Tag Archives: Summit League

Oakland Is Off

Posted on by

Well folks the inevitable appears to be here; according to the Detroit Free Press; Oakland will make it official after a Board Of Trustees vote that they are indeed leaving the Summit League for the Horizon League for NEXT season according to two sources. This now brings the Summit roster down to 8 teams and with a window between now and June 30th when schools are to have their conference membership declared; it’s a tight deadline for Tom Douple and friends to have an invite extended. Of course; this news should surprise NO one; the first rumors of Oakland and the Horizon started about this time last year with OU coach Greg Kampe openly campaigning to get his team into the league; but rival Detroit always stood in the way of the Grizzlies. But the loss of Loyola (IL) to the Missouri Valley was enough to overwhelm Detroit’s concerns and the Grizzlies are in. This is a big time setback for the Summit; considering OU owns the last NCAA Tournament win for the conference back in 2005 and now leaves the conference with exactly ZERO NCAA wins. Just take a look at the roster of schools wnen NDSU, SDSU and IPFW joined the Summit in 2007 to what it looks like now:

2007-08 Summit League                                          2013-14 Summit League                                                             

  • NDSU                                                                NDSU
  • SDSU                                                                SDSU
  • IPFW                                                                  IPFW
  • Oakland                                                            Nebraska-Omaha
  • Western Illinois                                               Western Illinois
  • UMKC                                                               South Dakota
  • Centenary                                                        Denver
  • IUPUI                                                                IUPUI
  • Oral Roberts
  • Southern Utah

No one will argue the losses of Centenary and Southern Utah as being detrimental to the league; but Kansas City’s departure shocked everyone in the league; and took away a midwest foothold that was relatively easy to travel to. Now you take away arguably the two best attendance draws in the league in Oral Roberts and Oakland and what do you have left? You have the Dakota schools that have emerged as perennial league contenders; Western Illinois has made great strides in the last two years and a Denver team that is coming off an NIT apearance; but has lots of unknowns. It also brings in the real possibility of just 14 conference games and for NDSU that means 2 home games that are gone and will be nearly impossible to replace; we’ve detailed how hard it is for the football team to get a game but Saul Phillips and Dave Richman have re-iterated to me how difficult it is to get quality games in Fargo. Fresno State was a two-for-one deal as was Kansas State. Akron will return as part of the BracketBusters; but NDSU could very well find itself on the road for the lost Summit Games.

Who’s next? That’s the big riddle as to who Tom Douple has his eyes on. He told Jeff and I on the old Saturday Sports Show (remember those great days) then they were looking at several schools and mentioned St. Cloud State by name. We thought it seemed crazy at the time; but the top end Northern Sun schools may not be all that crazy. The Nebraska-Omaha model may be one to follow for someone like SCSU or MSU Mankato; each schools have D-1 hockey and may need to drop football to make a full Division 1 transition. SCSU already had its football on life support; now granted to have two teams at the same time in the D-1 transition is not optimal (UNO won’t be fully eligible until 2015) but if its about saving the automatic qualifier status; all options must be looked at. Much more on the new video blog with Jeff and I at 1 tomorrow; if you have comments/questions, live tweet them to @DomIzzoWDAY and @FGOSportswriter and we’ll try to answer them on the video blog. Till then!                                                         

Help On The Horizon?

Posted on by

Final Four weekend is notorious for coaches getting together to negotiate for new jobs, but it appears this year it’s about schools negotiating for new leagues. Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press Gazette reports that it’s a “done deal” that Oakland will be invited and accept an invitation into the Horizon League. For faithful readers of the blog this should not shock anyone, but its timing couldn’t be any worse, there’s no timetable on when this will happen, but this is just another blow for the Summit League. The story, which you can read here also says that the league may consider adding UMKC and/or Denver, and not likely to add the Indiana schools; IPFW or IUPUI (which I thought would be a slam dunk for the league). Now of note; a majority of the current Horizon which reads like this: UW-Milwaukee; UW-Green Bay, Valparaiso, Wright State, Cleveland State, Loyola(IL), Detroit and Youngstown State have been mentioned for other leagues, namely Detroit (A-10) and Loyola (MVC). If they lose any other schools, I have to figure they’ll look for the Dakotas; remember most of the schools that are in the Horizon, came from the Summit League. According to RPI Report.com, the Horizon had an RPI rating of 12 this past season, ahead of the WAC, Sun Belt, MAC and Ohio Valley, all leagues considered better than the Summit, along with a recognizable name; that’s thanks to Butler; since BU made the Final 4 twice as a member of the Horizon, they’re also enjoying the NCAA Tournament shares from that. Finally, the TV exposure is much greater in this league, there is nearly a game or 2 a week on the ESPN networks from this league, I believe they have a Friday night contract with the Mothership. This to me would be a no-brainer if they called NDSU or SDSU, but the real question, does the Horizon want to come this far west? The furthest they go right now is Green Bay, but NDSU has played a handful of Horizon teams, including, the Wisconsin schools, who have come to Fargo, along with Youngstown State. Something to definitely watch.

