Summit League Expansion

[GoYotes]

Some interesting comments from the Summit League Commissioner, Josh Fenton, starting at about the 19 minute mark of the latest YoteCast Probably reading between the lines too much, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an announcement in the near future that the Summit League will be adding a new member to get back to 10.

[yote18]

Interesting find! No doubt they want to get back to 10 but who would we bring in? Augie has opted for D1 hockey at the moment. Maybe we are peeling a school away from another conference but if so it’d have to be from the big sky or MVC (which seems unlikely with the exception of maybe northern Colorado).

[GoYotes]

My preferred option would be to add Drake and UNI and kick Denver to the curb. However, I would be shocked if either Iowa school has any interest in leaving the Valley.

Northern Colorado somewhat sits outside of both the Summit League and Valley footprints, but with their location they would make an ideal travel partner with Denver.

A hard no on Augustana.

A couple of other options would be Central Arkansas from the ASUN and Arkansas Little Rock from the OVC. (Interesting note is that the 2 campuses are only 30 miles apart). Either or both could give ORU somewhat more regional foes.

[Yotes]

It's hard to imagine an existing D1 school joining the Summit at this point. It would either be a worse geographic fit or competitive situation for any school I can think of. A net downgrade for them. Through the past 15+ years of this conference looking for more members, effectively just 1 sitting D1 school has joined (Denver). You had ORU and UMKC leave then come back, and UND had to go the long route, but everyone else has been very fresh in D1.

So my money would be on a D2 school. But will that school be willing to drop scholarship football? The MVFC will never add a member to help the Summit. This split-conference situation is very limiting.

However we are getting members, it is probably wise to get more than one if we want to remain a 10 member league. Everyone outside the Dakotas always has their eyes elsewhere.

[GoYotes]

Minnesota State - Mankato won the D2 WBB national championship last night and the D2 MBB championship today. If the Summit goes the D2 route to add a new member, the Mavericks would be my choice.

[dbyote]

Mar 30, 2024 15:34:25 GMT -6 GoYotes said:

Minnesota State - Mankato won the D2 WBB national championship last night and the D2 MBB championship today. If the Summit goes the D2 route to add a new member, the Mavericks would be my choice.

They should have gone with the Dakota schools.  They already had D1 hockey.

[Yotes]

I've always wondered which Minnesota schools would be viable. Mankato seems like the best choice. Duluth and St Cloud seem worth looking at.

But then there's the football problem. The MVFC won't take them and I doubt they want to drop scholarships.

[dbyote]

Mar 31, 2024 8:10:11 GMT -6 Yotes said:

I've always wondered which Minnesota schools would be viable. Mankato seems like the best choice. Duluth and St Cloud seem worth looking at.

But then there's the football problem. The MVFC won't take them and I doubt they want to drop scholarships.

I think it's possible that the valley would if some of the eastern most schools look to leave.  The conference footprint would change pretty dramatically.

[marco]

I think adding Mankato would be a good addition. In the pass the board of regents said they would not let them . I think their fan base would have to push it. St Cloud dropped football because of money

[kiyoat]

I mean, if the Summit ever wanted to try to sponsor Hockey.... Denver, UND, Omaha, St Thomas, MN State Mankato, Augie(affiliate)... that's the minimum 6.

I could see adding a couple of other affiliate members, too.

Mankato and Augie both sponsor Baseball, too, but neither have men's soccer or tennis. (this is all in regard to maintaining our status as an NCAA auto-bid conference)

[nodak651]

For the minimum of 6, you don't have to have all 6 be full members of the all sports conference (Summit League). IMO, Augie would probably make it less like for schools like ASU and WMU to be interested as affiliates, so I dont really see what they add. If the SL were to do hockey, I'd like to see the league membership remain largely the same as it is in the NCHC, except for the additions of St.Thomas and Mankato, and SCSU would ideally be left out.
Just my personal opinion.

[yote18]

I admittedly don’t know much about MSU but they seem like a perfect fit geographically speaking. Personally I don’t see the league making any moves, or even potential schools, until this conference/ncaa bubble fully pops. I think we’re a couple years away still but a big realignment is coming but it’s coming soon. Ideally I’d like to drop off the privates and gain the Montana’s.

[Yotes]

The landscape is ever changing, but I suspect that if any of these MN schools wanted to be D1 in all sports it would have happened many years ago. They're probably content having their biggest sport at the D1 level.

I hope the league can add at least one new member in the next couple years. Things may begin looking a bit dire if we have even one defection without a replacement. Also 9 is an inconvenient number of members.

[yote18]

Apr 1, 2024 16:38:08 GMT -6 Yotes said:

The landscape is ever changing, but I suspect that if any of these MN schools wanted to be D1 in all sports it would have happened many years ago. They're probably content having their biggest sport at the D1 level.

I hope the league can add at least one new member in the next couple years. Things may begin looking a bit dire if we have even one defection without a replacement. Also 9 is an inconvenient number of members.

It is inconvenient for sure. Outside of the Dakota 4 everyone has their eyes set on better conferences, and even two of those probably have their sights set on something bigger. I do think that it is unlikely for us to lose a member though, outside of maybe SDSU none of our institutions are really attractive options at the moment.

[kiyoat]

Apr 2, 2024 10:43:39 GMT -6 yote18 said:

Apr 1, 2024 16:38:08 GMT -6 Yotes said:

The landscape is ever changing, but I suspect that if any of these MN schools wanted to be D1 in all sports it would have happened many years ago. They're probably content having their biggest sport at the D1 level.

I hope the league can add at least one new member in the next couple years. Things may begin looking a bit dire if we have even one defection without a replacement. Also 9 is an inconvenient number of members.

It is inconvenient for sure. Outside of the Dakota 4 everyone has their eyes set on better conferences, and even two of those probably have their sights set on something bigger. I do think that it is unlikely for us to lose a member though, outside of maybe SDSU none of our institutions are really attractive options at the moment.

Maybe true, but don’t forget that the MVC was considering Omaha and KC the last time they were expanding….. sometimes being in a big media market is more important than being a competitive team.