Horizon League From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Horizon League Data Established 1979 Members 10 Sports fielded 19 (9 men's, 10 women's) Region Great Lakes, United States States 5 - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin Past names Midwestern City Conference (MCC), 1979-1985, Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC), 1985-2001 Headquarters Indianapolis, Indiana Commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone Locations The Horizon League is a ten school, NCAA Division I college athletic conference, whose members are located in five of the Midwestern United States. The Horizon League is best known for its men's basketball teams, and is one of the top performing NCAA Division I conferences in that sport. Current Horizon League members have made several Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four appearances, including National Championships for Butler in 1924 and 1929[1] and Loyola in the 1963 NCAA Tournament. The Horizon League currently holds the best winning percentage among non-BCS conferences in the men's NCAA basketball Tournament (.472, 7th overall amongst the 31 Division I conferences), and is one of only two non-BCS conferences with Sweet 16 teams in three of the last five years. [2] Although the league does not sponsor football, Youngstown State plays in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and Butler and Valparaiso play in the Pioneer League. Men's volleyball is also not sponsored, although Loyola competes in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Contents [hide] 1 Membership 1.1 Former members 2 History 2.1 Foundation 2.2 Maturity 2.3 Expansion 2.4 Horizon League Network 2.5 Membership timeline 3 Athletic accomplishments 3.1 Men's Basketball 3.1.1 Historic 3.1.2 Recent 3.2 Other sports 4 Men's Basketball Champions 5 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament Championships By School 6 Conference facilities 7 Notes 8 External links [edit] Membership Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined Nickname Endowment Butler University Indianapolis, Indiana 1855 Private/Non-sectarian 4,200 1979 Bulldogs 163,900,000 Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio 1964 Public 16,245 1994 Vikings 111,443,000 University of Detroit Mercy Detroit, Michigan 1877 Private/Catholic 6,000 1980 Titans 24,275,000 University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Green Bay, Wisconsin 1965 Public 5,800 1994 Phoenix 19,567,000 Loyola University Chicago Chicago, Illinois 1870 Private/Catholic 15,000 1979 Ramblers 373,211,000 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1885 Public 28,000 1994 Panthers 150,830,000 University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, Illinois 1965 Public 24,541 1994 Flames 194,674,000 Valparaiso University Valparaiso, Indiana 1859 Private/Lutheran 4,000 2007 Crusaders 192,972,000 Wright State University Dayton, Ohio 1964 Public 17,074 1994 Raiders 114,851,000 Youngstown State University Youngstown, Ohio 1908 Public 13,101 2001 Penguins 172,960,000 Locations of current Horizon League full member institutions. [edit] Former members Institution Current Conference Years University of Dayton Atlantic 10 1987-1993 Duquesne University Atlantic 10 1992-1993 University of Evansville Missouri Valley 1979-1994 La Salle University Atlantic 10 1992-1995 Marquette University Big East 1988-1991 (89-91 for men's basketball) Northern Illinois University Mid-American 1994-1997 University of Notre Dame Big East 1982-1986, 1987-1995 (excluding men's basketball) Oklahoma City University NAIA 1979-1985 Oral Roberts University The Summit League 1979-1987 Saint Louis University Atlantic 10 1981-1991 (82-91 for men's basketball) Xavier University Atlantic 10 1979-1995 [edit] History [edit] Foundation In May 1978, DePaul University hosted a meeting with Bradley, Dayton, Detroit, Illinois State, Loyola, Air Force and Xavier in which all agreed in principle that a conference was needed. Further progress was made through a series of early 1979 meetings in San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Louis that included participation by Butler, Creighton, Marquette and Oral Roberts. On June 16, 1979, the Midwestern City Conference (nicknamed the MCC or Midwestern City 6) was formed by charter members Butler, Evansville, Loyola, Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts and Xavier.