It appears as well that the Missouri Valley has found its replacement for Creighton, several sources are reporting that Illinois-Chicago will be invited to become the 10th school, the question there-in do they ask anybody else?

Bison Video Blog: Sunday Ramblings

Posted on by

The college basketball season has come to a close for those that follow it closely here and NDSU has plenty of expectations surrounding them heading into the offseason. Jeff and I will give out full grades on the season coming up later this week. Tonight is about looking at the future of the Summit League and the struggles of the league in the NCAA Tournament.

And That’s It

Posted on by

Trayvonn Wright dunks against Western Michigan in the CBI.

The Bison men’s basketball season ended tonight in a similar fashion to last year with a last second chance to try and win/tie the game; last year in the 1st round of the CBI at Wyoming; this year in the 1st round of the CBI at Western Michigan. Where there any differences or improvements from 2012 to 2013? Obvious when you look at record; NDSU won 17 games last season, they won 24 this year. They finally won a game at the Summit League Tournament; two in fact; before falling in the conference championship game. I predicted back in October that this team would make the Summit League final; I had them 2nd in my preseason poll, NDSU took 3rd. We can only speculate on what this team could have done had Taylor Braun not broke a bone in his foot; but he did.

  • We saw continued great strides in Braun; who averaged 15 points a game and shot 46 percent from the field; he had stretches in games where he put the Bison on his back and refused to let them lose. He is the glue of the Bison team, a 1st team all-conference performer; who if he stays healthy; should garner plenty of votes as the conference player of the year. He improved his shooting this year and needs to do that again for next season. I’d like to see more times when he takes over a game; I think he can do it; he’s just that good.
  • Lawrence Alexander; I thought was tremendous; he played the most minutes by almost 200 compared to everyone else; he averaged 11 points a game and asserted himself even more than he did during his freshman year. The key for him in my mind is to make the steps that Braun and Trayvonn Wright made during their junior year. I think his shot selection needs to improve; there were times that I thought he was somewhat out of control and was too quick to shoot; think that comes with maturity.
  • Trayvonn Wright continues to wow with his athleticism; he had some dunks this season that made you shake your head and his improved shooting from outside was noticeable right from the first game of the season; but he had games against the high-majors and better teams (Indiana, Minnesota, Akron and the Summit Final) where he vanished. That cannot happen next season if NDSU wants to end its NCAA tournament drought.
  • Marshall Bjorklund started the season on fire; his best night came against SDSU back in December when he scored 20 points and was unstoppable down low in the win against the Jacks. He was leading the NCAA in field goal percentage; but after Braun’s injury; Bjorklund was the most affected; he was double-teamed; sometimes triple-teamed; his point and shot totals took huge hits; just look at the 1st Western Illinois game and the SDSU games. Biggest key in my mind is how NDSU improves its offense so that Bjorklund is a factor in each game.
  • I thought Kory Brown and Chris Kading each showed flashes that as a Bison fan you should feel good about. Brown’s high school coach told me when he verbally committed in May that he would be the best defender on the team. He was right. Brown became the shut-down guy for NDSU, he was on Nate Wolters when the games got tight and I thought his offense got better as the season went along. Kading provided some necessary height down low and some grittiness that will only get better after another year in the weight room. I can’t give enough of an evaluation of Brett VandenBergh; he had one great shooting game against USD; and I know that they needed VandenBergh to play but it would have been nice to save that redshirt.

