Well I know most everyone is snowed in around the Red River Valley, so enjoy the Blizzard edition of the Ramblings, previewing a huge Summit Showdown on Thursday night and more on UMKC’s strange decision to switch leagues and how that affects NDSU and what they would like to do in regards to a conference down the line.
The Summit League looks better now than it did in 2007, but it is definitely a revolving door of a conference.
Can SDSU move to another conference without bringing USD along?
I think so the Jacks made the D-I move without the Coyotes. If you remember USD was going to the Big Sky while SDSU was in the summit league and Missouri Valley for Football. So I would say SDSU could move without USD.
I respectfully disagree; yes, the Jacks moved to D-1 before the Yotes, but as far as conference shuffling is concerned, I think the SD Board of Regents will have a huge say whether or not SDSU leaves the Yotes behind again.
NDSU plays at Montana in 2015. Do you think NDSU may skip playing an FBS opponent that year so we can still have 2 non-conference home games?
i sure wish Dom would do these sunday blogs shirtless.
IALTO!
I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of the Summit lately. Historically the SL has been a dumping ground of D1 transition schools and schools who are never happy with where they are. What would need to exist to change this? Could the Summit ever draw a stable group of teams that would make it BETTER than it’s current standing of a low-major conference?
Would it ever be possible for the Summit to poach from another conference? Here is my logic (loosely defined):
1. CU leaves the MVC for the C7
2. The MVC needs to replace CU but they are not looking at NDSU/SDSU or any other Summit League school.
3. Oakland leaves the Summit for the Horizon
4. The Summit decides to be agressive and poach from other conferences
Could the following occur:
New Summit:
NDSU
SDSU
USD
Nebraska Omaha
UNI
Indiana State
Illinois State
Missouri State – Football Only
Youngstown State – Football Only
Denver
WIU
Southern Illinois
New MVC:
Drake
Bradley
Witchita
Missouri State – All other sports
Evansville
Dayton
Saint Louis University
Belmont
Oral Roberts
UW-Milwaukee
Some other unnamed school possibly from Horizon League or WAC (New Mexico State?)
While this might seem crazy on the surface (i’m willing to admit that this is not likely), there are a few things that COULD contribute to this:
1. Some of the MVFC schools have FBS aspirations. This could be a draw for schools like UNI and ISU if we would (when the time is right) move up to FBS. Realistically they have no shot in other FBS leagues like the MAC or others so this might be their ONLY option.
2. The “bus league” mentality of the MVC might not exist anymore once they start adding teams.
3. With the loss of CU, they are a 1 bid league (with an occassional 2nd bid). These replacements would not make their RPI standing any worse than it would be without CU
4. The Summit league would be VERY stable if this would occur. We would dump some of the schools that don’t have the financial capabilities to continue to be successful long term. The RPI would consistently be much higher and we would likely be a top 10-15 basketball conference on a yearly basis.
5. The Summit would sit at 10 for football and 12 for all other sports. There could be an east/west setup which would reduce travel expenses for the olympic sports. The old MVC schools could still have their “bus league” for most of their schedule and only have to come to the plains states on an infrequent basis.
6. UNI/ISU-R/ISU-B/SIU would have a MUCH better shot at a conference championship and a trip to the dance than they currently do with Witchita getting in their way.
These are just a few of the options. The big pull being football and the possibility of moving up to FBS (or its equivalent). From my perspecitve this wouldn’t HURT the schools that leave the MVC. This would seperate the public schools from the private schools in the MVC so that their missions are better aligned.
It would be better to be the Missouri Valley Conference. The football playing members of the Summit League should join the Valley and the private schools of the Valley should join the C7.
Thank you for your interest in NDSU athletics.
Dom I think the Coach Phillips and the Bison missed out on Aaron Lien the kid from Moorhead. He is a great basketball player and a really good athlete. What do you think?