The Horizon League couldn’t have been shocked by the news.

The moment Wichita State’s interest in joining the American Athletic Conference became public last winter, Horizon member Valparaiso stood as the obvious choice to replace WSU in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Horizon has been good to Valpo, but the chance to play in a more established conference tournament against a slightly higher level of competition figured to appeal to the school’s administration. But the Horizon’s Jon LeCrone has been a smart commissioner over his 25 years and has to cover for bigger losses than this one, particularly Butler and Xavier.

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He was shrewd enough to see what Northern Kentucky might add to the Horizon, and the Norse this year won the league men’s basketball tournament in their first year of full membership. He doesn’t have any ideal candidates to choose from this time, presuming the Horizon wants to stay at 10 members and keep an 18-game round-robin schedule.

But there are some good possibilities that fit the league footprint and its orientation toward metropolitan areas:

Robert Morris

Location: Pittsburgh

Nickname: Colonials

Current league: Northeast

Enrollment: 5,199

Arena capacity: 4,000 (to open in 2019)

Average attendance: 1,072

NCAA appearances: 1982, '83, '89, '90, '92, '09, '10, '15

2016-17 finish: 14-19, 9-9

Overview: Although the Colonials have a smaller enrollment as a private school, they have by far the best basketball tradition of the candidates. They also would expand the league into a different region that is geographically close to such members as Cleveland State, Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy and NKU.

Omaha

Location: Omaha, Neb.

Nickname: Mavericks

Current league: Summit

Enrollment: 15,526

Arena capacity: 7,898

Average attendance: 1,816

NCAA appearances: None

2016-17 finish: 18-14, 9-7

Overview: The Mavericks only began their transition to Division I in 2011 but, like Northern Kentucky, quickly established themselves as competitive at their new level. They’ve played in the CBI and CIT already and won at Iowa in a non-conference game last December.

Fort Wayne

Location: Fort Wayne, Ind.

Nickname: Mastodons

Current league: Summit

Enrollment: 12,160

Arena capacity: 2,700

Average attendance: 1,961

NCAA appearances: None

2016-17 finish: 20-13, 8-8

Overview: After a stunning early season victory over Indiana, Fort Wayne didn’t quite follow through on that promise — and a 2016 conference championship — with a strong Summit League season. However, the Mastodons draw the highest average attendance of the teams on this list and might be able to improve that with more attractive names with stronger regional connections rolling through.

IUPUI

Location: Indianapolis

Nickname: Jaguars

Current league: Summit

Enrollment: 21,748

Arena capacity: 6,800

Average attendance: 1,054

NCAA appearances: 2003

2016-17 finish: 14-18, 7-9

Overview: IUPUI has the advantage of being located in the Horizon League’s headquarters city, and its downtown campus is vibrant and attractive. Farmers Coliseum was given a significant recent upgrade and is an attractive home for the Jaguars, albeit removed from campus by a few miles. IUPUI would figure to get a significant boost by being able to play against teams from universities with a greater resemblance.

UMKC

Location: Kansas City, Mo.

Nickname: Kangaroos

Current league: WAC

Enrollment: 11,389

Arena capacity: 7,316

Average attendance: 1,335

NCAA appearances: None

2017-18 finish: 18-17, 8-6

Overview: It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting this move more than the Kangaroos. Competing in the WAC requires travel to California, Texas, Washington, Utah and Arizona. Home games are played at Municipal Auditorium, which recently got a small series of upgrades. It still is not the most modern building, but has incredible history in the game along with a great downtown location.