[3] [edit] Maturity Midwestern Collegiate Conference logoIn 1980, Detroit joined the conference and headquarters were established in Champaign, Illinois. The MCC gained an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1981, followed by the announcement that St. Louis University would be joining the following season. The University of Notre Dame joined the conference for all sports except basketball and football in 1982. Automatic qualification for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship was attained in 1984, and the conference moved its base to Indianapolis. In 1985, the name was altered slightly to Midwestern Collegiate Conference, the conference brought women's athletics into the fold (which triggered Notre Dame's protest withdrawal), and Oklahoma City dropped out of the NCAA altogether. ESPN began televising the MCC Championship game in 1986, and in 1987 Oral Roberts left the conference while Dayton joined and Notre Dame rejoined. 1989 saw the conference receive its first at-large bid to the men's basketball tournament and automatic qualification to the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. An automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship was won in 1991, and the conference lost members Marquette and St. Louis. Duquesne and La Salle joined the MCC in 1992, the same year an automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship is won. Duquesne and Dayton left the conference in 1993. [edit] Expansion In 1994, six Mid-Continent Conference members, Cleveland State, Northern Illinois, UIC, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Wright State left to join the Horizon League, which remains today the largest non-merger conference expansion in NCAA history.[4][5] So for the time being there were 12 league members. Xavier, Notre Dame, and La Salle all withdrew the following summer of 1995, as did Northern Illinois in 1997. The conference changed its name to the Horizon League on June 4, 2001, in part due to its acronym (MCC) being commonly confused with the Mid-Continent Conference. That year, Youngstown State University came to the Horizon League from the Mid-Con, and on May 17, 2006, Valparaiso University announced it would do the same in 2007.[6] As of 2007, seven of the ten Horizon League members are former members of the Mid-Con (now known as The Summit League). [edit] Horizon League Network Horizon League Network logoIn 2006, the Horizon League Network (HLN) was launched as the centerpiece of a revamped web portal.[7] In partnership with CSTV, the broadband network airs over 200 live events for free on the League's official website. Events include regular season basketball games, tournament matches, archived championships, The Horizon League Report, and other programming from the array of athletics the league sponsors. Its coverage complements events televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and members' local sports networks. [edit] Membership timeline [edit] Athletic accomplishments [edit] Men's Basketball [edit] Historic The Horizon League has sent 19 teams to the NCAA Tournament from 1995 to 2007. Those clubs have produced ten wins in the last decade, including three "Sweet 16" appearances, making the Horizon League one of only two non-BCS conferences with Sweet 16 participants in at least three of the last five tournaments (2003, 2005, & 2007). The Horizon League has been a multiple-bid NCAA conference eight times, including a conference-best three NCAA Tournament teams in 1998. Six teams from the conference have made Sweet 16 appearances - Detroit (1977), Loyola (1963, 1964, & 1985), Cleveland St. (1986), Valparaiso (1998), Butler (2003 & 2007) and Milwaukee (2005). Since the NCAA began seeding teams in 1979, the highest seed for a Horizon League team has been #4 (Loyola, 1985). One Horizon League member has won the NCAA national championship. In 1963 Loyola defeated two-time defending champ Cincinnati. Before post-season tournaments determined champions, Butler claimed national titles in 1924 and 1929. Loyola was also undefeated in 1929. Milwaukee was undefeated in 1941. The League has hosted the men's Final Four in 1991, 1997, 2000 and 2006, and will host again in 2009 and 2010. It also hosted the women's Final Four in 2005 and will again in 2007. Horizon League commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone, who is in his 16th year as league commissioner, is also in his final of a five-year term on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee.