Summit Fans think they are catching up to MVC

[MoValley John]

[quote="Fargobison"][quote="MoValley John"] Now with UNO joining the Summit, they will get a little regression of their own.[/quote]

They can't be worse than Centenary, of course that isn't saying much.
[/quote]

Yes they can. UNO can be a huge anchor in D-1.

I for one think what UNO is doing is great, they are shedding the anchor of football and moving up to D-1. This is 10 years too late. In the 17 years that I have been in Omaha, UNO has transformed from a commuter college with no dorms and moms taking part time courses, to a medium sized university with traditional students, student housing, many activities and a campus life. UNO is now larger than several Valley schools, is partnering with Wichita State in aviation, has several great colleges and hundreds of acres of high end real estate in which to expand. If UNO fully utilizes and develops their potential, the school could be envied by not just others in the Valley, but regionally and nationally. This is also why UNL fights everything UNO does.

With all of that, UNO is not a D-1 school. Unlike the Dakota schools, where they are the big fish in the state, UNO is still seen locally as a commuter college. Somewhere that retirees go to achieve their goal of receiving a degree. A place for housewives that now have all of their kids in school to take part time classes. It is still perceived as a step up from a community college. UNO is still known as "West Dodge High" and "The University of No Opportunity." While people are proud of receiving their degrees from UNO, there isn't a huge alumni association soliciting donations, endowing chairs, funding athletics and promoting their alma mater. People go to UNO, graduate and get out. This is exactly why there are 500 people at basketball games. That will not change when they switch from playing Morehead State or whomever, back to playing SDSU. There might be a little bump when ORU comes to town, maybe. They will struggle to attract recruits, build a fanbase and raise enough money to compete and win.

UNO should have switched to D-1 when the NCC evaporated, but they didn't have the political cache to do so. D-2 athletics is a dying breed as finances escallate and revenue sources are peaked, D-2 athletics is not sustainable, UNO's decision was wise and really the only choice left. But UNO will balance the athletic budget through hockey and "buy" games in basketball. They can be a whole lot worse than Centenary.

[Ace Dad]

Wow these people are nuts. They are essentially saying the North Central Conference is going to be better than the Valley. Guess what Summit? Your league is full of guarantee games for big conferences and for MVC teams as well. The MVC had their worst season in forever and even your stats show we are way better than the Summit.

UNO has no fans in this area and bringing your teams in to play won't help attendance. There is a reason why 800 people go to their basketball games and once they can't take D1 castoffs who can play immediately they will stink too.

Basketball snobbery at its finest. Read the below:

"Wow these people are nuts. They are essentially saying the Missouri Valley conference is going to be better than the Big 12. Guess what MVC? Your league is full of guarantee games for big conferences and for Big 12 teams as well. The Big 12 had their worst season in forever and even your stats show we are way better than the MVC."

Really? The fact is that we are much closer to the Big XII than the Mid-Continent Conference is to us. We have the right to ridicule them if they feel that they are on par with us. That's just how I feel at least.

Respect other conferences and other teams. Try it, you may like it.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

I'm respectful of most of the Summit schools. Oakland, ORU, NDSU, and IUPUI in particular. They just aren't quite to our level yet. It's a fine mid-major league.

[MSUDuo]

I'm respectful of most of the Summit schools. Oakland, ORU, NDSU, and IUPUI in particular. They just aren't quite to our level yet. It's a fine mid-major league.

And we are a fine mid-major league...

There is no way in h-e-double l that you can say we are closer to the Big 12 than the Summit is to us with the direction the Valley is headed right now...

[Ace Dad]

I'm respectful of most of the Summit schools. Oakland, ORU, NDSU, and IUPUI in particular. They just aren't quite to our level yet. It's a fine mid-major league.

The last time I checked, college basketball fell into the following divisions:

NCAA I
NCAA II
NCAA III

NAIA I
NAIA II
NAIA III

NJCAA I
NJCAA II
NJCAA III

Where are these "mid majors" you are talking about? Summit League programs are D1

[Ace Dad]

I'm respectful of most of the Summit schools. Oakland, ORU, NDSU, and IUPUI in particular. They just aren't quite to our level yet. It's a fine mid-major league.

