you break it down.

What I would find wildly entertaining is the Summit replacing IUPUI with GCU and/or NMSU. That would firmly place it above the Horizon and send the HL fan forum (and Jimmy's twitter into complete chaos).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[vu72]

Can't think of another situation where a college team that has had seven straight losing seasons and just a single NCAA appearance in its history (14 years ago) fell upwards like this, save for maybe Rutgers, and even they had experienced some semi-recent success in football. But you do you, Horizon League.

In fairness, who were they going to add? Grand Canyon and New Mexico State were hoping to use the HL as a catapult to a bigger league (WCC & CUSA respectively). Omaha and Fort Wayne are broke. RMU cares more about hockey than any sport the HL sponsors. Murray, EKU, and Belmont had no interest.
http://www.facebook.com/ValpoFanZone
As best I can tell, that left you with IUPUI, Lipscomb, and UMKC. Not much there when you break it down.

What I would find wildly entertaining is the Summit replacing IUPUI with GCU and/or NMSU. That would firmly place it above the Horizon and send the HL fan forum (and Jimmy's twitter into complete chaos).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To me, the bigger question is why would IUPUI jump from the Summit to the Horizon?  The Summit by many standards, has past the Horizon and with the loss of Valpo that gap just got bigger. The Summit also appears to be much more stable also.

[Dave_2010]

To me, the bigger question is why would IUPUI jump from the Summit to the Horizon?  The Summit by many standards, has past the Horizon and with the loss of Valpo that gap just got bigger. The Summit also appears to be much more stable also.

From what I can tell, the Horizon has a better TV deal (definitely more national games and probably better money). The move will also cut down on travel expenses.

Either way, you're playing in a perennial one-bid league. Might as well save some money while you're at it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[VUGrad1314]

Can't think of another situation where a college team that has had seven straight losing seasons and just a single NCAA appearance in its history (14 years ago) fell upwards like this, save for maybe Rutgers, and even they had experienced some semi-recent success in football. But you do you, Horizon League.

In fairness, who were they going to add? Grand Canyon and New Mexico State were hoping to use the HL as a catapult to a bigger league (WCC & CUSA respectively). Omaha and Fort Wayne are broke. RMU cares more about hockey than any sport the HL sponsors. Murray, EKU, and Belmont had no interest. As best I can tell, that left you with IUPUI, Lipscomb, and UMKC. Not much there when you break it down. What I would find wildly entertaining is the Summit replacing IUPUI with GCU and/or NMSU. That would firmly place it above the Horizon and send the HL fan forum (and Jimmy's twitter into complete chaos). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This move actually makes more geographic sense than moving those schools to the Horizon League  and is a scenario I have pondered as well . With Valpo now out of the Horizon League and the Summit now losing one of its main RPI anchors could we see GCU and NMSU consider a move to the Summit if it again grades out ahead of the Horizon? Furthermore  could Jimmy be onto something with his thought that the Western Horizon League schools should contact the Summit? The HL teams may have a higher profile, a better media deal , and perhaps a higher ceiling ; but if current trends hold, that won't always be the case. 

As for Fort Wayne, their financial situation is precisely why a move to the Horizon League is ideal. More regional schools with greater name recognition should boost attendance and they'll save a fortune on travel not having to go any further from home than Green Bay. Furthermore they are a baseball school and a strong enough program to potentially tip the balance of basketball power back toward the Horizon League. If they had been the add instead of IUPUI, I would have bet that the HL had just pulled itself back ahead of the Summit League pending what NMSU and GCU do.