The strength of the Horizon League is growing exponentially and the teams within the league are expanding their recruiting to compete with major conferences.

Every year, one Horizon League team gets a bid into the NCAA Tournament via the Horizon League Tournament, but last year set a new mark for the future of the league. Last season the Butler Bulldogs and the Wright State Raiders were both entered into the tournament, and both did very well. Butler advanced to the Sweet 16, copying the route of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee a year before by losing to the eventual champion Florida Gators.

Each season the Horizon League gains more and more attention from the sports world, of course starting with the UWM, and Bruce Pearl, Sweet 16 run in 2005. But the league is still getting better, and this year will be stronger than ever.

The opponents of the all Horizon League teams include eight games against Big 10 teams, three against the ACC, two against the Big East, one against the Big 12 and SEC, with each Horizon League team making an appearance in the O’Reilly BracketBuster event.

Major schools are realizing that they not only have to play mid-majors to prove their worth, but they have to leave the confines of their home court with the task of winning a road game.

Not surprisingly, Butler was plucked as the preseason league winner, with Wright State, UW-Green Bay and UWM rounding out the top four. The rest of the league doesn’t look too shabby either: Loyola and league newcomer Valparaiso sit in the fifth and sixth spots, while Detroit, UIC, Cleveland State and Youngstown State round out the bottom.

Butler lost the Horizon League Championship to Wright State last season, but still became the third Horizon team in four years to reach the Sweet 16. The Missouri Valley Conference, now known as one of the best mid-majors conferences in the country, did not see the Sweet 16 at all between 1979 and 1999.

Last season the MVC had two teams in the tournament with Southern Illinois reaching the Sweet 16. The Horizon is on pace to be just as dominant against major schools as the MVC in the next few years.

Household names such as Creighton, Southern Illinois, Bradley, Missouri State, Wichita State and even Northern Iowa will be compared to the likes of Butler, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, Valparaiso, Loyola and even UIC.

Coaches might be the most important part of this recognition. The Horizon and other mid-majors are experiencing new coaching techniques that launch the careers of such coaches as Bruce Pearl and Todd Lickliter, who leave mid-majors to coach Big 10 and SEC teams.

The strength of the Horizon League is growing exponentially and the teams within the league are expanding their recruiting to compete with major conferences. In the next few years, if not earlier, the Horizon will be a force to be reckoned with.

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