In addition to No. Kentucky Univ. getting a new coach, it looks as if they will get a new league as well. Their Board of Regents is voting this weekend to leave the Atlantic Sun Conference for the Horizon League.

 Not only is this a step up in prestige, but it makes more sense geographically.   In the Altantic Sun, 4 of the other 7 schools are in  Florida, at least 700 miles away from NKU. The closest school is Lipscomb in Nashville, 275 miles away

  No. Kentucky Univ. is 10 miles south of Cincinnati, OH.  In the Horizon League, seven of the schools are nearer than 400 miles, including Wright St (56 miles away).  Their most distant travel will be to Green Bay, 518 miles away.

  NKU ended up in the Atlantic Sun because of the NCAA rule that all new DI programs must be sponsored by a conference. NKU moved to DI three years ago and was turned down by both the Horizon League and the Ohio Valley Conference.  The OVC felt that, because NKU has a new arena and is so close to Cincinnati, that they'd have a recruiting advantage over the other members.  So, instead, they picked Belmont, in metropolitan Nashville. 

   NKU has one year remaining in their transitional period. Then they'll be eligible for all DI championships. 

  In 2014-15, NKU tied for 5th in the 8-team Altantic Sun with a 13-17 (7-7) record.  Their Conference FOY, Taylor Persons, however, is transferring with the change of coaches.  He's taking official visits to both Purdue and Xavier. 

Conference USA will vote in June about the future of UAB.   It's expected to drop UAB if they don't reinstate football by 2015-16.  The conference bylaws require all members to play football

If UAB is dropped from C-USA, where will they land?

The best bet is the Sun Belt which currently has 11 teams, 2 of which are in Alabama. They also have 2 non-football schools. 

Other options are the Ohio Valley, Atlantic Sun, Big South, Southern and Southland

NKU was turned down by the Horizon, correct.  Then when Butler moved to the A10, the Horizon tried to grab NKU.  NKU had already committed to the ASun so stayed with them.  The one great thing about that is when I was a student at NKU and went to some of the games, I happened to get to watch Florida GC the year they went to the Sweet 16.  You could tell when they played NKU that they were special.

Posted by alblack56 on 5/10/2015 2:07:00 PM (view original):
If UAB is dropped from C-USA, where will they land?

The best bet is the Sun Belt which currently has 11 teams, 2 of which are in Alabama. They also have 2 non-football schools. 

Other options are the Ohio Valley, Atlantic Sun, Big South, Southern and Southland

The MVC could potentially be another option for UAB, although in my personal opinion, the Sun Belt would be the best fit.

Nice thread alblack. I'm a conference realignment junkie.

99.3 ESPN’s radio host, David Moulton of Miller and Moulton, who also handles play-by-play games for FGCU on ESPN3, had some strong words regarding Northern Kentucky’s impending departure: “If this takes effect immediately, this is a scheduling nightmare. Seven schools now have to find 18-19 non-conference games.

“That’s a staggering number and will lead to a bunch of non-DI games — and terrible RPI’s in many sports. NKU should have had the decency to do what Belmont, Mercer and E. Tennessee did, which was announce your departure effective in a year.”

“Besides, the A-Sun took them three years ago when no other Division I conference wanted them in 2012. That courtesy, and the fact the A-Sun made all NKU teams eligible for the conference tournaments this year — when they did not have to, should have earned the A-Sun, and their seven other schools a one-year reprieve.

“NKU leaving should not have been a surprise — leaving in a month is bush-league.”

Northern's defection puts the Atlantic Sun in a precarious situation.  They need 7 schools in order to keep their automatic bid to the NT.  They'll be at 7 if NKU leaves. 

According to 'The Guardian', the Wright State campus paper, the Horizon also considered Belmont and Murray St. from the OVC before selecting No. Kentucky

 Interestingly, the Horizon also planned to make their CT a double-elimination event but the NCAA nixed the idea. 

Come on guys don't be player haters. Can you blame a hot chick for trying to trade up? Sure it stings at first, but you get over it...just ask scaturo.

No.Kentucky officially joins the Horizon League, effective July 1st. They'll be eligible for all conference championships although they can't play in the NT until 2016-17.

The school estimates they'll save $255,000 in travel costs, enough to pay their Horizon League fees for 4 years. 

Posted by alblack56 on 5/11/2015 10:41:00 AM (view original):
No.Kentucky officially joins the Horizon League, effective July 1st. They'll be eligible for all conference championships although they can't play in the NT until 2016-17.

The school estimates they'll save $255,000 in travel costs, enough to pay their Horizon League fees for 4 years. 

$255,000 in travel costs? That's a huge chunk of change to save for a mid-major school.

Persons won't do well at Xavier or Purdue...terrible options for him. 

He would thrive in the MAC or MVC.  Just my opinion though.

Posted by ppk700 on 5/11/2015 10:53:00 AM (view original):

Posted by alblack56 on 5/11/2015 10:41:00 AM (view original):
No.Kentucky officially joins the Horizon League, effective July 1st. They'll be eligible for all conference championships although they can't play in the NT until 2016-17.

The school estimates they'll save $255,000 in travel costs, enough to pay their Horizon League fees for 4 years. 

$255,000 in travel costs? That's a huge chunk of change to save for a mid-major school.

In the Atlantic Sun, there are 4 Florida schools over 700 miles away.   Multiply that by the entire athletic dept, including the women's teams, and that's a lot of charter flights. 

In the Horizon, only Green Bay is more than 500 miles from NKU

In June, 2014, Dave Moulton wrote about the instability  of the Atlantic Sun.   At that time, he predicted that NKU would be leaving.  They lost Mercer and E. Tennessee recently and almost lost Kennesaw St.   Kennesaw plays football in the Big South and, as the 3rd largest school in Georgia, would be a good all-sports addition to that league.  They also made the baseball Sweet 16 in either 2013 or 2014.

 There are no known DII programs in the South that are looking to move to DI, like No. Kentucky and Fla. Gulf Coast did.

 With just 7 teams, and 12 conference games, schools have to fill over half of their schedule with non-conf foes.  They are nearly  impossible to schedule after December so they have to pack their schedules in Nov. and Dec.   I think No. Kentucky  had 5 games in 8 days this season. 

Posted by alblack56 on 5/10/2015 4:06:00 PM (view original):

99.3 ESPN’s radio host, David Moulton of Miller and Moulton, who also handles play-by-play games for FGCU on ESPN3, had some strong words regarding Northern Kentucky’s impending departure: “If this takes effect immediately, this is a scheduling nightmare. Seven schools now have to find 18-19 non-conference games.

“That’s a staggering number and will lead to a bunch of non-DI games — and terrible RPI’s in many sports. NKU should have had the decency to do what Belmont, Mercer and E. Tennessee did, which was announce your departure effective in a year.”

“Besides, the A-Sun took them three years ago when no other Division I conference wanted them in 2012. That courtesy, and the fact the A-Sun made all NKU teams eligible for the conference tournaments this year — when they did not have to, should have earned the A-Sun, and their seven other schools a one-year reprieve.

“NKU leaving should not have been a surprise — leaving in a month is bush-league.”

I don't have a problem with NKU leaving the A-Sun, but shame on a school leaving that many teams needing to fill schedules this late.  Will the Horizon have to cut any non conference games to fit in an additional conference game (or 2 if home and home)?  Perhaps, that could lead to some games.

Does NJIT now find a home in the A-Sun?  And why not consider UAB if they're kicked out of C-USA?