The moment Wichita State’s interest in joining the American Athletic Conference became public last winter, Horizon member Valparaiso stood as the obvious choice to replace WSU in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Horizon has been good to Valpo, but the chance to play in a more established conference tournament against a slightly higher level of competition figured to appeal to the school’s administration. But the Horizon’s Jon LeCrone has been a smart commissioner over his 25 years and has to cover for bigger losses than this one, particularly Butler and Xavier.
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He was shrewd enough to see what Northern Kentucky might add to the Horizon, and the Norse this year won the league men’s basketball tournament in their first year of full membership. He doesn’t have any ideal candidates to choose from this time, presuming the Horizon wants to stay at 10 members and keep an 18-game round-robin schedule.
But there are some good possibilities that fit the league footprint and its orientation toward metropolitan areas:
Robert Morris
Location: Pittsburgh
Nickname: Colonials
Current league: Northeast
Enrollment: 5,199
Arena capacity: 4,000 (to open in 2019)
Average attendance: 1,072
NCAA appearances: 1982, ‘83, ‘89, ‘90, ‘92, ‘09, ‘10, ‘15
2016-17 finish: 14-19, 9-9
Overview: Although the Colonials have a smaller enrollment as a private school, they have by far the best basketball tradition of the candidates. They also would expand the league into a different region that is geographically close to such members as Cleveland State, Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy and NKU.
Omaha
Location: Omaha, Neb.
Nickname: Mavericks
Current league: Summit
Enrollment: 15,526
Arena capacity: 7,898
Average attendance: 1,816
NCAA appearances: None
2016-17 finish: 18-14, 9-7
Overview: The Mavericks only began their transition to Division I in 2011 but, like Northern Kentucky, quickly established themselves as competitive at their new level. They’ve played in the CBI and CIT already and won at Iowa in a non-conference game last December.
Fort Wayne
Location: Fort Wayne, Ind.
Nickname: Mastodons
Current league: Summit
Enrollment: 12,160
Arena capacity: 2,700
Average attendance: 1,961
NCAA appearances: None
2016-17 finish: 20-13, 8-8
Overview: After a stunning early season victory over Indiana, Fort Wayne didn’t quite follow through on that promise — and a 2016 conference championship — with a strong Summit League season. However, the Mastodons draw the highest average attendance of the teams on this list and might be able to improve that with more attractive names with stronger regional connections rolling through.
IUPUI
Location: Indianapolis
Nickname: Jaguars
Current league: Summit
Enrollment: 21,748
Arena capacity: 6,800
Average attendance: 1,054
NCAA appearances: 2003
2016-17 finish: 14-18, 7-9
Overview: IUPUI has the advantage of being located in the Horizon League’s headquarters city, and its downtown campus is vibrant and attractive. Farmers Coliseum was given a significant recent upgrade and is an attractive home for the Jaguars, albeit removed from campus by a few miles. IUPUI would figure to get a significant boost by being able to play against teams from universities with a greater resemblance.
UMKC
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Nickname: Kangaroos
Current league: WAC
Enrollment: 11,389
Arena capacity: 7,316
Average attendance: 1,335
NCAA appearances: None
2017-18 finish: 18-17, 8-6
Overview: It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting this move more than the Kangaroos. Competing in the WAC requires travel to California, Texas, Washington, Utah and Arizona. Home games are played at Municipal Auditorium, which recently got a small series of upgrades. It still is not the most modern building, but has incredible history in the game along with a great downtown location.
