Leaving the conference

[ST_Lawson]

Here’s a little breakdown of our move to the OVC


 

I fixed your link so it embeds on the page. I actually just came here to post this video. I'm in the middle of watching it right now and it very well illustrates how we fit into our old conference affiliations and our new conference affiliation.

One point he didn't mention was about Tennessee State's rent to the Titans. An article I found said that in the past they were paying $200k per game to play there and the last couple of years they've been playing 4 games a season there, so you can lop off ~$800k from their budget numbers to see about where they fall compared to the other schools. They did, however, just sign an agreement with the Titans that lets them play there for free (https://hbcusports.com/2023/04/27/new-t ... heres-how/). There's a lot more to it than that because it's tied to the public funding of the Titans new stadium, but they'll be able to save some money going fowards.
 

[may know]

That video was awesome. The slides at the end of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 100 years ago were fascinating. I noticed Carthage in there - from back when they were located in Carthage. There were schools in that map that went extinct 80 years ago. Fascinating stuff!

Also, it was before my time, but I didn't realize we sold out a game vs EIU with 6700 in 1983. 

[ST_Lawson]

Also, it was before my time, but I didn't realize we sold out a game vs EIU with 6700 in 1983.

 

3 of our 4 largest home basketball crowds were against EIU:

1. 7,632 vs EIU on 1/23/82
2. 6,736 vs EIU on 2/26/83
3. 6,014 vs Southern Mississippi on 3/5/83
4. 5,832 vs EIU on 12/3/83

We also pulled 16,808 in football against EIU in 1976 (our 6th highest attended game).

Those were due to a combination of factors...record or near record high enrollment, attendance at college sporting events very high (no internet, no cable tv, not much else to do besides go to a game and drink), and games against what was at that point our biggest rival.

[meganeck]

Thanks for posting that, very good info and was interested in a lot of that stuff and how we rank in the OVC

[Neckfansince71]

This is a really good slide presentation, taking us from the beginning with the Little 19 through to our OVC membership.  I remember when a group of schools who were a major part of the Mid Continent decided to leave, NIU heading back to the Mid America Conference and the rest headed to the new Horizon leaving WIU and a group of misfits holding the bag once again when it came to conference affiliation.  This situation just turned my stomach.  The Summit and MVFC finally fit the bill, at least for awhile until the conference office headed west.  If WIU has been guilty of anything it's been the habit of being reactive instead of finally, with our move to the OVC, proactive.  I am really looking forward to our future.  

I have one question?  Seems to me that the state of Illinois has never allowed it's universities to build athletic facilities with state tax funds.  Am I right about that?  Seems like every state school in Wisconsin, no matter D1, D2 or D3 have matching indoor outdoor facilities.  Whitewater has a really nice football stadium that I am sure was built with state funds.  All the Missouri schools seem to be in the same situation.  Am I right about that?  
 jc

[ST_Lawson]

I have one question?  Seems to me that the state of Illinois has never allowed it's universities to build athletic facilities with state tax funds.  Am I right about that?  Seems like every state school in Wisconsin, no matter D1, D2 or D3 have matching indoor outdoor facilities.  Whitewater has a really nice football stadium that I am sure was built with state funds.  All the Missouri schools seem to be in the same situation.  Am I right about that?  
 jc


 

I don't really know, but that sounds plausible. I wonder if the situation with the Wisconsin schools is tied to them never going DI. Like, the state has said, UW-Madison will remain the only public DI football school in the state, and in return, you get $X million to build a very nice (for the DIII level) stadium.

Hell, UW-Whitewater's stadium would be pretty nice for many FCS schools. They're a university larger than WIU, in a town larger than Macomb, located pretty centrally between Madison, Milwaukee, Rockford, and the north Chicago suburbs and about an hour (or less) from each location. They could easily support an FCS football team if they were allowed to and wanted to.

In fact, all the schools in the DIII Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with the exception of UW-River Falls have larger enrollments than Western, and all but a few have football stadiums that would be perfectly fine for the FCS.

[screamingeaglepride]

That video was awesome. The slides at the end of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 100 years ago were fascinating. I noticed Carthage in there - from back when they were located in Carthage. There were schools in that map that went extinct 80 years ago. Fascinating stuff!

Also, it was before my time, but I didn't realize we sold out a game vs EIU with 6700 in 1983. 

 

He has a you tube channel called D1 360. On his defunct conferences section he goes in depth of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

[ST_Lawson]

Do we know how many OVC schools have a fan forum




 

Morehead St, Southern Indiana, Little Rock, Tennessee St, & Tennessee Tech have forums.



 

Semo fan here -- I'm unaware of any Tenn Tech forum, but there is a Semo one. Links to the other OVC forums below:

Semo:  https://csnbbs.com/forum-81.html
UALR: https://csnbbs.com/forum-291.html
Morehead: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/ovcspor ... eagles-f6/
USI: https://screamingeaglesnest.freeforums.net/
Tenn St: https://tsutigerfans.boards.net/
 

Awesome. Thanks for the links and welcome to our message board.

[meganeck]

Scott, do you see the OVC adding any others teams and what do you think the Summit will do. You think they will target other schools or you think there is a chance it could dissolve with other conferences looking to nab the Dakota schools.

 

I did see it mentioned that someone thought the Summit League would target Northern Colorado - which would give Denver a travel partner.

[ST_Lawson]

Scott, do you see the OVC adding any others teams and what do you think the Summit will do. You think they will target other schools or you think there is a chance it could dissolve with other conferences looking to nab the Dakota schools.
 

I did see it mentioned that someone thought the Summit League would target Northern Colorado - which would give Denver a travel partner.
 

That is a possibility, although if they are trying to bring them into the MVFC, I think the football MVC schools (ILSU, INSU, SIU, MOSU, MUSU, UNI) are going to be seriously against that idea. They just lost a football team right in the middle of their footprint, and would be adding a football team WAY outside the footprint. It'd be like adding another YSU, where pretty much everyone is going to have to fly there. Plus, it's not like Northern Colorado is some powerhouse team. They'd be replacing Western with a school that is arguably worse in football. The last time UNC had a season with more than 3 wins was 2016 and in the last 20 years, they've only had 3 winning seasons: 9-2 in 2003, then 6-5 in 2015 and 2016. Everything else has been losing seasons.

The Summit might try to add Northern Colorado, but I think they'll have to do something other than MVFC for football.