Remember this team gets Joel Lindberg back next season; Saul Phillips told me in August before the Lindberg injury that he was going to be fighting for a starting spot. This team adds 2 incoming freshmen in AJ Jacobson and Carlin Dupree for next season, Jacobson for sure redshirts; Dupree has the athleticism to be a game changer, but on a team that is bringing a majority of it’s scoring back; is he needed? Time will tell. The door is open for NDSU to walk thru next season and be the top dog in the conference; we’ll see if they’re ready to take that next step.

Bison Video Blog: Sunday CBI Ramblings

Posted on by

Thanks for everyone staying up late and checking in here on the Ramblings; NDSU will play in the postseason for a 2nd straight year and 3rd time in it’s Division 1 history; heading back to the CBI and will face Western Michigan on Wednesday in Kalamazoo. There was an outside shot of NDSU playing in the NIT; but were not selected; head coach Saul Phillips told me tonight he was not surprised but the Bison being passed over; that the Summit League has “never been done any favors by the NIT.” Phillips added that if the Bison can advance on Wednesday there’s a chance of another home game in the next round. More details in the Ramblings!

What Next?

Posted on by

Taylor Braun At Summit League Tournament

Well now we wait. Unlike last season when NDSU was a surpise postseason entrant into the CBI and lost at Wyoming last March. The only surprise that will come this Selection Sunday is if NDSU somehow finds its way into the NIT, which as most everyone knows is the little brother to the NCAA’s but still for a program like NDSU an NIT berth would be huge. Besides the 68 that makes the NCAA’s another 80 schools will play postseason basketball this March/April ranging from the NIT(32 teams); the CIT(expanded to 32 this year) and the CBI (16). NDSU will find its way into most likely either the NIT or the CBI; the latter just because of the history that NDSU has with the Gazelle Group, that’s the outfit   that runs the CBI and has put NDSU into its 2 preseason tournaments the last two years, first at Oregon and this year at Indiana and has an impressive lineup for next season. For those that don’t follow the NIT super close, that selection committee is similar to the NCAA, for the smaller conference schools that don’t win their conference tournament; they get an automatic bid into the NIT and with the havoc that’s been going on this week, bids may be getting smaller by the day. Already 9 teams have locked up spots in the NIT: Mercer(A-Sun); Stony Brook(America East); Charleston Southern (Big South); Northeastern (CAA); Niagara (MAAC); Robert Morris (NEC); Middle Tennessee(Sun Belt); Norfolk State(MEAC) and Louisiana Tech (WAC). 

That only leaves 23 spots left and with the tournament being completely televised by ESPN, they are going to want some big name schools in this field. NDSU has an impressive record (24-9) and RPI (78  on Thursday night). Saul Phillips said after the Summit League final this team “deserves to be in the NIT.” He cited NDSU’s record with Taylor Braun in the lineup (19-4; the 4 losses being to Indiana, Minnesota, Green Bay and SDSU) It’s not mandated that every conference be represented in the NIT, but NDSU is the only shot the Summit League will have for this tournament. The NIT Selection Show is at 8pm on ESPN U Sunday night. If it’s not the NIT, the CBI is up next, that’s 16 teams and possibly a better shot of another home game. Now last I remember to host a game in this tournament you need to pay 30K to do it; now I can’t imagine NDSU doing that; especially knowing that there’s no way that that money would be recouped; unlike football where NDSU put down a huge sum to try and host a first round playoff game in 2010. This tournament is also televised by Mark Cuban’s network the former HDTV, now AXS TV; avid college hoops fans know that’s where the Gophers played in the Bahamas Tournament over Thanksgiving. Finally is the CIT; which has expanded this year from 24 teams to 32 this season, that’s where UND has went the last two years as champion of the Great West; ironically I think they may be going there again last year after a win tonight in the Big Sky Tournament.

There are 148 teams that will play postseason basketball this year out of 347 Division 1 schools; and NDSU for the 2nd straight year and third time in its D1 history will be playing as well. I think this team has a chance to win a game in one of these tournaments and that can be another huge step for a program that’s taken some big steps this year, from highest RPI ranking ever; to a BracketBuster TV game, to a return trip to the Summit Title game. The future looks bright for this team and can end on a good note starting Sunday. I’ll be following the smaller conference tournaments this weekend on Twitter (@DomIzzoWDAY) and will have a late night Bracketology ramblings on Sunday night.

