(09-28-2021 07:46 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  I'm shocked I agree with David on something. OVC should invite Lipscomb, Bellarmine, Little Rock, and the four ASUN Florida schools. Go all in on oly sports and ask the Big South to run football for members that field a team.

I was a fan of a Belmont dominant OVC adding Bellarmine and Lipscomb and creating a very travel friendly OVC East with some solid basketball schools and add soccer as their 2nd non basketball team sport

However with Belmont going to the MVC, the OVC really needs to seal the deal with WIU and find at least 1 D2 upgrade that sponsors football.

I know Chicago St has had it struggles, but they are established D1, they sponsor soccer, and they fit in well geographically

OVC West - Chicago St, WIU, EIU, SIU-E, SEMO, UT-Martin
OVC East - Murray St, S Indiana, TN St, TN Tech, Lincoln Memorial, Morehead St.

This league would sponsor soccer with 6 schools and football with 7 schools

That would be a stable league as TN state keeps its bus league and minimal football games allow for more HBCU games.

Murray state would be the biggest flight risk but them leaving wouldn't sink the conference

(09-28-2021 07:54 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(09-28-2021 07:15 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(09-28-2021 04:01 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(09-28-2021 02:52 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  A couple of years ago I would have considered WIU accepting an invitation to the OVC to be a slam dunk. Now I’ll be surprised if WIU makes the move. The Summit has become the more stable conference and schools generally don’t migrate from stable to unstable conferences.

At first read i agreed completely, but then I thought about stability and perceived stability. The Summit is more stable, but with a big block like the 4 Dakota FCS schools who are likely to move in unison if they moved, and no one geographically to replace the 4. So the Summit is a little locked in geographically in some ways and would have to find schools (possibly far) outside their current foot print.

1) I mean, outside of maybe NDSU somehow wrangling a MAC invite, where would they go?

2) As for potential future adds in their area, besides Augustana seemingly determined to move up (which I don't totally get) further expansion into Minnesota seems highly likely. Minnesota State, Duluth, and St Cloud State are all right there.

I don't think Conference Dakotas is likely to have a mass defection of their anchor group anytime soon, and if down the road they wound up with a core of four Dakota schools and four Minnesota schools I wouldn't be surprised at all.

I didn't say they were going anywhere. I said they move in unison. They always have. Do you disagree?

When almost half of a conference makes moves together, it makes the conference less stable by nature.

I do disagree, because there's nowhere logical for them to go as a unit. The MAC isn't going to 16 with four Dakota schools, the MVC isn't going to be calling that group as a unit either (if you want to come up with a conspiracy theory about the MVC taking formal control of MVFC go ahead, but I'm not buying it), and the Horizon/OVC/etc aren't worth a move.

(09-28-2021 07:41 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  Central State Ohio and Ashland could make it there as well. OVC should invite Bellarmine and Lipscomb as well, and Indianapolis wants a new home.

I’m from Ohio and I can say with confidence that neither are FCS ready

Belmont officially moving to MVC.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/...894340001/

Based on this, it doesn't look like Kentucky State will be going anywhere.

(09-28-2021 07:52 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  ...DEFINENTLY won't be going to Division I anytime from the looks of it

(09-28-2021 11:11 AM)AZcats Wrote:  Based on this, it doesn't look like Kentucky State will be going anywhere.

(09-28-2021 07:52 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  ...DEFINENTLY won't be going to Division I anytime from the looks of it

hammers the nails into David's coffin

Found this in the Murray board. According to SIU-E the OVC is in talks with three schools with football being a priority.

https://www.theintelligencer.com/sports/...493708.php

(09-29-2021 10:42 AM)EKUSteve Wrote:  Found this in the Murray board. According to SIU-E the OVC is in talks with three schools with football being a priority.

https://www.theintelligencer.com/sports/...493708.php

Western Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Lincoln Memorial would be my guesses

Only WIU plays football though.

What about Augustana? Rumored to want DI, has football. Stretches the conference, but is a school.

Indianapolis, Lindenwood and MUST all have football as well. No clue on any DI interest.


For a true non-football wild card, I will throw out Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville. Historically, Belmont, Lipscomb and TNU were rivals, and TNU has seen the other schools advance. Could they try the DI route to grow enrollment?

(09-29-2021 11:05 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  What about Augustana? Rumored to want DI, has football. Stretches the conference, but is a school.

That's quite a resume right there. "Est schola"--It Is A School.

Might be enough to get at least a look from the OVC or MEAC at this point.

I'll have an update on this later this week, maybe as early as today. I know who one of the new OVC schools is going to be, just need the final confirmation now.

(09-29-2021 01:40 PM)MattBrownEP Wrote:  I'll have an update on this later this week, maybe as early as today. I know who one of the new OVC schools is going to be, just need the final confirmation now.

