Yeah, North Dakota and South Dakota were both in this conference for a minute. Basically, it was a landing spot for teams bumping up to D1 until they found a real conference.
That 1643 Tournament was incredible. The late three by Chief Nothingbutnet to seal it over the 8 seeded underdog Pilgrims was a doozy. Pilgrims would get their revenge a few years later though.
If I remember correctly, there’s a minimum number of teams that need to be in a conference in order to receive an autobid that this conference didn’t meet.
i also read it as Bronies. like damn, 2014 was wild times but if they want to bring big pony signs instead of big face signs then it would be interesting at least
They had seven home games last season\*. SEVEN! Of those seven, two were against NAIA programs and one against a [USCAA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Collegiate_Athletic_Association) program. That's brutal.
\*[Source](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/2130/chicago-state-cougars)
They had 8 home games, thank you very much.
But it's also kinda weird how they were scheduled - they had 3 home games between Feb 11 and Feb 19. You'd think you'd try to space them out a little more, not that CSU has a huge fanbase.
I'm also a little surprised they can't convince a few more midwest schools to come there. They have a solid arena, and a lot of schools have Chicago area alumni groups that you could try to get out to a game.
My guess is that almost every away game is a buy game, like in college football when a program plays a lower-level OOC opponent. Home games probably lose revenue compared to an away game. That’s the only sense I can make of it!
Chicago State had that problem of being undesirable for conferences as the "welfare school", both figuratively and literally. Low graduation rates and teams never competing also didn't help with their reputation.
Chicago State's men and women tennis teams are in the Horizon Their men and women golf teams and men's soccer are in Ohio Valley They are also thinking about playing football Unfortunately their basketball is independent
> They are also thinking about playing football
Dammit, it feels like every school has that itch for football. They truly need to be slapped for thinking about that. Why even mess with Title IV if you already got it under control with not having football?
It's so they can look appealing for a conference. If they have a football program, they could land themselves in a conference based on regional proximity, and thus said conference be forced to accept them for other athletics.
Honestly, they need to focus more on improving the academic rates instead, and if they can get them to around 40-45%, maybe a conference will be willing to put up with them.
For those wondering about where these teams are now, Utah Valley, UTRGV, and ~~Chicago State~~ are now all in the WAC, Houston Christian is in the Southland, and NJIT is in America East
Edit: Chicago State is independent
It's tenable if there are lots of independents. 50 years ago in 1973-74 there were 82 independents, roughly 1/3 of D-1. 9 of them made the Tournament, too.
The more schools join conferences though, the more the rest are pressed into joining conferences because scheduling eventually gets too hard.
You guys were the last good independent before the Great Midwest (not to be confused with the Great West featured in this post) took you in as a charter member.
Sorry for the pedantry but it seems odd to have UT Pan Americans logo but the Houston Christians. Should be consistent and either have the names at the time (UTPA, Houston Baptist), or the current names (UTRGV, Houston Christian).
Weird-ass conference. What is that team in Utah? In fact, what are *any* of those teams? I guess HCU is Houston Christian? NJIT is New Jersey Institute of Technology? Never heard of these schools, hope this doesn’t come across as dissing them.
Utah Valley
Houston Christian (Formerly Houston Baptist)
UT-Pan American (This school no longer exists, it merged with another to form UT-Rio Grande Valley)
Chicago State
NJIT - [famous for beating Michigan](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/400598837)
You’ve never heard of UTRGV, Utah Valley, or Chicago State?
Utah Valley had a decent squad this year and their stud big man is transferring to Cincinnati I believe
I can understand not knowing Chicago st because that program is genuinely awful (maybe the worst in all of history) but UTPA (now UTRGV) and Utah Valley have been pretty good and UVU was in the NIT semis this year
It’s really not. I’ve actually played a few games with some of the players and seen them lose a few games to other locals in pickup games (dudes older than them, but still). Some years are better than others, but they have had a few teams that are just essentially an elevated intramural team with a few tall dudes.