One football note, Craig Bohl confirmed to me that junior running back John Crockett had surgery on a slight break in his right wrist; Bohl says that Crockett will have limited work this spring and joins a laundry list of starters that may or may not see the field this spring(Crockett; Beck, Ryan Smith, Colville, Perry and Heagle). Bohl also added that he’s hoping April 1st or 3rd for the official start of spring football depending on the weather.

The Carousel Is Moving Again…

Posted on by

UPDATED with Video Interview of NDSU Athletic Director Gene Taylor at bottom…

Well that happened fast. College re-alignment should not surprise us when we hear the news yet today’s bombshell that Missouri-Kansas City was leaving the Summit League for the WAC took me a while to process. In fact, I’m still processing it, because in my humble opinion; I just don’t get it. UMKC is a school of about 15,000 students that has struggled to compete in the Summit; their men’s basketball team has not won a postseason game since 2007, when the league was known as the Mid-Con. The women’s basketball team had a breakthrough season last year; nearly beating SDSU in the Summit League championship and making the NIT. The ‘Roos softball team made the Summit final in softball in 2011; before NDSU knocked them off. Anyone who has seen the basketball facility on campus at Kansas City would say that it’s not any better than the current status of the BSA. The UMKC Chancellor stated in the press release addressing leaving for the WAC; “we accepted to join the WAC because of the strong potential alignment it offers with our strategic objectives related to community engagement and financial strength.” This move reeks of desperation to me; and the finances to me make NO sense.

WAC 2013 Lineup – Cal State Bakersfield, Seattle, Utah Valley, New Mexico State, Texas-Pan American, Chicago State; Idaho(for ’13 only), UMKC; Grand Canyon University

- Why did UMKC leave? I believe they saw the writing on the wall, that Oakland wants to go and they believe that NDSU and SDSU aren’t far away from an invite to the Missouri Valley, more on that later. UMKC’s furthest trip in the Summit League was to Fort Wayne; now it’s 1800 miles to Seattle in it’s new league. And the WAC is far from stable; Idaho is only staying for a year before moving all of it’s teams besides football to the Big Sky; while New Mexico State is waiting for an invite from the Sun Belt or C-USA and they’re gone. Also, Grand Canyon is starting it’s transition, so they’re not eligible for 4 more years. The NCAA mandates you need to have 7 teams to have an automatic NCAA qualifier; you can receive a two year exemption at 6 and that’s what the WAC has done.

- What’s next for the Summit League? The conference is going with 9 teams this year and they’ll be fine next season with 9 teams(Denver joins the league in July), the biggest concern actually surrounds Oakland; as everyone and the league knows, the Grizzlies want the Horizon League; and will go at the first invite. Here’s the rub; the Summit only has 6 baseball playing members, if the Griz leave, then there’s no automatic qualifier for the baseball tournament and that’s really no good. There are certain schools that the league is interested in; Eastern Illinois comes right to mind; the Panthers would hop at the first invite for the Summit; but the real problem lies in a home for football. Would the Missouri Valley invite EIU? If anyone saw the playoff game between SDSU and EIU they know the Panthers do not play the same brand of football that the Valley schools do; but they are right in the footprint of the league and would give the conference basically the entire state covered with Southern, Western and Illinois State. Some may think about UND, and the same issue lays there; what would they do about football? I don’t think the Valley is beyond expanding, the Big Sky ballooned to 13 teams this past season, the Colonial lost 2 teams (Old Dominion and Georgia State) but did well in adding Stony Brook and Albany. Something that bears watching.

- What’s next for NDSU? Well here’s the biggest deal, the Missouri Valley is waiting and hoping that Creighton won’t leave and join the Big East basketball schools that are forming their own league. If the Blue Jays leave that opens a spot that most would covet. Plenty that read this would think it’s a slam dunk that the Valley would ask NDSU or SDSU, I don’t think that’s the case, I think an old Bison rival; Oral Roberts, would be up first. The Golden Eagles are a solid basketball team and great baseball team, the two premier sports in the conference, and they now are in a league that’s becoming more a football league(Southland- which is adding 2 more schools, Houston Baptist and Abilene Christian) than they ever thought. If the Bison want to be considered for the Valley, the BSA needs to see some progress and also need to convince the other private schools that a public land-grant school is the way to go(Drake, Evansville, Creighton and Bradley are the private schools). The Valley has been the ONE league untouched in all of this realignment nonsense and would take something huge for them to make a move. Some may think this coue years away, but if there’s one thing learned in realignment things happen fast.