Probably deserves its own thread but Bison1660 is having Tom Douple on tomorrow... their show today is definitely worth listening to (get ye to the podcast!)
The only problem with your solution is that it leaves Western Illinois out on an island and the only benefit to them of staying in the Summit is that it allows their football to stay in the MVFC. If they got the chance to move to the Horizon, they would likely be allowed to stay in the MVFC. If the Summit League nuclear option is implemented, Western Illinois would likely head to the Ohio Valley, which would leave only 5 Summit League football schools.
Not that much of an island, and I can't believe the Horizon will ever be interested in Macomb. I'd be more worried about them dropping football or dropping to D2/3 than getting a Horizon or OVC invite. (not worried about any of those scenarios)
At the same time, I think Summit football should only be looked at in an absolute worst case scenario. Say every other option has failed and UNC is the only choice, but the MVFC absolutely won't give them a home. If it's down to the death of the Summit or forcing football, only then would I support the nuclear option.
Regarding Summit football, I wonder if NAU would be in play if NMSU dropped to FCS and the Summit made a play for them. It's a sh!tty drive from Flagstaff to Las Cruses(7.5hrs+), but maybe adding NMSU as a rival might be worth it to them. SUU is a couple hours closer on sometimes questionable roads. Weber and Cal Poly are a little further away than NMSU(borderline bus or fly depending on finances). All the rest of the Big Sky is definite flying distance. (12-16hrs of driving)
Per the attached NCAA link "Division I member institutions have to sponsor at least seven sports for men and seven for women (or six for men and eight for women) with two team sports for each gender." http://www.ncaa.org/about/who-we-are...classification
I read the above as basketball plus one other, but I could be wrong.
And then there is this from the following NCAA link: "The new rules basically stipulate that a conference must have seven active Division I members that sponsor men's and women's basketball and that the conference sponsor a minimum of six men's sports and six women's sports." http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/2011-0...-wac-auto-bids I don't know if this was a one time exception for the WAC or if it applies to all conferences.
There are a couple other spots in the DI manual that apply to the situation. The most stringent and clear is 20.02.5.2b:
So for the Summit, it's either:The conference shall sponsor a minimum of six men’s sports, one of which shall be men’s basketball. In addition to men’s basketball, the conference shall sponsor football or two other men’s team sports. A minimum of seven members shall sponsor men’s basketball. A minimum of six members shall sponsor five other sports, including football or two additional men’s team sports;
1. MBB + FB, or
2. MBB + MSoc + BB
Thanks for the info.
If the Horizon League expands too much or if the Valley decides to add Milwaukee (makes no sense, but they did get a visit the last go round), the Summit should go after Green Bay (sponsor men's soccer) and UIC (sponsor men's soccer and baseball). Milwaukee also sponsors both men's soccer and baseball.