Butler of the Atlantic-10. The MVC courted several potential replacements including UMKC, set to join the WAC from the Summit League, and Valparaiso, UIC and Loyola Chicago of the Horizon League. On April 15, 2013, it was reported that Loyola Chicago would accept an invitation to join the Missouri Valley Conference in July 2013. Great West Conference The Great West had formerly been a football-only conference, but in response to departures in 2008 had added several schools moving up from Division II and become an all-sports conference. The year 2011 saw the departure of South Dakota State for the Summit League for all sports except football, which sport they took to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2012. The departure of the remaining football-sponsoring members North Dakota State and Southern Utah, and football-only members Cal Poly and UC Davis the same year led the conference to drop the sport. Houston Baptist then committed to join the Southland Conference in 2013, and the rebuilding WAC took Chicago State, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley. The sole remaining full member, New Jersey Institute of Technology, was reported to be seeking a new home, effectively ending the Great West. Horizon League In May 2012, Butler University announced it would leave the Horizon League for the Atlantic 10 Conference for the 2013–2014 school year, but later reached an agreement with the Horizon League on departing early, with Butler starting A-10 play at the beginning of the 2012–13 school year. The loss of charter member Butler to a stronger conference, regardless of conference realignment activity elsewhere, had been expected by Horizon League officials due to Butler's rise as a national championship-contending men's basketball team under then-head coach Brad Stevens. Butler ultimately only spent one year in the A-10 before moving on to the reconfigured Big East Conference. Initially, the Horizon League chose not to expand to replace Butler, as the school still had nine full-time members, including Valparaiso University within the state of Indiana, whose capital of Indianapolis is home to both Butler and the Horizon League headquarters. However, the split of the original Big East Conference, leading to the formation of the current Big East, had further fallout involving the Horizon League. Loyola University Chicago, the last remaining charter member from the Horizon League's founding in 1979, announced in April 2013 that it would leave the Horizon effective July 1 to join the Missouri Valley