Oral Roberts; Southland In Talks
Published 2:02 pm Thursday, September 29, 2011
The
is reporting that Oral Roberts and the Southland Conference are in talks about the school possibly joining the league.
The Tulsa, Okla.-based school does not have a football program, but would certainly add to the conference’s basketball stature. ORU has reached the NCAA Tournament three times, defeated third-ranked Kansas in 2006 and big-name schools Stanford, Missouri and New Mexico in 2009.
Southland commissioner Tom Burnett had long said the league was not interested in adding more non-football programs, but softened his stance at this year’s football media day shortly after non-football playing Texas-Arlington announced it was moving to the Western Athletic Conference.
UTSA and Texas State are departing from the league in all sports after this year, with UTA leaving after the 2011-12 school year.
No timetable has been set for sending Oral Roberts a formal invitation, according to ORU athletic director Mike Carter.