[8] [edit] Recent In the men's 2005 NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Horizon League enjoyed one of its best showings ever as 12th seeded Milwaukee marched to the Sweet 16 with victories over #19 Alabama and #7 Boston College before falling to then-#1 and eventual tournament runner-up Illinois. Milwaukee finished the year ranked 23rd in the final ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll. In the 2006 NCAA Basketball Tournament, 11th seeded Milwaukee once again advanced in the Tournament by upsetting the sixth-seeded, #20 Oklahoma Sooners 82-74. For the second straight year and third time in the last four years, the league had a team advance past the first round. The Panthers fell to eventual national champion Florida in the second round of the tournament. In the 2006-2007 basketball season, Butler won the Preseason NIT tournament in Madison Square Garden with wins over in-state rivals Notre Dame and Indiana in the NIT's Midwest regional bracket and then blowing #21 Tennessee and #23 Gonzaga in the NIT Final Four in Madison Square Garden. During the 2006-07 season, Butler University became the first school in Horizon League history to be ranked in the Top 10 of the national college basketball polls, as the Bulldogs reached No. 8 and No. 10, respectively.[1] They ended their season with a #5 seed in the NCAA tournament and a berth into the Sweet 16 by beating Old Dominion and Maryland before losing to eventual champion Florida. As stated on their official website, the recent success of Horizon League athletic teams on the national stage has heightened the visibility of the league and its member schools, and has quickly moved it closer toward its stated goal of becoming one of the nation's top 10 athletics conferences. [edit] Other sports The Milwaukee baseball team made national headlines during the 1999 College World Series by upsetting #1 ranked Rice in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In the 2004-2005 academic year, Milwaukee's men's soccer team defeated 16th-ranked San Francisco, while Detroit upset Michigan in women's soccer in their respective NCAA tournaments. Also that year, Butler's men's cross country team finished fourth in the nation at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships, and their own Victoria Mitchell became the first Horizon League athlete to win an individual national title when she captured the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Green Bay also upset 6th-ranked Oregon State in the opening round of the NCAA softball tournament. [edit] Men's Basketball Champions It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament. (Discuss) Season Season Champion (League record) Tournament Champion (seed) NCAA Bids (seed), advancement NIT Bids (seed), advancement CBI Bids (seed), advancement 1980 Loyola (5-0) Oral Roberts (2) - Loyola 1981 Xavier (8-3) Oklahoma City (3) - - 1982 Evansville (10-2) Evansville (1) Evansville (10) Oral Roberts 1983 Loyola (12-2) Xavier (2) Xavier (12) - 1984 Oral Roberts (11-3) Oral Roberts (1) Oral Roberts (11) Xavier 1985 Loyola (13-1) Loyola (1) Loyola (4), Sweet 16 Butler 1986 Xavier (10-2) Xavier (1) Xavier (12) - 1987 Evansville (8-4) Loyola (8-4) Xavier (3) Xavier (13), 2nd rnd St. Louis 1988 Xavier (9-1) Xavier (1) Xavier (11) Evansville 1989 Evansville (10-2) Xavier (3) Evansville (11), 2nd rnd Xavier (14) St. Louis, Championship game 1990 Xavier (12-2) Dayton (2) Xavier (6), Sweet 16 Dayton (12), 2nd rnd St. Louis, Championship game Marquette 1991 Xavier (11-3) Xavier (1) Xavier (14), 2nd rnd Butler 1992 Evansville (8-2) Evansville (2) Evansville (8) Butler 1993 Evansville (12-2) Xavier (12-2) Evansville (1) Xavier (9), 2nd rnd