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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, and is one of the top performing NCAA Division I conferences in the country. Current Horizon League members have made several Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four appearances, including National Championship’s for Butler in 1924 and 1929 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).

Although the league does not sponsor football, Youngstown State plays in the Gateway Football Conference, also Butler and Valparaiso play in the Pioneer League. Men’s volleyball is also not sponsored, although Loyola competes in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

Membership

Institution

Location

Founded

Affiliation

Enrollment

Joined

Nickname

Butler University

Indianapolis, Indiana

1855

Private/Non-sectarian

4,415

1979

Bulldogs

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, Ohio

1964

Public

16,245

1994

Vikings

University of Detroit Mercy

Detroit, Michigan

1877

Private/Catholic

6,000

1980

Titans

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

1896

Public

24,541

1994

Flames

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

1870

Private/Catholic

15,000

1979

Ramblers

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso, Indiana

1859

Private/Lutheran

4,000

2007

Crusaders

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

1965

Public

5,800

1994

Phoenix

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

1956

Public

28,000

1994

Panthers

Wright State University

Dayton, Ohio

1964

Public

17,074

1994

Raiders

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, Ohio

1908

Public

13,101

2001

Penguins

 

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

 

History

Foundation

In May of 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.

Maturity

In 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.

Expansion

In 1994, six Mid-Continent Conference members, Cleveland State, Northern Illinois, UIC, UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee and Wright State left to join the Horizon League, which remains today the largest non-merger conference expansion in NCAA history. 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. As of 2007, seven of the ten Horizon League members are former members of the Mid-Con (now known as The Summit League).

Horizon League Network

In 2006, the Horizon League Network (HLN) was launched as the centerpiece of a revamped web portal. 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.

Athletic accomplishments

Men’s Basketball

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 & 1985), Cleveland St. (1986), Valparaiso (1998), Butler (2003 & 2007) and UW-Milwaukee (2005). The league has one team who has won the national championship, Loyola in 1963 over two-time defending champ Cincinnati. 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 15th year as league commissioner, is also in the middle of a five-year term on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.

Recent

In the men’s 2005 NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Horizon League enjoyed one of its best showings ever as 12th seeded UW-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. UW-Milwaukee finished the year ranked 23rd in the final ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll.

In the 2006 NCAA Basketball Tournament, 11th seeded UW-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 #21 Tennessee and #23 Gonzaga in the NIT Final Four. 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. 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.

Other sports

The UW-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. UW-Green Bay also upset 6th-ranked Oregon State in the opening round of the NCAA softball tournament.

Men’s Basketball Champions

Season

Season Champion

Tournament Champion

 

 

(seed)

NCAA Bids

 

 

 

(seed), advancement

NIT Bids

 

 

 

(seed), advancement

 

 

 

 

1980

Loyola

Oral Roberts (2)

-

Loyola

1981

Xavier

Oklahoma City (3)

-

-

1982

Evansville

Evansville (1)

Evansville (10)

Oral Roberts

1983

Loyola

Xavier (2)

Xavier (12)

-

1984

Oral Roberts

Oral Roberts (1)

Oral Roberts (11)

Xavier

1985

Loyola

Loyola (1)

Loyola (4), Sweet 16

Butler

1986

Xavier

Xavier (1)

Xavier (12)

-

1987

Evansville

 

 

 

Loyola

Xavier (3)

Xavier (13), 2nd rnd

St. Louis

 

1988

Xavier

Xavier (1)

Xavier (11)

Evansville

1989

Evansville

Xavier (3)

Evansville (11), 2nd rnd

 

Xavier (14)

St. Louis, Championship game

 

 

 

1990

Xavier

Dayton (2)

Xavier (6), Sweet 16

 

Dayton (12), 2nd rnd

St. Louis, Championship game

 

 

 

Marquette

 

 

 

 

1991

Xavier

Xavier (1)

Xavier (14), 2nd rnd

Butler

1992

Evansville

Evansville (2)

Evansville (8)

Butler

1993

Evansville

 

 

 

Xavier

Evansville (1)

Xavier (9), 2nd rnd

 

 

Evansville (14)

-

 

 

 

1994

Xavier

Detroit (4)

-

Xavier

Evansville

 

 

 

 

1995

Xavier

UW-Green Bay (3)

UW-Green Bay (11)

 

Xavier (14)

-

 

 

 

1996

UW-Green Bay

Northern Illinois (3)

UW-Green Bay (8)

 

Northern Illinois (14)

-

 

 

 

1997

Butler

Butler (1)

Butler (14)

-

1998

Detroit

 

 

 

UI-Chicago

Butler (3)

UI-Chicago (9)

 

 

Detroit (10), 2nd rnd

 

 

 

 

Butler (13)

-

 

 

 

1999

Detroit

Detroit (1)

Detroit (12), 2nd rnd

Butler, Quarterfinals

2000

Butler

Butler (1)

Butler (12)

-

2001

Butler

Butler (1)

Butler (10), 2nd rnd

Detroit, Semifinals

2002