HoriZone Roundtable

Charles Pipkins, who runs the popular Twitter account @TheD1Docket, joins Bob and Matt to talk about scheduling for the 2020-21 basketball season, which is fraught with uncertainties because of the pandemic. They discuss the impact the NCAA rulings have had on buy games and MTEs, as well as the conference schedules, particularly mid-majors like the Horizon League

Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone will be stepping down and replaced by deputy commissioner Julie Roe Lach at the beginning of 2021, and Bob and Matt, with guest John Parker, discuss LeCrone's tenure in the conference and what to expect in Roe Lach's term. Plus, Bob reads what can only be described as LeCrone's smiting of an incorrigible young man (read: Bob in 2001).

Bob and Matt are joined by Blake Lovell (@theblakelovell), the associate editor for Blue Ribbon and the contributing editor the the Horizon League part of the annual college basketball yearbook. They talk about how Blue Ribbon ranked the conference from top to bottom, along with some discussion on players who could make an impact.

As the season approaches, Bob and Matt discuss what's already known about non-conference schedules for schools around the conference. They also talk about the uncertainty of how many Horizon League games will be played and in what format. Plus, they recognize a pair of Oakland alumni making a splash in the pros (not just basketball), along with other former league players.

In the second part of the annual Fall Fan Forum, fans from around the Horizon League discuss their team's prospects for the upcoming season.

Participants:

The largest group of fans ever to take part in a HoriZone Roundtable event joined Bob and Matt for the first part of the annual Fall Fan Forum. In this episode, they discuss the NCAA's greenlight of the 2020-21 season, as well as the impact on scheduling, now that the start date and maximum number of games have changed.

Participants:

More than two years after Bob and Jimmy wondering aloud about this, former UIC player Dikembe Dixson is finally joining the podcast to talk about his time with the Flames, as well as his career in the pros and interaction with fans.

Jim Sarow (@JimSarow) returns to the podcast to continue the debate he and Matt have been having via Twitter about Horizon League teams and buy games. And they also talk (with Bob, of course) about the Will Ryan hire, the ongoing situation with Wright State and the possibility that a bubble not unlike the NBA will happen at the start of college basketball season.

Bob and Matt catch up with former UIC player Jordan Blount, who has recently joined Basket Navarra's squad to start his pro career. They discuss his time in the U.S., both at the Spire Institute and with the Flames, the firing of Steve McClain, and Blount's well-documented interactions with Loudon Love and Wright State.

Bob and Matt are joined by writers from horizoneroundtable.com, including John Parker (@jjparker084), Alec Kwait (@alec_kwait) and Nick Lorensen (@nlorensensports) to talk about the off-season. Topics include Marcus Burk's return to IUPUI (and the Jags' rising hopes for next season), Oakland's power conference scheduling and the uneventful off-season Wright State has had where the Raiders are still favored to take to conference.