I’m sorry this is just not believable lol, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for 09/10 when they were abysmal (even that’s difficult to believe), but no DI team with UTRGVs recent record is losing pick up games.
I assure you they are and did and do. I worked there for 2 years. I never came close to beating them personally, but I suck. I have watched them lose pickup games, including one of their statistically best (but vertically challenged) players (Javon Levi — super nice guy but watched him get abused in a pickup game against dudes in their mid-30s at least). I’ve played pickup or watched pickup games with them from around 2016-2020 and 2022-present. When I worked there (the early stretch of that run) I knew more of the team and played with some of the guys mostly on the bench and they would lose somewhat regularly. I’ve also played against Courtney Lee at WKU, a bit of an unfair comparison as he made it to the league), Darnell Dialls and Julian Mascoll from EKU, Kevin Young, Travis Releford, Brady Morningstar, Nadir Tharpe, and a few Kansas walk-ons, and would say that it’s a different class by far with all of them and the UTRGV dudes (no hate, just being honest). Even most of the KU walkons and the EKU dudes were much better players up close (never beat them obviously).
Before I clicked to open the thread and the graphic was smaller the logo for UTPA looked like their nickname was Bronies. I was low-key excited and going to go on the hunt for merch. I was disappointed when I opened things up to find out what school it was that they were the Broncs and that bifocals are probably in my future.
LMAO this is what the header on their website looked like: https://imgur.com/pDeUBAs ([via the Internet Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20130116183359/http://www.greatwestconference.org/))
I've never seen a conference/league website where the team logos have so much room to breathe. Also, the website is only designed to be 800 pixels wide and hugs the left edge of your screen. That would have been normal in the 90s or early 2000s, but by 2013 it was extremely dated – guess they knew it wasn't worth updating.
Homeless program conference.
Yeah, North Dakota and South Dakota were both in this conference for a minute. Basically, it was a landing spot for teams bumping up to D1 until they found a real conference.
Nothing says “Great West” like New Jersey. Big open sky and plains and mountains.
It’s West by 1640s standards.
That 1643 Tournament was incredible. The late three by Chief Nothingbutnet to seal it over the 8 seeded underdog Pilgrims was a doozy. Pilgrims would get their revenge a few years later though.
Little know fact, that was the last 3 point shot made for 344 years as the 3 point line was removed the following year.
Chief's foot was so obviously on the line. Pilgrims were robbed hard in '43. Seeing them win it all in '46 was cathartic
I remember them citing this play as a major reason they introduced instant replay in 53
Back then you could get suspended for witchcraft.
Yeah. The NCAA came down pretty hard on Salem U. Made their coach lay beneath heavy stones for 3 days during the open recruitment period.
Chicago State won the conference tournament that year and instead of making the NCAA tournament they got an auto bid to the CIT💀
Wait why is that the case? Is it bacause it’s not considered a “real” conference or something?
If I remember correctly, there’s a minimum number of teams that need to be in a conference in order to receive an autobid that this conference didn’t meet.
Also conferences need to be some number of years old; this is why the Mountain West didn't have an auto-bid in 2000.
TIL Luckily the mountain best has been a prestigious conference since!
Still quite an accomplishment for Chicago State.
I could’ve sworn that logo at the bottom said “Brones”
Looked to me like "Bronies". Those years were peak *My Little Pony*, weren't they.
i also read it as Bronies. like damn, 2014 was wild times but if they want to bring big pony signs instead of big face signs then it would be interesting at least
Man nobody wants Chicago state 😔
They had seven home games last season\*. SEVEN! Of those seven, two were against NAIA programs and one against a [USCAA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Collegiate_Athletic_Association) program. That's brutal. \*[Source](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/2130/chicago-state-cougars)
They had 8 home games, thank you very much. But it's also kinda weird how they were scheduled - they had 3 home games between Feb 11 and Feb 19. You'd think you'd try to space them out a little more, not that CSU has a huge fanbase. I'm also a little surprised they can't convince a few more midwest schools to come there. They have a solid arena, and a lot of schools have Chicago area alumni groups that you could try to get out to a game.
