The Horizon League announced Tuesday that Illinois-Chicago will be eligible to compete for league championships this season after all in a reversal of the league's earlier decision made in accordance with conference bylaws for exiting teams. That means the Flames will participate in the Horizon League Tournament next month despite the fact that they are leaving for the Missouri Valley Conference next season.

Horizon League bylaws call for departing to schools to give a one-year notice to the league office. Schools that don't give that amount of notice are ineligible for league tournaments, per conference bylaws. Illinois-Chicago announced Jan. 25 that it is joining the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2022-23 academic year, which did not meet the Horizon League's notice requirement. 

But the Horizon League was met with intense backlash from UIC when it upheld its bylaws and clarified last week that the Flames would be ineligible for postseason tournaments in winter and spring sports. The league's Board of Directors met again to consider the school's special exemption request and came to their decision after "recognizing UIC leaders were not going to engage in a constructive pathway to remedy the situation," according to Tuesday's statement.