If we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that change is inevitable. It’s been especially true over the past decade with the departures of Loyola-Chicago, Valpo and UIC and the arrivals of IUPUI (Now IU-Indy), Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris.
And as college athletics delves further into the unknown with the looming House v. NCAA settlement, coupled with ongoing conference realignment across the landscape, it seems like a good time to have a look at the current schools in the conference and assess if one or more of them will be here in the future. Plus, let’s revisit one of our favorite subjects at the HoriZone Roundtable: Potential additions to the league.
First, let’s start with who’s already here:
Northern Kentucky: Whenever there’s news of a school leaving another league, specifically the Missouri Valley Conference, NKU’s generally on the list of potential replacements. And the consideration is certainly warranted, given Northern Kentucky’s upward mobility since transitioning from Division II and its subsequent men’s basketball titles, which is the key to any realignment for non-football schools these days. The Valley, though, may not be NKU’s ultimate target; the A-10 could be more of what Northern Kentucky is aspiring to. Regardless, there’s plenty of reason to think that NKU may be the next school that departs the Horizon League sooner or later.
Milwaukee: The arrival of Bart Lundy is just one element to consider when thinking about UWM’s status in the league and appeal to other conferences. The opening of its new and long-awaited state-of-the-art practice facility, the OHOW Center, puts Milwaukee in a desirable position as well. Geographically, it’s also well-positioned to be looked at by the Valley. The MVC, however, could balk, as UIC and Valpo’s transition has been subpar, at best. But Milwaukee’s position seems much stronger than UIC or Valpo in comparison to where those two schools were. All of that said, UWM may very well stand pat in the HL, and there’s a decent chance that happens.
Wright State: It’s weird to think that Wright State, which had to drop sports during the pandemic to make ends meet, would be one of the schools kicked around as a potential target for the Valley. But there are plenty of pundits who readily think so. However, given the recent retirement of Bob Grant and the departure of Scott Nagy to another MVC school, Southern Illinois, it’s less likely that a move is in the offing.
Oakland: Having won the Horizon League’s McCafferty Trophy in recognition of its outstanding performance across all league-sponsored sports and men’s basketball, under Greg Kampe’s leadership, consistently having a strong showing in the conference standings (plus that whole beating Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament thing), you’d think that you’d be hearing about suitors from other leagues calling. That hasn’t been the case, however, and unless the A-10 makes Oakland an offer it absolutely can’t refuse, it’s likely that it will be in the HL for the foreseeable future.
Youngstown State: Men’s basketball being a top team in the conference is a pretty new concept for YSU, having been an also-ran for a good part of its time in the Horizon League prior to Jerrod Calhoun’s hiring. But his run, which ended when he took the job at Utah State, has spurred a renewal of community interest and, more importantly, significant improvements to the Beeghly Center. With Ethan Faulkner at the helm, Youngstown State’s focus will be primarily on getting to the NCAA Tournament, as opposed to relocating to a new conference. The YSU football team, which plays in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, could factor into a move, but it’s more likely that it will not.
Green Bay: This is probably one of those schools that will always be a part of the Horizon League. Geographically, there’s a potential match with the Missouri Valley or the Summit League. But between the two Wisconsin schools, eyes tend to wander towards Milwaukee when it comes to the MVC, and a move to the Summit would be considered taking a step back for many.
IU Indianapolis: A name change from IUPUI isn’t changing its status in the Horizon League or the fact that it’s not going anywhere. That’s not to say that there haven’t been changes already, specifically to men’s basketball, which has been at the bottom of the league standings for most of its time in the league. A new multi-million dollar arena and facilities are on the way, all on-campus, allowing IU-Indy to part ways with playing games at Farmers Coliseum, which anyone who’s been there can tell you it’s not easy to navigate into. But being the school located in the city of the conference’s HQ is essentially all anyone needs to know about IU-Indy staying in the conference for a long, long time.
Purdue Fort Wayne: For PFW, the Horizon League has been a significant upgrade, both competitively and geographically, to the Summit League, which has taken a westward shift in recent years. There hasn’t been any indication that Purdue Fort Wayne is interested in making another move so soon after transitioning to the HL, and given that it has seen some success already (including a share of the regular season title in men’s basketball in 2021-22), who could blame them?
Robert Morris: Unlike Purdue Fort Wayne, the transition for Robert Morris from its former conference, the NEC, to the Horizon League has been a rocky one. Men’s basketball has only been able to muster a single season at .500, and women’s basketball recently made a coaching change. From a facilities standpoint, though, RMU is in a good spot, and while things haven’t gone all that well so far in the HL, that’s not to say it’s a permanent situation. It also means that any move, even back to the NEC, is pretty unlikely.
Cleveland State: CSU’s problem isn’t about how successful it’s been. Cleveland State has the distinction of being the only league school to have the men’s and women’s basketball teams make the conference tournament semifinals four years in a row. The problem is the same one that Wright State experienced previously: finances. Like most everywhere else at CSU, its athletic department will be looking for ways to save money. And Cleveland State will be changing athletic directors next year (current AD Kelsey Gory Harkey is only slated to be in charge until next summer), so moving conferences isn’t a priority. In fact, nobody is sure that CSU doesn’t, as Wright State did, entertain the idea of dropping to D2. Wright State ultimately decided against it, but you never know with Cleveland State.
Detroit Mercy: There’s always been chatter among UDM fans that a move out of the Horizon League wouldn’t be a bad idea. The MAAC, for example, was at one point a desired landing spot. Who knows what everyone is thinking now, especially since Mark Montgomery was just hired as the new men’s basketball coach for a nice chunk of change. Detroit Mercy is a lock to stay in the HL, but there needs to be a serious discussion about where it stands in the conference, as UDM has been stuck near or at the bottom of the McCafferty Trophy standings for years.
Here’s a list of potential conference additions and/or replacements:
Bellarmine: This isn’t the first (and likely won’t be the last) time we’ve mentioned Bellarmine as a potential HL school. In fact, we really don’t need to go beyond what Kyle Craven wrote for us in 2019 about adding the Louisville school, currently in the ASUN, to the league mix. With its transition window to D1 finally coming to an end, the Horizon League may very well come calling. But as far as we know, there’s been no indication that has been any discussion about inviting Bellarmine.
Chicago State: Okay, we’ll admit. Including the other CSU on this list is more of fan service (Hi, NMTC!) than anything. Plus, Chicago State just landed itself a new conference in the NEC. Finances have always been the primary roadblock in inviting CSU to the HL as anything more than an associate member. But, if its NEC run results in Chicago State bolstering its financial standing, well, that might go a long way to moving the conversation forward. Might, of course, is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that statement.
Grand Valley State: The Horizon League has historically never dabbled in facilitating the transition of D2 schools into D1. Even Northern Kentucky’s admission to the conference was in NKU’s final transitional year. So, the prospects of the Michigan school moving straight into the conference should it ever begin to take the steps of moving into Division I are pretty low. But with the NCAA in the midst of constantly changing its rules, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the one related to transitional schools, which includes preventing them from competing in national championships for four years, might go out the window. And the GVSU move could be more than wild conjecture. Also, the matter of where Grand Valley State’s football program would land would also need to be addresses as well.
University of Indianapolis: UIndy (not to be confused with our IU-Indy) made a decision a couple years ago that it would stand pat in D2…for the time being. Should the school one day change its mind, you’d think that the Horizon League would be a potential landing spot. However, it seems that it’s more likely that Indianapolis would instead join Southern Indiana in the Ohio Valley Conference, the primary reason being that UIndy would probably prefer to keep all of its sports (including football) in the same league.
