Robert Morris, which has been a member of the Northeast Conference since upgrading to Division I in 1981, is likely moving into the Horizon League in time for the 2020-21 academic year, a source told the Tribune-Review.
The move is not official, but the university may make an announcement next week. Robert Morris will be the 12th Horizon member and the third school to join in the past four years.
Robert Morris student-athletes compete in 16 sports for men and women, but the Horizon League does not sponsor football or men’s and women’s lacrosse. The landing spot for those sports likely will be revealed by school officials next week.
The Colonials’ men’s and women’s basketball teams have been successful in the Northeast Conference for several years. The men’s team (20-14, 13-5) won the conference tournament this year, but was denied a ninth trip to the NCAA Tournament when it was canceled by the covid-19 shutdown. Robert Morris has won 11 Northeast Conference regular-season championships, the most recent in 2014.
The women’s team won the regular-season championship this season, its eighth in the past 14 seasons, and has appeared in six NCAA tournaments. This year’s NEC tournament was canceled.
Schools in the Horizon League include its newest member, Purdue-Fort Wayne, which will be competing this season for the first time, plus Wright State, Northern Kentucky, Green Bay, Youngstown State, Illinois-Chicago, Oakland, Cleveland State, Milwaukee, Detroit Mercy and Indiana University-Purdue University (IUPUI).
Wright State (25-7, 15-3) and Northern Kentucky (23-9, 13-5) are the only Horizon teams that finished ahead of Robert Morris in the NCAA Net Rankings. Wright State, the regular-season champion, was 127th, Northern Kentucky won its second consecutive tournament title with a 150 ranking. Robert Morris finished 203rd.
IUPUI women (23-8, 15-3) won the Horizon regular-season and tournament championships.