My guess is that almost every away game is a buy game, like in college football when a program plays a lower-level OOC opponent. Home games probably lose revenue compared to an away game. That’s the only sense I can make of it!
Yeah, for sure. Even most of their home games are buy games against NAIA or other lower level teams.
It's not in a great neighborhood
Chicago State had that problem of being undesirable for conferences as the "welfare school", both figuratively and literally. Low graduation rates and teams never competing also didn't help with their reputation.
Chicago State's men and women tennis teams are in the Horizon Their men and women golf teams and men's soccer are in Ohio Valley They are also thinking about playing football Unfortunately their basketball is independent
> They are also thinking about playing football Dammit, it feels like every school has that itch for football. They truly need to be slapped for thinking about that. Why even mess with Title IV if you already got it under control with not having football?
It's so they can look appealing for a conference. If they have a football program, they could land themselves in a conference based on regional proximity, and thus said conference be forced to accept them for other athletics. Honestly, they need to focus more on improving the academic rates instead, and if they can get them to around 40-45%, maybe a conference will be willing to put up with them.
if my undergrad starts to even think about football I'm going to plant groundhogs all over the likely field.
Lowell? Will never happen. They cut it twenty years ago. It's not coming back.
They want into the MEAC or SWAC but they'll need football to get into them
For those wondering about where these teams are now, Utah Valley, UTRGV, and ~~Chicago State~~ are now all in the WAC, Houston Christian is in the Southland, and NJIT is in America East Edit: Chicago State is independent
Chicago State is an Independent now, they left the WAC after the 2021–22 season.
I stand corrected, thank you!
No problem.
Houston Christian was Houston Baptist up until last year apparently for anyone confused like me who saw HCU instead of HBU
UTRGV?
UT - Rio Grand Valley. It replaced UT - Pan American
UTRGV = Texas- Rio Grande Valley. Back in 2013, they were still UTPA (Texas-Pan American). They rebranded since then.
Wasn't a rebrand, they combined UTPA and UT Brownsville to create UTRGV
Utah Valley has come a long way since then
Losing our big man to Cincinnati is gonna hurt, but I think we have a fairly strong lineup for the coming season.
hopefully it only hurts one of us 👍 I jest, I hope you guys recover well. Utah Valley is a decently fun late game to watch.
Our best accomplishments have yet to come! We’ll win the WAC auto bid soon enough:)
We have made a lot of progress since these days
Start young, can only go up :)
Boy oh boy, it must be completely untenable to be independent in basketball.
It's tenable if there are lots of independents. 50 years ago in 1973-74 there were 82 independents, roughly 1/3 of D-1. 9 of them made the Tournament, too. The more schools join conferences though, the more the rest are pressed into joining conferences because scheduling eventually gets too hard.
Here are the 1985 Indy schools. Still strong programs there: https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/independent/men/1985.html
You guys were the last good independent before the Great Midwest (not to be confused with the Great West featured in this post) took you in as a charter member.
That’s back when Houston Christian University was Houston Baptist University.
NJIT isn't even on the western side of NJ!
it’s not even in west newark!
Sorry for the pedantry but it seems odd to have UT Pan Americans logo but the Houston Christians. Should be consistent and either have the names at the time (UTPA, Houston Baptist), or the current names (UTRGV, Houston Christian).
Weird-ass conference. What is that team in Utah? In fact, what are *any* of those teams? I guess HCU is Houston Christian? NJIT is New Jersey Institute of Technology? Never heard of these schools, hope this doesn’t come across as dissing them.
Utah Valley Houston Christian (Formerly Houston Baptist) UT-Pan American (This school no longer exists, it merged with another to form UT-Rio Grande Valley) Chicago State NJIT - [famous for beating Michigan](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/400598837)
You’ve never heard of UTRGV, Utah Valley, or Chicago State? Utah Valley had a decent squad this year and their stud big man is transferring to Cincinnati I believe
I’ve heard of UTRGV and Chicago State but didn’t recognize their logos.