(09-29-2021 10:45 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(09-29-2021 10:42 AM)EKUSteve Wrote:  Found this in the Murray board. According to SIU-E the OVC is in talks with three schools with football being a priority.

https://www.theintelligencer.com/sports/...493708.php

Western Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Lincoln Memorial would be my guesses

Only WIU plays football though.

Western Illinois makes sense. It's a downgrade on the football side compared to the MVFC, but it makes more regional sense for basketball and non-football sports.

(09-28-2021 07:15 AM)Bogg Wrote:  

(09-28-2021 04:01 AM)Todor Wrote:  

(09-28-2021 02:52 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  A couple of years ago I would have considered WIU accepting an invitation to the OVC to be a slam dunk. Now I’ll be surprised if WIU makes the move. The Summit has become the more stable conference and schools generally don’t migrate from stable to unstable conferences.

At first read i agreed completely, but then I thought about stability and perceived stability. The Summit is more stable, but with a big block like the 4 Dakota FCS schools who are likely to move in unison if they moved, and no one geographically to replace the 4. So the Summit is a little locked in geographically in some ways and would have to find schools (possibly far) outside their current foot print.

1) I mean, outside of maybe NDSU somehow wrangling a MAC invite, where would they go?

2) As for potential future adds in their area, besides Augustana seemingly determined to move up (which I don't totally get) further expansion into Minnesota seems highly likely. Minnesota State, Duluth, and St Cloud State are all right there.

I don't think Conference Dakotas is likely to have a mass defection of their anchor group anytime soon, and if down the road they wound up with a core of four Dakota schools and four Minnesota schools I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Does the Dakota-bloc have any appetite to have all of their sports (sans hockey) - in one conference? Because assuming St. Thomas eventually upgrades to scholarship (apparently a rumored timeline was within approx. 10 years of DI play) the Summit Leage would only need 1 school to make that happen...

If Augustana copied St. Thomas's blueprint they could eventually join down the line in all sports (they are also pursuing adding DI hockey and using that as an opportunity to upgrade the entire AD in the process).

Assuming West. Illinois moves to the OVC, they could theoretically invite UNI and Northern Colorado, both are relative geographic outliers in their current conference and within/close to the Summit League's current footprint

Summit League Football 20XX:

UND
NDSU
USDak
SDak St
St. Thomas
UNI (?)
Northern Colorado(?)
Augustana(?)

Suggesting UNI would leave the MVC for the Summit is someone who has not done their homework on the school or the conferences involved. Not even 0.1% chance that happens.

(09-29-2021 02:33 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Suggesting UNI would leave the MVC for the Summit is someone who has not done their homework on the school or the conferences involved. Not even 0.1% chance that happens.

If you're assuming that the Summit shanks the MVFC, then Northern Iowa has some reason to bend the knee to the Summit. But they're a Northern State U, so I'm not sure the Summit doesn't start getting snooty about that.

It's piling "if"s on top of "if"s on top of "if"s though.
IF the Summit wants to shank the MVFC
and IF they bring in a 6th football school
and then IF they want to bring in more football schools because 6 is not enough
then MAYBE.....

(09-29-2021 02:57 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(09-29-2021 02:33 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Suggesting UNI would leave the MVC for the Summit is someone who has not done their homework on the school or the conferences involved. Not even 0.1% chance that happens.

If you're assuming that the Summit shanks the MVFC, then Northern Iowa has some reason to bend the knee to the Summit. But they're a Northern State U, so I'm not sure the Summit doesn't start getting snooty about that.

It's piling "if"s on top of "if"s on top of "if"s though.
IF the Summit wants to shank the MVFC
and IF they bring in a 6th football school
and then IF they want to bring in more football schools because 6 is not enough
then MAYBE.....

UNI hated being in the NCC and couldn’t leave for the AMCU fast enough. They eventually climbed into the MVC, which was always their aspirational conference. The school puts heavy emphasis on recruiting Chicago and airs a weekly UNI sports show on NBC Sports Chicago. The MVC footprint is UNI’s pipeline to mitigate their already shrinking enrollment, not to mention has served them phenomenally in NCAA T success and a pair of top-25 teams.

(09-29-2021 11:13 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  Indianapolis, Lindenwood and MUST all have football as well. No clue on any DI interest.


For a true non-football wild card, I will throw out Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville. Historically, Belmont, Lipscomb and TNU were rivals, and TNU has seen the other schools advance. Could they try the DI route to grow enrollment?

D-II w/ football that could join the OVC. Lindenwood, C.Missouri. I think UWF too far south east for them in NW Fla.

(09-29-2021 04:55 PM)Fresno St. Alum Wrote:  

(09-29-2021 11:13 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  Indianapolis, Lindenwood and MUST all have football as well. No clue on any DI interest.


For a true non-football wild card, I will throw out Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville. Historically, Belmont, Lipscomb and TNU were rivals, and TNU has seen the other schools advance. Could they try the DI route to grow enrollment?

D-II w/ football that could join the OVC. Lindenwood, C.Missouri. I think UWF too far south east for them in NW Fla.

What about Missouri S&T?