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The Horizon League
By Matt Shetler

The Horizon League is a ten member Division I conference located in the Great Lakes region of the United States. It fields nineteen men’s and women’s sports and many consider the league to be the top mid-major conference in the nation. The headquarters of the Horizon League resides in Indianapolis, Indiana and the commissioner of the league is Jonathan B. LeCrone.
  
Founded in 1979, the Horizon league is best known for basketball. Horizon League members have made several Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final Four appearances, including Butler University winning National Championships in 1924 and 1929 and Loyola in 1963. The Horizon League holds the best winning percentage among non-BCS conferences (as of 2008). Even though the Horizon League doesn’t sponsor football, Youngstown St., Butler and Valparaiso compete in the sport in other conferences.
  
The Horizon League originally went by the name Midwestern City Conference (MCC). Charter members included: Butler, Evansville, Loyola, Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts and Xavier. Detroit joined the conference in 1980 and the MCC gained an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. St. Louis would be added the following season and Notre Dame would join in 1982 ( for all sports except football and basketball).
  
In 1985, the MCC would change its name to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and began introducing women’s athletics. This triggered a protest from Notre Dame and the university would soon withdraw from the conference. Around the same time, Oklahoma City would drop out of the NCAA all together. In 1987, Oral Roberts would leave the conference and Dayton was added, while Notre Dame would rejoin the MCC.
  
In 1994, six Mid-Continent members ( Cleveland St., Northern Illinois, UIC, UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee and Wright St.) left to join the league, giving the league twelve members at the time. Xavier, Notre Dame and La Salle all dropped out the following year and Northern Illinois did the same in 1997. The MCC changed its name to the Horizon League in 2001 and Youngstown St. and Valparaiso soon joined the league.
  
The Horizon League has sent nineteen teams to the NCAA Tournament from 1995-2007. The league is one of the few mid-majors to receive at-large bids to “The Dance” that are generally given to the major conferences.
  
In 2005, the Horizon League had a great showing as #12 seed UW-Milwaukee made the Sweet 16 with victories over Alabama and Boston College. The Panthers have been a very successful team in the tournament, winning first round games on several occasions. The Butler Bulldogs and Valparaiso Crusaders have also been very successful teams in the NCAA Tournament.
  
Butler had a tremendous run for the Horizon League in the 2006-07 Preseason NIT. The Bulldogs won the tournament by upsetting powerhouse programs Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga. The Bulldogs also became the first program in league history to be ranked in the Top 10 of the NCAA polls. The Bulldogs have also gained the Horizon League respect nationally, as they have received number four and five seeds in the past two NCAA Tournaments. Overall, Horizon league teams have won a total of eight games in the last six tournaments, a feat unmatched by any other mid-major conference.
  

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