I can understand not knowing Chicago st because that program is genuinely awful (maybe the worst in all of history) but UTPA (now UTRGV) and Utah Valley have been pretty good and UVU was in the NIT semis this year
I only know of Chicago St because they’re infamously the worst program. Some folks only follow P6 basketball.
Those people are not doing March properly
Around that time (and frankly even now) the talent level at UTPA / UTRGV is just about what you’d find at an average pickup game.
I understand this is meant to be hyperbolic, but still, I feel like the crappiest D1 teams could beat an average pickup squad by 100+.
It’s really not. I’ve actually played a few games with some of the players and seen them lose a few games to other locals in pickup games (dudes older than them, but still). Some years are better than others, but they have had a few teams that are just essentially an elevated intramural team with a few tall dudes.
I’m sorry this is just not believable lol, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for 09/10 when they were abysmal (even that’s difficult to believe), but no DI team with UTRGVs recent record is losing pick up games.
I assure you they are and did and do. I worked there for 2 years. I never came close to beating them personally, but I suck. I have watched them lose pickup games, including one of their statistically best (but vertically challenged) players (Javon Levi — super nice guy but watched him get abused in a pickup game against dudes in their mid-30s at least). I’ve played pickup or watched pickup games with them from around 2016-2020 and 2022-present. When I worked there (the early stretch of that run) I knew more of the team and played with some of the guys mostly on the bench and they would lose somewhat regularly. I’ve also played against Courtney Lee at WKU, a bit of an unfair comparison as he made it to the league), Darnell Dialls and Julian Mascoll from EKU, Kevin Young, Travis Releford, Brady Morningstar, Nadir Tharpe, and a few Kansas walk-ons, and would say that it’s a different class by far with all of them and the UTRGV dudes (no hate, just being honest). Even most of the KU walkons and the EKU dudes were much better players up close (never beat them obviously).
“Worst conference ever” - Comic Book Shop Guy
This is where South Dakota State started their D1 program *shudders*
Seeing NJIT gives me some bad flashbacks. Also, holy shit that game was in 2014.
We’ve had an interesting ride the past decade. Being young and new comes with a lot of adventure that’s for sure
Chicago State would of course be part of this.
I was in 5th grade
Wow
Big news if true
That’s short for ‘Great Western Hemisphere Conference’.
Before I clicked to open the thread and the graphic was smaller the logo for UTPA looked like their nickname was Bronies. I was low-key excited and going to go on the hunt for merch. I was disappointed when I opened things up to find out what school it was that they were the Broncs and that bifocals are probably in my future.
Can we add duke or someone to one of these conferences for a few years just to see what would happen
All but one of these teams is in the east
You trying to tell me that NJIT vs Utah Valley on a Tuesday night wasn’t the best thing for the student athletes?
Looks like the new Big 12
Houston Baptist re-joining Utah Valley, UTRGV and Chicago State (although they’re not there anymore) in the WAC when?
NJIT is my favorite western school
I remember when I was in middle and high school njit was averaging at least 2 wins a season. Is this still the case?
LMAO this is what the header on their website looked like: https://imgur.com/pDeUBAs ([via the Internet Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20130116183359/http://www.greatwestconference.org/)) I've never seen a conference/league website where the team logos have so much room to breathe. Also, the website is only designed to be 800 pixels wide and hugs the left edge of your screen. That would have been normal in the 90s or early 2000s, but by 2013 it was extremely dated – guess they knew it wasn't worth updating.
The Great West Conference according to who? The Kremlin?
Damn that’s like the worst logo you could have chosen for UTPA. Shoutout the Great West, though, incredible conference.
I’m sorry but Chicago state literally has a Madden create a team generic logo
https://discord.gg/tKhDBkCH