Western Illinois to OVC

[filbert]

BH or Mines, seriously? Northern, my lord! There is a realignment going on in college athletics. The Power 5 will, sooner or later, walk away and form their own league in FB and in men's BB and in women's BB. They may shed a few lower P5 programs and pull up a few upper G5 programs. The end result will be a combining of the Group of 5 programs and the upper FCS. SDSU is in a good position to be that combination performance wise, lesser position geographically. Still, this realignment will not bring BH, Mines, Northern, Augie, MSU, SCSU along for that ride.

Central Missouri is the one school I'd be going hard after if I was the SL commish. Similar size to SDSU (11,000 enrollment), facilities are older but comparable (FB stadium far superior to Coughlin-Alumni, BB arena very similar to Frost). Would create a natural rivalry with UMKC which would greatly benefit Roos athletics, IMHO.

NW Missouri has the athletic success pedigree in D-II in FB and MBB, but is in the 7,000 enrollment range. Would be making phone calls in their direction, too.

[DieselJacks]

BH or Mines, seriously? Northern, my lord! There is a realignment going on in college athletics. The Power 5 will, sooner or later, walk away and form their own league in FB and in men's BB and in women's BB. They may shed a few lower P5 programs and pull up a few upper G5 programs. The end result will be a combining of the Group of 5 programs and the upper FCS. SDSU is in a good position to be that combination performance wise, lesser position geographically. Still, this realignment will not bring BH, Mines, Northern, Augie, MSU, SCSU along for that ride.

Honestly, this is my thought. If a FBS conference offers us and NDSU a trip up (except for Conference USA), the school should at least strongly consider it. I also would not be opposed to joining the Missouri Valley. Having the basketball tournament in Sioux Falls is great, but conferences can become instable and collapse in an instant. Summit League still gives me concerns. (UMKC could always move to OVC as well, St. Thomas will bolt at its first chance, Oral Roberts has already done it once…..)

[jakejc795]

Honestly, this is my thought. If a FBS conference offers us and NDSU a trip up (except for Conference USA), the school should at least strongly consider it. I also would not be opposed to joining the Missouri Valley. Having the basketball tournament in Sioux Falls is great, but conferences can become instable and collapse in an instant. Summit League still gives me concerns. (UMKC could always move to OVC as well, St. Thomas will bolt at its first chance, Oral Roberts has already done it once…..)

The 'Roos were mentioned as candidates for MVC expansion in late 2021.

[SteelSD]

Will miss JD Gravina. Good coach and good person. He didn't like the tournament in Sioux Falls, but he was one of the few non-Dakota coaches who understood why it needed to be there. Publicly at least.

Loved his quote on twitter about being excited being in a league with "greater parity." That's a hell of a way to run a program. If you can't beat them then run to a league where the other teams are all equally crappy.

[jakejc795]

Loved his quote on twitter about being excited being in a league with "greater parity." That's a hell of a way to run a program. If you can't beat them then run to a league where the other teams are all equally crappy.

Their AD's statement elaborated on additional elements of parity (e.g., enrollments & athletic budgets). Gravina also mentioned "easier travel" and "geographic rivalries."

I'm not sad to see WIU leave, for those reasons -- it eliminates Jacks' trips to the Summit/Valley hinterlands, and it reduces reliance on an fiscally tenuous institution.

As for the scheduling difficulties, it would be great if WIU and the Summit could compromise to reduce penalty if WIU agrees to play planned "conference" games next season

[OldHare]

Loved his quote on twitter about being excited being in a league with "greater parity." That's a hell of a way to run a program. If you can't beat them then run to a league where the other teams are all equally crappy.

It is my guess that this is the primary factor in the move. The reduced travel to save on that budget is likely the next important reason. Look at the entire sports department success( or lack of success). It is a bit sad that the last original member of the conference is cutting the ties. They are following a direction the new Roos AD took when that institution went to the WAC. They expected to rise quickly in basketball and participate quickly in the NCAA Tournament. The Leathernecks sorely need some athletic success. The past year shows the most successful program was the MBB which finished 16-14 following their previous year of 16-16. That head coach has also moved to another job. Baseball was 10-36. Football was 0-11. Men's golf was 10th in conference. XC finished 6th. Men's soccer was 2-8-7. Indoor T & F finished 5th which was the best since 2017. Women's Indoor T & F finished 8th. WBB was 10-20 overall and 5-13 in Summit(and lost to Tommies in SLT). Women's golf finished 6th. Women's soccer finished 4-10-3 with 2-7 in Summit. Softball was 9-36 with 3-15 in Summit. Tennis was 4-14 with 0-7 in Summit. Volleyball was 4-26 with 0-18 in Summit(they only won 5 sets in the 18 losses). The new WIU AD needed something and this move was the best first thing. Coach performances is likely the next move. If more moves are needed, D2 or dissolution of sports will be on the horizon.

[Jacked_Up]

The Summit basketball tourney probably isn't going to stay in Sioux Falls forever. The location of the tournament shouldn't be an excuse that anchors SDSU in the Summit. I'd like to see the Jacks join the Mo Valley for basketball and other sports. Failing that, recruit a Missouri school or school somewhere to the east or west of I-29 to join the Summit. Bringing in Augie would not add a new market to the conference and, overall, would make Summit even weaker and less desireable to future prospective members.

