Ya personally I think the Horizon is a slight step above the MAAC, although it can depend on the year.
All in all, very exciting news!
OT: Robert Morris to Horizon League?
- Thread starter pittchagg
- Start date
Ya personally I think the Horizon is a slight step above the MAAC, although it can depend on the year.
All in all, very exciting news!
Insane to me this is happening now and will be in effect for this season. I mean obviously it’s been going on for a while behind the scenes but still just would’ve assumed this wouldn’t take place until the next calendar year.
Divisions would make sense. RMU, YSU, Cleveland, Detroit, Wright St. and NKY in the east, the others in the west. With so many leagues going to 20 game schedules, they may not want to do just the 16 that works well with a 12 team, 2 division league.
With all the budget issues that the virus has caused, football would be first on the chopping block if I were them. Take that money and put it into basketball and hockey where they have a chance to carve out a nice brand for themselves.
I'd imagine they'll do a 20 game schedule, maybe even a 22 game full round-robin. I dont think anyone does 22 games yet but that's coming.
Divisions in basketball are largely a thing of the past but if they did do that, it wouldn't break out even enough. The East would have RMU, CSU, YSU. The West would have UIC, Milwaukee, Green Bay. Then you have 6 teams in the middle with "travel partners" and you'd have to split a pair.
Detroit/Oakland
Wright State/NKU
IUPUI/Purdue-Fort Wayne
You'd probably have to split WSU and NKU and keep WSU in the East with the other Ohip schools and Michigan schools but they are only an hour from NKU.
As a college basketball expert, I’m sure you understand that if a conference like the Horizon went to that many games, it basically costs each school significant money because it cuts into their opportunity to go out and play buy games against the big dogs. A bigger conference schedule for Horizon schools would cost each school a few hundred thousand without the opportunity to offset that loss with conference TV money (such as the ACC).
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I completely agree with this take. I was coming to post this exact thing. They could also put money into their lacrosse programs which do well.
Good for Bobby Mo!
100%. It's hard to get exact figures, but it's a near-guarantee that football is a huge money sink for RMU (Duquesne is probably in the same boat). If they're joining the Big South for football, those costs are only going to go up.
You are probably right but it depends on how much these teams get in buy games. I've seen conferences like the Horizon getting between $60 - $90K a game. Now with the extra home game, if they can draw 5,000 fans at $25 average ticket it gets a little tricky.
In fairness, Hockey is no small expense but they’ve built themselves a nice program and have had some success against the big boys so that just seems like a much smarter investment. All due respect to their football program, but when you’re playing games in a stadium smaller than half the WPIAL and you’re not winning, what’s the point?
Of course I know that. It will be 20 games. 22 probably won't happen initially. That's down the road.
20 league games
4 exempt tournament games
3-5 buy games
The rest mid-major home and homes
Its become tougher for mid-majors to get home and homes with each other so many are going to larger conference schedules and some have entered into scheduling alliances.
Maybe Dambrot at Duquesne will do a Home & Home with RMU now that they’re not in the “lowly NEC” or whatever he said.
RMU and Toole will be fine.
Last year's roster didn't have a single Philly/NYC/NJ guy.
Williams brothers are from Akron, AJ Bramah is from California, Dante Treacy from Orlando, Charles Bain from the Bahamas. A guy who missed all last year, Cam Wilbon, is from Indiana.
Their recruits are a guy from Texas transferring in from Bucknell, and freshmen from Vermont, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia.
Definitely. No disrespect to RMU football at all, but at least RMU hockey has the distinction of being the only D1 hockey in the area, and is in a pretty decent league...RMU football isn't even the only 1-AA football program in town, and the Big South doesn't seem to fit RMU culturally or geographically. Add to it that the program is less than 30 years old, and I don't know how wise of an investment it might be going forward.
Several years ago when Jim Boone was the head coach at Cal their basketball team was very good and their attendance was good too.
The good news about the Big South is that it is better competition, which might allow RMU to make a little run in the FCS playoffs if it gets in. NEC teams win a game at most in the playoffs, and that's only occasionally.
Two teams from the Big South made it to the playoffs last year. NEC has never had more than one.
Of course, it takes a lot to get there. Definitely more travel, though Big South conference membership has changed a lot in the last few years and could change more. But if you're going to have a program at the FCS level in the Pittsburgh area, you might as well go all in rather than just have one because it's Western PA
Several years ago??? Boone became coach at Cal in the mid 80s, and left a quarter century ago to ironically take over RMU.
FCS football really only makes sense in those locations where it's the big sports deal in town, or even in a state. I'm thinking schools like North and South Dakota States etc. Even for a school like Villanova that has been successful, Philly mostly greets their program with a yawn.
With regard to basketball, I've long felt they needed to escape the NEC, but, and it's a big but, will these new teams entice any locals to make the trip out to Moon for the games? The quality of the teams is better, but most of them are going to seem very generic to local fans. Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee? NKU? The one thing I did prefer about the MAAC, is that there was some familiarity with some of the teams because they have regularly served as ooc opponents for Pitt, and Duquesne as well. We're all familiar with Siena, Canisius, and Niagara. Iona is also like that.
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I wonder who even goes to those games? I would guess friends and family of the players, along with a small number of hardcore alums who love football. I can't imagine the average yinzer taking half his day to go watch this level of football.
Duquesne averages about 2,000 people per game for football. Although as I have said before, I don't know how they have the place set up on football game days so I don't know how they are counting that. If you've never been there before, Rooney Field is essentially wide open and right next to a major walkway through campus. They could get an accurate count of the people sitting in the bleachers, but that's not even 1,000 seats.
Robert Morris is officially making the announcement right now. Move effective as of July 1. Covers 10 of their 15 sports.
