Conference realignment has been one of the biggest stories in college sports during the last several years, with schools breaking old alliances in favor of newer pastures.
Until now, the only way the wave has affected local schools is with the creation of the Big Ten's hockey conference and the ripple effect it has had on other schools.
That might be about to change. With Butler's announcement that they're headed to the Atlantic 10, there's a vacancy in the Horizon League and a school ready to fill it.
"We are certainly interested in going to the Horizon League," Oakland University athletic director Tracy Huth said Thursday. "We think that would be a great move for our athletic programs and our fan base."
The biggest draw for Oakland — a local conference rivalry with Detroit — could also be the one thing that stops the move. Because of a vaguely written bylaw in the Horizon League rules, the Titans might have veto power over the Golden Grizzlies joining the league.
"There's apparently a bylaw that says that a league member has to approve any other school within 25 miles," Huth said. "If you draw a straight line from Oakland University to the University of Detroit, it is less than 25 miles.
"If you actually drive from one campus to the other, it is more than 25, so we're not sure how that works."
Huth played down talk of a rift between the two athletic departments, saying it's limited to one sport.
"We compete on a very friendly basis with Detroit in every sport that both schools have, except for men's basketball," he said. "There were some issues there in the past, and there is a contract that still has some games on it that haven't been fulfilled, but those are things that can be worked out.
"There have been changes at Detroit and at Oakland, and we would love to start playing Detroit in men's basketball again. If we could do it twice a season in a conference setting, that would be even better."
Facing the Titans is far from the only appeal that the Horizon League holds for Oakland. It would put them back into a conference with Valparaiso, their arch-rivals when both schools were in the Summit League.
The switch would also put the Golden Grizzlies into a conference that is much more geographically suited to a suburban Detroit school than the wide-flung Summit League.
"Right now, and we can only do this because school is out, our baseball team is on a two-week bus trip to play our games against South Dakota State and North Dakota State," Huth said. "If you look at the Horizon League schools in Wisconsin or Wright State and Cleveland State, we're already playing non-conference games against them because of the short travel, and because they are basketball-first schools at our level."
So Oakland is ready, willing and eager to join the Horizon League. They just have to wait by the phone.
"The league knows we are interested — we've made that clear," Huth said. "We don't know exactly what their level of interest in us may be, though. We're hopeful, but until they call us to open discussions, we're just waiting."
