OVC it's time

Athletics Department, Facilities, etc.
Sycamorefan96
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2018 4:59 pm

It has just been announced that Ft Wayne is joining the Horizon League. Summit League baseball is in danger. If I was WIU, I would definitely be looking into the OVC. I know losing the MVFC would be the worst part of the move, but playing in a more stable conference and with other regional schools would be a positive.
User avatar
sealhall74
Posts: 5770
Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:18 pm
Location: Wherever, Windblows

Sycamorefan96 wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 7:11 pm It has just been announced that Ft Wayne is joining the Horizon League. Summit League baseball is in danger. If I was WIU, I would definitely be looking into the OVC. I know losing the MVFC would be the worst part of the move, but playing in a more stable conference and with other regional schools would be a positive.
Amen to that.
Embrace the pace of the race.
User avatar
Western_101
Posts: 1197
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:09 pm
Location: Morton, IL

Which would be preferable four Dakota schools (also I'm sure this stupid Augustana move will happen) or EIU, SIUE, SEMO, Murray State Austin Peay Belmont...? I would prefer the latter grouping.

BTW North Dakota and South Dakota combined have a population of aprox 1.6 million. How and why does there need to be five D-I schools for such a sparse population?
User avatar
ST_Lawson
Site Admin
Posts: 8247
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:15 pm
Location: Macomb, IL
Contact:

RedNeck wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:02 pm Which would be preferable four Dakota schools (also I'm sure this stupid Augustana move will happen) or EIU, SIUE, SEMO, Murray State Austin Peay Belmont...? I would prefer the latter grouping.

BTW North Dakota and South Dakota combined have a population of aprox 1.6 million. How and why does there need to be five D-I schools for such a sparse population?
Well, they don't, and most of the UXD and XDSU fans don't want them to either, but they're private and have some solid financial backing, so they may be able to just throw money at it to make it happen (like when Liberty went FBS). There's apparently a rumor that St. Thomas (MN) has asked for an exemption from the NCAA to go straight from DIII to FCS. Despite the fact that they're currently DIII, they're a much better candidate than Augie in SD...~10k students, plenty of money, very successful athletics, also very good academics. They'd be only the second DI school in Minnesota if that happened. I could see them going Summit + Pioneer for sports and giving the Summit League a foot in the Minneapolis market. They also offer baseball, so that helps on that front as well.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
Western Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
meganeck
Posts: 1896
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:23 pm

ST_Lawson wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:56 pm
RedNeck wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:02 pm Which would be preferable four Dakota schools (also I'm sure this stupid Augustana move will happen) or EIU, SIUE, SEMO, Murray State Austin Peay Belmont...? I would prefer the latter grouping.

BTW North Dakota and South Dakota combined have a population of aprox 1.6 million. How and why does there need to be five D-I schools for such a sparse population?
Well, they don't, and most of the UXD and XDSU fans don't want them to either, but they're private and have some solid financial backing, so they may be able to just throw money at it to make it happen (like when Liberty went FBS). There's apparently a rumor that St. Thomas (MN) has asked for an exemption from the NCAA to go straight from DIII to FCS. Despite the fact that they're currently DIII, they're a much better candidate than Augie in SD...~10k students, plenty of money, very successful athletics, also very good academics. They'd be only the second DI school in Minnesota if that happened. I could see them going Summit + Pioneer for sports and giving the Summit League a foot in the Minneapolis market. They also offer baseball, so that helps on that front as well.
Twincities.com mentioned that the rumor is St.Thomas is exploring the possibility of joining the Pioneer League for football and the Summit League for all other sports.
meganeck
Posts: 1896
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:23 pm

meganeck wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2019 8:38 am
ST_Lawson wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:56 pm
RedNeck wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:02 pm Which would be preferable four Dakota schools (also I'm sure this stupid Augustana move will happen) or EIU, SIUE, SEMO, Murray State Austin Peay Belmont...? I would prefer the latter grouping.

BTW North Dakota and South Dakota combined have a population of aprox 1.6 million. How and why does there need to be five D-I schools for such a sparse population?
Well, they don't, and most of the UXD and XDSU fans don't want them to either, but they're private and have some solid financial backing, so they may be able to just throw money at it to make it happen (like when Liberty went FBS). There's apparently a rumor that St. Thomas (MN) has asked for an exemption from the NCAA to go straight from DIII to FCS. Despite the fact that they're currently DIII, they're a much better candidate than Augie in SD...~10k students, plenty of money, very successful athletics, also very good academics. They'd be only the second DI school in Minnesota if that happened. I could see them going Summit + Pioneer for sports and giving the Summit League a foot in the Minneapolis market. They also offer baseball, so that helps on that front as well.
Twincities.com mentioned that the rumor is St.Thomas is exploring the possibility of joining the Pioneer League for football and the Summit League for all other sports. Supposedly though schools can't make the jump from D-III to D1 have to reclassify to DII first.
User avatar
ST_Lawson
Site Admin
Posts: 8247
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:15 pm
Location: Macomb, IL
Contact:

meganeck wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2019 8:38 am
ST_Lawson wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:56 pm
RedNeck wrote: Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:02 pm Which would be preferable four Dakota schools (also I'm sure this stupid Augustana move will happen) or EIU, SIUE, SEMO, Murray State Austin Peay Belmont...? I would prefer the latter grouping.

BTW North Dakota and South Dakota combined have a population of aprox 1.6 million. How and why does there need to be five D-I schools for such a sparse population?
Well, they don't, and most of the UXD and XDSU fans don't want them to either, but they're private and have some solid financial backing, so they may be able to just throw money at it to make it happen (like when Liberty went FBS). There's apparently a rumor that St. Thomas (MN) has asked for an exemption from the NCAA to go straight from DIII to FCS. Despite the fact that they're currently DIII, they're a much better candidate than Augie in SD...~10k students, plenty of money, very successful athletics, also very good academics. They'd be only the second DI school in Minnesota if that happened. I could see them going Summit + Pioneer for sports and giving the Summit League a foot in the Minneapolis market. They also offer baseball, so that helps on that front as well.
Twincities.com mentioned that the rumor is St.Thomas is exploring the possibility of joining the Pioneer League for football and the Summit League for all other sports.
Right, that's what makes the most sense. They don't have to allocate any scholarships for football, just the other sports. They need to take a bit of time to make sure all the student-athletes qualify academically, but that's probably not a huge issue with a school like St. Thomas (I've heard they have pretty good academics generally).
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
Western Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
Post Reply