Evansville (14) - 1994 Xavier (8-2) Detroit (4) - Xavier Evansville 1995 Xavier (14-0) Green Bay (3) Green Bay (11) Xavier (14) - 1996 Green Bay (16-0) Northern Illinois (3) Green Bay (8) Northern Illinois (14) - 1997 Butler (12-4) Butler (1) Butler (14) - 1998 Detroit (12-2) UIC (12-2) Butler (3) UIC (9) Detroit (10), 2nd rnd Butler (13) - 1999 Detroit (12-2) Detroit (1) Detroit (12), 2nd rnd Butler, Quarterfinals 2000 Butler (12-2) Butler (1) Butler (12) - 2001 Butler (11-3) Butler (1) Butler (10), 2nd rnd Detroit, Semifinals 2002 Butler (12-4) UIC (6) UIC (15) Butler Detroit 2003 Butler (14-2) Milwaukee (2) Butler (12), Sweet 16 Milwaukee (12) UIC 2004 Milwaukee (13-3) UIC (2) UIC (13) Milwaukee 2005 Milwaukee (14-2) Milwaukee (1) Milwaukee (12), Sweet 16 - 2006 Milwaukee (12-4) Milwaukee (1) Milwaukee (11), 2nd rnd Butler (8) 2007 Butler (13-3) Wright State (13-3) Wright State (1) Butler (5) Sweet 16 Wright State (14) - 2008 Butler (16-2) Butler (1) Butler (7), 2nd rnd Cleveland State (6) Valparaiso (4), 2nd rnd 2009 Butler (15-3) Cleveland State (3) Butler (9) Cleveland State (13) - Green Bay List of Horizon League champions Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament Locations Horizon League Women's Basketball Tournament [edit] Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament Championships By School Team Winners Winning Years Xavier 6 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991 Butler 5 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2008 Evansville 3 1982, 1992, 1993 Milwaukee 3 2003, 2005, 2006 Oral Roberts 2 1980, 1984 Detroit 2 1994, 1999 UIC 2 2002, 2004 Oklahoma City 1 1981 Loyola 1 1985 Dayton 1 1990 Green Bay 1 1995 Northern Illinois 1 1996 Wright State 1 2007 Cleveland State 1 2009 TOTAL 29 [edit] Conference facilities School Arena Capacity Year Opened Soccer Stadium Capacity Year Opened Butler Hinkle Fieldhouse 10,000 1928 Butler Bowl 20,000 N/A Cleveland State Wolstein Center 13,610 1991 Krenzler Field 1,680 1985 Detroit Calihan Hall 8,295 1952 Titan Soccer Field ~150 2007 Loyola Joseph J. Gentile Center 5,200 1996 Loyola Soccer Park ~500 1996 Valparaiso Athletics-Recreation Center 5,000 1984 Eastgate Athletic Complex 2,500 1983 Milwaukee U.S. Cellular Arena (men) J. Martin Klotsche Center (women) 10,783 5,000 1950 1977 Engelmann Field 2,200 1973 UIC UIC Pavilion 8,000 1982 Flames Field 1,000 1996 Green Bay Resch Center (men) Kress Events Center (women) 9,729 4,018 2002 2007 Aldo Santaga Stadium 3,500 N/A Wright State Nutter Center 10,449 1990 Alumni Field 1,000 1999 Youngstown State Beeghly Center 6,500 1972 Stambaugh Stadium 20,630 1982 [edit] Notes ^ Butler To Induct Seven Individuals, Two Teams Into Hall of Fame :: National championship basketball squads of 1924 and 1929 to become first teams enshrined ^ http://www.hoopstournament.net/StandardReports/By_Current_Conference.pdf NCAA tournament records by conference, through 2006 ^ Horizon League - Raise Your Sights ^ Horizon League - Raise Your Sights ^ http://www.mid-con.com/about/ ^ Press Release. Valpo to Join Horizon League in 2007-2008 May 17, 2006. ^ HLN-Horizon League Network: Home ^ Player Bio: Jonathan B. LeCrone :: Genrel [edit] External links Horizon League official website Horizon League Network [show]v • d • eHorizon League Butler (Bulldogs) • Cleveland State (Vikings) • Detroit (Titans) • UW-Green Bay (Phoenix) • Loyola Chicago (Ramblers) • UW-Milwaukee (Panthers) • UIC (Flames) • Valparaiso (Crusaders) • Wright State (Raiders) • Youngstown State (Penguins) [show]v • d • eCurrent basketball arenas in the Horizon League Athletics-Recreation Center (Valparaiso) • Beeghly Center (Youngstown State) • Calihan Hall (Detroit) • Joseph J. Gentile Center (Loyola) • Hinkle Fieldhouse (Butler) • Klotsche Center (Milwaukee women) • Kress Events Center (UW-Green Bay women) • Nutter Center (Wright State) • Resch Center (UW-Green Bay men) • UIC Pavilion (UIC) • U.S. Cellular Arena (Milwaukee men) • Wolstein Center (Cleveland State) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_League" Categories: Horizon League | College basketball venues | College athletics conferences | Sports in Indianapolis, Indiana | Organizations based in Indianapolis, Indiana