And we are a fine mid-major league...

There is no way in h-e-double l that you can say we are closer to the Big 12 than the Summit is to us with the direction the Valley is headed right now...

Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

[Ace Dad]

Dad, maybe so but what part do you disagree with? If I go on a rant that the MVC is going to surpass the Big 10, wouldn't we expect to be corrected?

Turner, I am just tired of the basketball snobbery (not you). Of course I am smart enough to know that the Big 10 and the Big 12 will get better recruits than us. Of course they have bigger budgets. That said: "size isn't everything."


I do not understand the need to piss (can I say that?) on other conferences or teams or the silly xick measuring contest

Today I had to listen to the Big 12 snobs and Kansas fans who already think they have won the 2011 NCAA Championship.

Snobbery!

[dgreenwell3]

Dad, maybe so but what part do you disagree with? If I go on a rant that the MVC is going to surpass the Big 10, wouldn't we expect to be corrected?

Turner, I am just tired of the basketball snobbery (not you). Of course I am smart enough to know that the Big 10 and the Big 12 will get better recruits than us. Of course they have bigger budgets. That said: "size isn't everything."


I do not understand the need to piss (can I say that?) on other conferences or teams or the silly xick measuring contest

Today I had to listen to the Big 12 snobs and Kansas fans who already think they have won the 2011 NCAA Championship.

Snobbery!

for that sir I apologize...IU fans regularly think they have won the big ten at the beginning of every year...fan snobbery it's a serious problem lol

[Fargobison]

Now with UNO joining the Summit, they will get a little regression of their own.

They can't be worse than Centenary, of course that isn't saying much.

Yes they can. UNO can be a huge anchor in D-1.

I for one think what UNO is doing is great, they are shedding the anchor of football and moving up to D-1. This is 10 years too late. In the 17 years that I have been in Omaha, UNO has transformed from a commuter college with no dorms and moms taking part time courses, to a medium sized university with traditional students, student housing, many activities and a campus life. UNO is now larger than several Valley schools, is partnering with Wichita State in aviation, has several great colleges and hundreds of acres of high end real estate in which to expand. If UNO fully utilizes and develops their potential, the school could be envied by not just others in the Valley, but regionally and nationally. This is also why UNL fights everything UNO does.

With all of that, UNO is not a D-1 school. Unlike the Dakota schools, where they are the big fish in the state, UNO is still seen locally as a commuter college. Somewhere that retirees go to achieve their goal of receiving a degree. A place for housewives that now have all of their kids in school to take part time classes. It is still perceived as a step up from a community college. UNO is still known as "West Dodge High" and "The University of No Opportunity." While people are proud of receiving their degrees from UNO, there isn't a huge alumni association soliciting donations, endowing chairs, funding athletics and promoting their alma mater. People go to UNO, graduate and get out. This is exactly why there are 500 people at basketball games. That will not change when they switch from playing Morehead State or whomever, back to playing SDSU. There might be a little bump when ORU comes to town, maybe. They will struggle to attract recruits, build a fanbase and raise enough money to compete and win.

UNO should have switched to D-1 when the NCC evaporated, but they didn't have the political cache to do so. D-2 athletics is a dying breed as finances escallate and revenue sources are peaked, D-2 athletics is not sustainable, UNO's decision was wise and really the only choice left. But UNO will balance the athletic budget through hockey and "buy" games in basketball. They can be a whole lot worse than Centenary.

Well I guess the Summit is trading one anchor for another, at least UNO will have some company in being with schools in big cities that nobody seems to care about.

I do think they made the right move, I wish them well. I wouldn't surprised if the Summit moves the conference tournament to Omaha in the future, maybe that will help UNO a bit. I guess UNO could look to Oakland, that school seems to have a similar profile and has built a good program with solid support.

[BradleyBrave]

They might be. Oakland and Oral Roberts are better than most of the teams in the league this year.