Horizon Notebook: Greatest Week Ever (Ha!), Plus Four Ideas

CLEVELAND -  Let it be first said in this space, loudly and clearly:  the eight days stretching from Friday December 19th, 2008 through Friday December 26th, 2008  likely were the greatest single week in the history of the Horizon League.  And that would make last night—Tuesday December 23, 2008—the greatest single night.  A quick weeklong review, then greater focus on last night’s two big games, and then four suggestions.

Just one game on Friday December  19:  a three-point win for Youngstown State at High Point University of the Big South Conference, 64-61.  Nothing like beating North Carolina except the geography, but any YSU win, and especially any YSU road win, is a good thing.  (And conference teams better not take Coach Slocum’s Penguins too lightly).

Then on Saturday, CSU beat Division III La Roche College;  not much more noteworthy, Butler beat new Division I Florida Gulf Coast, both games at home.  Valpo hung tough into the second half against North Carolina at the United Center, eventually succumbing 85-63;  Detroit also hung in for most of the first half in Champagne, losing to Illinois 82-51.  Wisconsin-Green Bay beat North Dakota at home, Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Bradley at home, Loyola won at Northern Illinois, and Wright State won its first of three straight in San Juan, over Oral Roberts.  The only negative of the day was Jimmy Collins’ Illinois-Chicago team, which was upended at Illinois State, 67-60.

On Sunday, Youngstown State was beaten at UNC-Charlotte, and Wright State won its second in Puerto Rico, beating the Big East’s South Florida 60-43 behind Todd Brown’s 15 (on 7-11).

On Monday, Loyola beat Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at home (not a monumental win), Green Bay won at Houston-Baptist, and Wright State completed its three-game sweep in San Juan, besting Murray State.  Only Valpo fell short this day, losing at Central Florida.

Then there was last night, Tuesday December 23rd.  Most of the damage was against the MAC Conference.  UIC got back on the winning track by winning at rebuilding Toledo;  not a monster win.  Better, Detroit built on its strong first half at Illinois, winning at Central Michigan, 67-55.

In the battle of preseason MAC and Horizon League favorites in Cleveland, CSU demolished Kent State in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as its 67-41 final.  Led by Norris Cole, CSU’s guards stymied Kent’s vaunted backcourt combination of MAC Player of the Year Al Fisher and newly eligible Tyree Evans, holding them to a combined 14 points.  Viking star forward J’Nathan Bullock scored 24 on 9-16 shooting and grabbed 10 boards;  rebounding machine George Tandy grabbed 13 boards in just 24 minutes, and must surely be in the top five in the country in rebounds per minute played.

And then Butler played Xavier.  In a matchup featuring the Horizon’s best team against formerly 8th-ranked and current no. 12 Xavier from the Atlantic 10, a game played at Xavier, Butler led most of the way, and held on for a monster win, 74-65.  Matt Howard and emerging star Gordon Hayward each had 19 points, and those two grabbed 14 and 10 rebounds, respectively.  Look for Butler to improve on its current No. 5 ranking in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25, and to break into the Top 25 of the national rankings come Monday.  The entire conference is now off for Christmas, resuming play on Saturday.

So on the heels of this monster week for the Horizon, this might be the best time to address the schools, in some combination the league’s head coaches, athletic directors and presidents, on four points.  Here goes;

1. Recognizing the difficulties inherent in mid-major scheduling, as well as the fact that some of the early season tournaments include Division II teams (forcing you to play them if you want to be included in the field), please stop scheduling sub-Division I opponents.  I spent the last couple of years with the Colonial Athletic Association, and those schools don’t schedule sub-Division I’s.  Now that the Horizon is ahead of the CAA in conference ranking (at least for last year, and likely for this year as well), please stop playing games that can’t help at season’s end;
2. Schedule a Media Day each October at a central location, probably best in Indianapolis where the conference office is located.  The CAA does it at DC’s ESPN Zone, the MAC does it at Quicken Loans Arena (site of their conference tournament), and both are big hits.  Invite the coaches (men’s and women’s), AD’s, SID’s, local and national media, and go to town!
3. Begin playing the conference tournament at one venue, be it the same venue each year like the Big East, the MAC and the CAA, or a different venue each year like the Big Ten, the ACC and the SEC.  That’ll make season’s end like a big convention of teams, administrators and fans, and help promote the league.  I don’t care if we use civic arenas or our larger on-campus arenas (Hinkle has obvious appeal, at least for years in which the Big Ten Tournament isn’t in Indy);  and
4. Stop protecting the first seed (or the first two seeds) through the double-bye format, and initiate the same format most other conferences use for their tournament:  a first round or play-in day, in which seeds 6-10 play a doubleheader, leaving 8 schools going forward.  Then play day and evening quarterfinal doubleheaders on the next day, followed by a semi-final doubleheader and a final game.  More action for our two best teams, and fairer for everyone else.

The reason for these suggestions:  as long as we’re playing like a top-10 conference, include universities in major urban markets, and boast sizable and beautiful arenas, let’s use all of these things to our advantage.  As someone once said about a former corn field in Iowa:  “Build it and they will come!”