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With Illinois-Chicago's departure from the Horizon League looming, today's matchup between Youngstown State and the Flames likely marks the final conference trip into the Windy City.
UIC announced Jan. 26 it would be departing the Horizon League, and will join the Missouri Valley Conference effective July 1. The Flames joined the Horizon back in 1994. Their move comes as Murray State and Belmont also join the MVC.
YSU men's basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun said of the decision at a Jan. 27 press conference, "I think they've done a good job. I don't think this is a thing where UIC has snuck out of the league; I think they did it the right way. They're in constant communication with our commissioner. We've been hearing about this for quite some time."
While the decision was an open secret for weeks, if not months, leading into the late-January announcement, it does leave the Horizon League with a decision to make: Who it should replace UIC with? Or should it replace UIC at all?
Calhoun expressed dismay about losing the Chicago market, and said of whatever comes next, "Hopefully it's a destination, in a market where it kind of helps the whole league."
Are there any specific schools in mind?
"I think you see what happens. I think you see what teams reach out," he said. "Anymore, in this conference realignment, this thing is vastly changing. You can't even keep track of who's in what conference, and it's kind of every man for yourself."
He added, "I think the (athletics directors) and presidents get to decide what direction they want to go in, figure this thing out, because it's a golden opportunity to get a good team. Do you go down south? Do you stay midwest? Add a Division II team trying to go D1? I don't know."
Then, too, Calhoun is a proponent of playing 20 conference games, and staying at 11 would allow the Horizon League to do so while maintaining its home-and-home scheduling.
He also said he'd be "shocked" if the Horizon League managed to get another team very quickly in order to play 22 league games again next year.
"Usually it takes a little bit of time," he said, later adding, "But I do think (expanding is) enticing. See what you can get, and if it makes sense."
But what options make sense? Here are a few to consider.
Bellarmine
Bellarmine is a private, Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. That would certainly qualify under Calhoun's wishes for a destination, as the city of Louisville and its metro area -- a population of 617,790 in the city and 1,285,439 in the entire metro -- are about the size of Milwaukee.
Bellarmine's enrollment stands at 2,481 undergraduate students as of the 2018-19 academic year.
The Knights' men's team is having some success this year, sitting at 13-10 overall and 7-2 in Atlantic Sun play. The women, however, are 3-17 overall and 0-9 in the ASun.
Other men's sports at BU are: baseball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, sprint football, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling.
Women's sports, in addition to hoops, include: cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
Bellarmine also fits in the conference's travel partner scheme. In the current Horizon League format, each team is paired with another, and they travel together during two-game road swings.
YSU's partner is Robert Morris, so when YSU played at IUPUI on Thursday, the Colonials visited UIC. YSU will play UIC tonight, while RMU visits IUPUI, for example.
UIC's partner happens to be IUPUI, and Indianapolis sits just a couple hours from Louisville.
Southern Indiana
Presently in Division II, USI reportedly has a meeting scheduled for Feb. 7 to "discuss the potential application to the (NCAA) for reclassification from Division II to Division I athletics," according to WNIN's John Gibson.
Southern Indiana is located in Evansville, a small city with a population of 118,588 located in the southwest corner of Indiana, near both the Kentucky and Illinois borders. It's about a three-hour drive from Indy to Evansville.
The town also has a Division I institution already, as the private University of Evansville Purple Aces compete in the Missouri Valley Conference.
USI's enrollment was 7,029 as of 2018-19.
Part of USI's decision will be whether the university wants to commit more money -- the Eagles' program currently spends about $6.6 million per year, but would need to commit to about $12 million, per WNIN -- in order to make the transition.
Other men's sports at Southern Indiana are: baseball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis and track and field.
Women's sports include: basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
Others schools not mentioned
There are likely a lot more options than just the two previously mentioned, but those are two that immediately come to mind and make geographic sense for the Horizon League. Could a regional D2 school move up? Or perhaps the Horizon could go poaching from another D1 conference? As Calhoun said, see who reaches out and what makes sense.
Staying put
Nobody said the Horizon League absolutely has to go get someone. As mentioned, staying at 11 members permits a 20-game league slate.
Doing so would, however, rid the Horizon League of its travel partner scheme. That isn't the end of the world, but would be something to consider in terms of how league games would get scheduled.
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com