It’s been no secret that the Horizon League has been looking to expand to at least 12-teams for several years and that will finally be the case this upcoming season.
So it is no surprise that Robert Morris University will officially join the conference on July 1st giving the league 12-teams, joining Purdue Fort Wayne who will also officially be leaving the Summit League and joining the Horizon on July 1st.
The Colonials have been mentioned as a potential Horizon League program since at least 2012 when Butler left the conference for the Atlantic 10 and eventually the Big East. Since then the conference has also seen Loyola and Valparaiso leave for the Missouri Valley Conference but has added successful basketball programs in Oakland and Northern Kentucky.
Looking at their history, Robert Morris will be another successful basketball program for the league. The Colonials have qualified for the NCAA Tournament nine times since 1982, four of which have come since 2009. RMU won the NEC tournament this past season before the coronavirus pandemic cancelled the NCAA Tournament.
And while it’s not the “built for at-large” addition that Horizon League commissioner Jon LeCrone was looking to add in years past, it is a refreshing change compared to the previous two puzzling additions of IUPUI and Purdue Fort Wayne. Those two moves added little to the league as far as men’s basketball history, financial support, program potential, or fan support and appear to only have been added due to their location in the geographic footprint and the league’s desire to get to 12-teams to ease men’s basketball non-conference scheduling concerns.
Robert Morris, on the other hand, is a very intriguing add. Besides being in the footprint only about an hour’s drive away from Youngstown State in suburban Pittsburgh, their men’s basketball program has had recent success (although in a lower-ranked league) and likely will be competitive immediately, is well funded, and has incredible potential with the recent completion of the brand new UPMC Events Center, a 4,000-seat on-campus arena.
A look at how RMU stacks up compared to other Horizon League teams:
Men’s basketball spending:
|
School |
Men’s Basketball | Overall Athletics | Men’s Basketball % |
|
WSU |
$3,330,147 | $12,370,379 | 26.9% |
| UDM | $3,276,678 | $13,617,427 |
24.1% |
|
RMU |
$2,661,978 | $18,578,176* | 14.3% |
| UWM | $2,588,033 | $13,774,505 |
18.8% |
|
NKU |
$2,470,374 | $12,795,351 | 19.3% |
| UIC | $2,248,503 | $17,340,964 |
13.0% |
|
CSU |
$2,140,282 | $13,400,944 | 16.0% |
|
OAK |
$1,940,265 | $13,986,728 |
13.9% |
| IUPUI | $1,928,860 | $10,889,513 |
17.7% |
|
GB |
$1,874,827 | $9,494,870 | 19.7% |
| PFW | $1,700,944 | $12,010,658 |
14.2% |
| YSU | $1,555,175 | $16,206,122** |
9.6% |
*=Includes scholarship football and hockey
** = Includes scholarship football
Source: US Dept of Education
KenPom ranking history
(Turn horizontal to view full table if on a mobile device)
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | AVG LAST 10 | |
| WSU | 111 | 214 | 122 | 133 | 243 | 146 | 164 | 133 | 117 | 133 | 151.6 |
| OAK | 56 | 149 | 200 | 194 | 167 | 79 | 103 | 175 | 187 | 239 | 154.9 |
| GB | 158 | 175 | 126 | 71 | 71 | 127 | 190 | 263 | 185 | 223 | 158.9 |
| NKU | x | x | 244 | 311 | 246 | 255 | 138 | 90 | 96 | 144 | 190.5 |
| PFW | 176 | 272 | 243 | 146 | 172 | 135 | 153 | 165 | 192 | 261 | 191.5 |
| CSU | 68 | 80 | 260 | 85 | 89 | 290 | 242 | 300 | 278 | 313 | 200.5 |
| UDM | 131 | 115 | 77 | 195 | 182 | 173 | 302 | 319 | 233 | 306 | 203.3 |
| RMU | 152 | 123 | 142 | 173 | 184 | 303 | 266 | 253 | 269 | 207 | 207.2 |
| UWM | 138 | 144 | 301 | 168 | 211 | 114 | 259 | 196 | 296 | 271 | 209.8 |
| UIC | 254 | 282 | 183 | 275 | 282 | 335 | 238 | 182 | 196 | 204 | 243.1 |
| YSU | 252 | 165 | 191 | 186 | 273 | 282 | 282 | 322 | 259 | 232 | 244.4 |
| IUPUI | 122 | 202 | 333 | 330 | 280 | 207 | 198 | 284 | 191 | 328 | 247.5 |
Bold italics = Not in Horizon League
Average per game attendance:
|
School |
2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
3-Year Avg |
|
WSU |
4,304 | 4,145 | 4,154 | 4,201 |
| NKU | 4,135 | 3,292 | 3,559 |
3,662 |
|
OAK |
3,164 | 3,017 | 3,203 | 3,128 |
| YSU | 2,994 | 2,465 | 2,318 |
2,592 |
|
GB |
2,475 | 2,107 | 1,971 | 2,184 |
| RMU | 766* | 965* | 1,770 |
1,167 |
|
UIC |
2,031 | 2,037 | 1,715 | 1,928 |
| CSU | 1,148 | 996 | 1,501 |
1,215 |
|
UDM |
1,241 | 1,864 | 1,437 | 1,514 |
| UWM | 1,517 | 1,514 | 1,432 |
1,488 |
|
IUPUI |
1,057 | 1,345 | 1,205 | 1,202 |
| PFW | 1,404 | 1,369 | 1,109 |
1,294 |
*=Games played at temporary venue while new arena being built
Categories: Horizon League expansion, Top Story
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