– Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone and Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple jointly announced Thursday that their league members will begin a men’s basketball “Showdown” series in 2020 that will span three seasons.

League officials will work together to ensure the best possible hardwood matchups for the Horizon League-Summit League Showdown based on three criteria: projected team rankings, a 3-year RPI/NET average, and the latest Ken Pom Adjusted Efficiency Rating.

Each of those factors will be weighted equally, and starting in June of 2020, they will be used to determine the first set of games for the series that will be played on pre-selected dates. A similar process and timeline will be followed in 2021 and 2022.

“Guided by our Board and the Horizon League Council, we have been implementing strategies to improve our national competitiveness in men’s basketball,” said LeCrone. “The Horizon League-Summit League Showdown adds two intriguing, quality games, which we believe helps address the challenges we face in getting home-and-home non-conference contests, provides exciting matchups and fits into our overall vision for excellence.”

Each member of the Horizon League and The Summit League will have a home and an away game against two different programs from the other league in each of those three seasons. The Summit League will find a school outside of its membership to be the 10th opponent for the Horizon League.

“We are excited to partner with the Horizon League on this scheduling alliance,” said Douple. “We’ve listened to our coaches and their desires to build competitive and equitable schedules for the betterment of our league and their programs. This agreement ensures them of at least two games a season that fit that criteria.”

Games will take place in 2020 on November 17th and 21st. In 2021, the dates for the series are November 16th and 20th and in 2022, the dates are November 15th and 19th.

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