[discoDancinRabbit]

Along with UMKC they seemed like the weaker part of the league. Generally I mean. Maybe St. Thomas is in there too but they deserve some time to grow into it. Anyway, it's a sensible move for them afaict. No idea what the SL is going to do. But I wouldn't be shocked if Augie comes on board. It sounds like there's a few schools in Missouri that should be looked at. I wonder if they'll simply find a replacement or try to get up to 12.

[OldHare]

https://khqa.com/news/local/western-ill ... conference

https://khqa.com/sports/content/change- ... -fall-2023#

The statement by AD saying they are saving $250,000 on transportation indicates that the budget concern is small. The replacement(s) for WIU should come from outside of SD. I would hope that Fenton can perform as well as Douple when we consider the effectiveness without the media drama. Hopefully Fenton has been aware and he had already been working on expansion.

[filbert]

Honestly, this is my thought. If a FBS conference offers us and NDSU a trip up (except for Conference USA), the school should at least strongly consider it. I also would not be opposed to joining the Missouri Valley. Having the basketball tournament in Sioux Falls is great, but conferences can become instable and collapse in an instant. Summit League still gives me concerns. (UMKC could always move to OVC as well, St. Thomas will bolt at its first chance, Oral Roberts has already done it once…..)

There really aren't any good FBS options for NDSU and SDSU. Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, Pac-12 aren't even worth discussing. Mountain West is much more likely to be interested in the Montana schools than the Dakota schools. MAC is I think disinclined to expand west of Rockford/Chicago. Sun Belt, C-USA seem focused on the southern strategies, and the AAC sees itself as closer to the Power 5 as peers than the "lesser" FBS conferences. Life as an FBS independent would be...difficult at best.

Probably the only path to FBS for SDSU/NDSU is if the Power 5 all decide to plunder the remaining "desirable" football schools from the other conferences and all move to 16+ school memberships, leaving the other conferences to either fold, or scavenge what they can from the top of FCS.

SDSU and NDSU probably have the basketball pedigrees that the Valley might be looking for, so IMHO that would be the most likely conference move. But "most likely" is still pretty unlikely...the MVC seems ill-inclined to expand into the Dakotas (as does everyone else).

Continuing to make the best of the Summit League is still the best option...and might be the only option unless something dramatic happens elsewhere in D-I.

[Grizzled_Jack]

I'd also like to second Central Missouri. Town's kind of a pit but no worse than Macomb and it is an exurb of KC. Very good facilities for D2 and (unlike the OVC which has boring mascot names) the Mules are a great team name. The Summit needs to be proactive to getting even membership and traveling partners. Unlike everyone else here, I don't think Augie would be a bust, certainly better than Western. UCM would certainly be stronger, however.

[SteelSD]

The MVC is far more interested in population bases than they are athletic programs. Why else would they kick the tires on UMKC and UNO but neither of the DSU’s? I still feel the path forward consists of an alliance with the Montana’s and the other upper Big Sky schools. I’m all for a Summit League football conference that include UNC, Weber State, MSU, UM, and the Dakota 4.

What would it take for the the Summit League to form a FB conference and move to the FBS? Let’s be real, geography isn’t working in our favor for any other major FBS conference.

[jbjack]

BH or Mines, seriously? Northern, my lord! There is a realignment going on in college athletics. The Power 5 will, sooner or later, walk away and form their own league in FB and in men's BB and in women's BB. They may shed a few lower P5 programs and pull up a few upper G5 programs. The end result will be a combining of the Group of 5 programs and the upper FCS. SDSU is in a good position to be that combination performance wise, lesser position geographically. Still, this realignment will not bring BH, Mines, Northern, Augie, MSU, SCSU along for that ride.

You'll note that I didn't actually suggest Mines or BH...

[jbjack]

The MVC is far more interested in population bases than they are athletic programs. Why else would they kick the tires on UMKC and UNO but neither of the DSU’s? I still feel the path forward consists of an alliance with the Montana’s and the other upper Big Sky schools. I’m all for a Summit League football conference that include UNC, Weber State, MSU, UM, and the Dakota 4.

What would it take for the the Summit League to form a FB conference and move to the FBS? Let’s be real, geography isn’t working in our favor for any other major FBS conference.

MVC seems population and private school focused these days. The conference doesn't have the same cache it had 10 or 15 years ago but still more stable and interesting than the Summit. Unfortunately, competitiveness is not at the top of the list for conferences, but eyeball potential. Not enough eyeballs in the Dakotas to satisfy media objectives. Still, it's hard to imagine that the MVC media rights are of much value as is and that adding Loyola Chicago somehow added cable subscriptions anywhere.

[jackdaniel]

Central Missouri is the one school I'd be going hard after if I was the SL commish. Similar size to SDSU (11,000 enrollment), facilities are older but comparable (FB stadium far superior to Coughlin-Alumni, BB arena very similar to Frost). Would create a natural rivalry with UMKC which would greatly benefit Roos athletics, IMHO.

NW Missouri has the athletic success pedigree in D-II in FB and MBB, but is in the 7,000 enrollment range. Would be making phone calls in their direction, too.

They have won NCAA Div 2 Championships in 2017,2019,2021, and 2022 in basketball , they would transition very well to Div 1 in that sport, and FB as you have pointed out too.