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Post by spiritsquad on Mar 9, 2011 9:04:26 GMT -5
www.argusleader.com/article/20110309/SPORTS02/103090327Interesting article about the possible expansion of the Summit League.... I think it would be a great move for both sides since the Summit is gaining exposure with OU's win last night. Also some great OU stuff in there so read if you get a chance
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Post by blackandgold on Mar 9, 2011 12:10:18 GMT -5
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Post by fargobison on Mar 9, 2011 12:26:30 GMT -5
From a travel partner perspective it makes a lot of sense.....
ORU-UMKC(244 miles apart) UNO-USD(134 miles) SDSU-NDSU(190 miles) WIU-IUPUI(266 miles) Oakland-IPFW(208 miles)
The only other known contenders to be added are UALR and Northern Kentucky(OVC is also after them).
That said if UNO joins, it could bring UND back into the fold.
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Post by dantheman on Mar 9, 2011 18:53:43 GMT -5
Very interesting. Glancing at their basketball arena, it seems to be just a bit smaller than the O, at 3,500. Geographically it is better than Centenary and SUU as well.
Again though, we face the same issue as before: what do they do with their football team?
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Post by ouguy on Mar 9, 2011 20:26:54 GMT -5
This could be a natural fit for the Summit League. Locationally, they seem to make sense and their facilities seem decent enough. I've heard rumblings from a friend of mine in the Omaha area that UNO is in financial problems due to advancing the program and expanding the university too quickly. If that's the case, turning D1 could help them financially, or could drive them farther into troubles. I'm rooting for them!
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Post by ouguy on Mar 9, 2011 20:45:57 GMT -5
Just got this from the Argus Leader Summit League twitter aggregator (which I hope they leave up) from a guy named Dom Izzo, a sports reporter in Fargo, ND
DomIzzoWDAY Dom Izzo This is getting serious, Omaha-World Herald reporting that Summit League is visiting Nebraska-Omaha's campus today and tomorrow
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Post by fargobison on Mar 13, 2011 1:32:38 GMT -5
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Post by blackandgold on Mar 13, 2011 1:48:03 GMT -5
Wow. Sounds like they are saying "book it" at this point.
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Post by fargobison on Mar 13, 2011 2:02:17 GMT -5
Wow. Sounds like they are saying "book it" at this point. Yep sounds like a done deal, kind of sad for their wrestling team to get axed on the very same day they won a national title. UNO is a great fit for the league though and it sounds like they have a plan to make it work. Douple has definitely transformed this league in a hurry.
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Post by filbert on Mar 13, 2011 2:13:33 GMT -5
They have a 3 pm CDT Sunday announcement scheduled where they're expected to announce their D-I move, so yeah, I'd say it's pretty much a done deal . . .
Sucks to cut football and wrestling, but adding Omaha fills a hole in the Summit League footprint (and re-unites NDSU, SDSU, USD, and UNO as former conference opponents in the D-II days, and who knows, maybe it will give UMKC the kick in the pants they need to generate some real school spirit with Omaha only 3 hours down I-29?)
It gives the Summit a pretty strong backbone of five schools down the I-29 corredor (assuming UMKC can pull it's weight) . . . Oakland and ORU are, as far as I can see--and I've personally been to games everywhere in the Summit except Tulsa--the only other two schools that have the support base of the former North Central Conference D-II schools NDSU, SDSU, USD, and UNO.
This is pure win for the Summit. Sucks to take another D-II reclass but at least it's a 15,000-student, urban-campus university (that, oh, by the way just won the D-II wrestling national championship) but you know what?
Omaha is way, WAY better than Cedar City.
Trust me on this one.
(And I actually kinda like Cedar City . . .)
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